Back in Utah for the first time since conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was killed three weeks ago, the company he co-founded, Turning Point USA, continued its “American Comeback Tour” at Utah State University on Tuesday.
Turning Point staff estimated 6,500 people — mostly college-aged, but some older and younger — came to the event in Logan, about 120 miles north of Utah Valley University where Kirk was shot and killed Sept. 10.
The aftermath of Kirk’s death was apparent, with tightened security and a heavy police presence across campus as thousands of people filed into the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum arena. While attendees lined up outside, armed police officers could be seen patrolling the area, positioned at various entry points across campus. Bag-sniffing dogs walked up and down lines as students waited to enter.
Students cheered, repeatedly chanted “USA” and “Charlie,” and danced to hype music while waiting for the event to start. Along with President Donald Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” red caps, many wore white shirts with the word “freedom” across their chests, matching the shirt Kirk wore when he was killed.
Kirk’s memory was center stage throughout the event — meant to honor him, but also keep his conservative activism alive. Repeatedly, speakers called Kirk a “martyr” while calling what happened to him “evil” and urging his supporters to continue to fight for conservative beliefs.
“I’m not here to eulogize Charlie Kirk. I am here to pass the torch on to every single one of you,” said Alex Clark, the host of a conservative health and wellness podcast associated with Turning Point USA. “Tonight, each of us certainly feels the weight of this loss. But what we don’t do, what we refuse to do, is bow to despair.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox booed, but also applauded
In Kirk’s absence, Turning Point hosted a panel of Republican politicians including Gov. Spencer Cox, former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz who is now a Fox News commentator, and Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, who plans to run for Arizona governor in 2026.
Tyler Bowyer, chief operating officer of Turning Point Action, moderated the panel, which he pointed out featured speakers who are all also members of Utah’s dominant faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
When Cox was introduced, loud boos boomed through the arena.
Cox, in the wake of Kirk’s killing, has drawn national attention as he has condemned Kirk’s killing — calling it a “political assassination” while denouncing political violence. He urged Americans to “stop hating” each other, spend less time on social media, and more time connecting with their family and neighbors.
But divides within the Republican Party — including Kirk and his supporters — concerning Cox date back years. In 2022, Kirk said in a post on X that Cox “should be expelled from the Republican party” after the governor vetoed a bill banning transgender girls from school sports.
When Cox first began to speak, recalling when he first learned about Kirk’s killing, he was immediately drowned out by boos. Bowyer urged the crowd to help “facilitate a conversation.” When he was able to speak uninterrupted, Cox recounted speaking to Trump after the shooting and pledged to hold Kirk’s shooter accountable, calling his killing “treasonous.”
“This was more than an attack on Charlie Kirk. This was an attack on free speech. It was an attack on America. It was an attack on American ideals. It was treasonous,” Cox said, adding that the nation has not seen “that kind of political assassination in my lifetime.”
The crowd, though they at times also applauded Cox, gave a warmer reception to Biggs and Chaffetz, who both repeatedly praised Kirk and Trump.
Utah’s ‘soft’ politics?
During the panel discussion, Bowyer posed a question that seemed to challenge Utah’s tempered style of politics, asking whether the “soft Utah approach” has “enabled people who are mentally ill.” He also pointed to Cox’s “Disagree Better” campaign that has sought to discourage political tribalism, hate and polarization and asked “is that really a both sides issue?”
Cox said “this isn’t just about left or right, it’s about good and evil.” He condemned labeling people “fascists and Nazis,” while also saying “the idea that speech is violence” is “so dangerous” because it can be used to justify actual violence.
Cox also said “there are violent people on the far right. It happens. And to say that that’s not true would be a lie.”
On Bowyer’s question about Utah’s “soft approach,” Cox, who is a Latter-day Saint, pointed to the death this week of President Russell M. Nelson, the faith’s leader, saying, “he very passionately believed that anger never persuades.”
Cox got loud applause for that.
“That is not ‘soft,’” he continued. “Peacemaking is not soft. It’s the hardest thing you can do.”
Cox then said that’s what Kirk did. While he debated people who disagreed with him, he also “treated them with respect,” he said. He also acknowledged “there is a rift” within the Republican party.
“There are people in our party who don’t want to do what Charlie (did),” Cox said. “They just want to call each other names and we can’t fall prey to that.”
Bowyer also asked a pointed question about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, questioning whether it should “take mental illness a little more seriously” and take a stronger stance against “inclusion politics.”
Cox said his faith teaches him “we all have agency, and everybody’s responsible for their own decisions.” He said Kirk’s shooter is responsible, “not the church, not Utah, not someone else. That person is responsible.” He also agreed the entire country needs to take “mental illness more seriously.”
“Charlie had the answer to that,” he said. “Get off your couch. Get off social media. Get married. Have kids. Do something with your life.”
Biggs, in his answer to Bowyer’s question, said, “You have to be honest, and you call balls and strikes the way they are. … If you don’t call balls and strikes, if you aren’t honest, if you aren’t speaking with clarity, purpose and principle, you are deceiving you, yourself (and) the person you’re having a conversation with.”
When Bowyer asked whether “inclusionary politics has gone too far,” and has led some to give up on their “moral compass,” Chaffetz said from his experience “those that preach the most tolerance are the least tolerant among us.” He also added that he worries about “too much tolerance” and there needs to be a “balance.”
Chaffetz then got what was one of the loudest moments of applause when he said: “You do not need a man with junk in a woman’s bathroom.”
Toward the end of the event, dozens of students lined up to ask questions. One questioned Cox about the veto of the bill banning transgender girls from school sports. Cox explained that he worried the ban would only get overturned in the courts, so after he vetoed it he and the Legislature “worked together” to put in place a commission to decide transgender athlete eligibility rather than an all-out ban.
“I think Charlie and I would agree on 99% of things,” Cox said, adding that he wished there would have been an opportunity for him and Kirk to have “had that debate together.” Even though Cox said he thinks Kirk would have still disagreed with him, “what matters” is continuing to talk to people you may disagree with.
“We’ve got to make space for that,” Cox said. “And we’re doing that tonight.”
This story was originally published at UtahNewsDispatch.com.
