Charlie Kirk’s group, Turning Point USA, continued its national tour of college campuses on Wednesday night, stopping at Virginia Tech forward of a pivotal election for the state.
The “American Comeback Tour” occasion – headlined by conservative media pundit Megyn Kelly and Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin – celebrated Kirk and highlighted his affinity to debate with civility.
Youngkin advised the group that whereas a sniper’s bullet tried “to silence all of us but you see the exact opposite is happening.”
“There is a revival spreading across this great nation, a revival spreading across this great nation that is spreading out while it points up to who’s in charge. This is so awesome,” he mentioned.
Kelly spoke to the hesitance some could have felt in attending the occasion so quickly following Kirk’s assassination and thanked attendees for exhibiting up. “In this particular circumstance, showing up is courageous given what happened to Charlie,” she mentioned. “But I think we all came for the same reason.”
“Really, the reason is the message that we will not be silenced by an assassin’s bullet, by a heckler’s veto, by a left-wing woke professor or anyone who tries to silence us from saying what we really believe. Those days are done,” she mentioned.
While taking questions from the viewers, Kelly acquired right into a spirited back-and-forth with an attendee who challenged her help of President Donald Trump, arguing that the president “contributes to the rhetoric that got your friend Charlie killed.”
“This guy was motivated by leftist ideology,” Kelly mentioned of Kirk’s shooter, earlier than defending Trump’s comments at Kirk’s memorial service – the place he mentioned, “I hate my opponent” – as being a self-deprecating “joke.”
The former Fox News anchor suggested younger conservatives to have interaction and hearken to these with opposing views, however to additionally “find your courage” and “stand up for your principles.”
“Why are we so afraid? Because we are indoctrinated for the first 25 years of our lives in leftist institutions that try to make us little leftists, or at least afraid, scared, cowering conservatives who don’t want anyone to know,” she advised the viewers. “Let it out. Stay loud, say it proud. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s beautiful. Stop hiding it. Stand up for what you believe in. Be respectful of the other side, just like Charlie was.”
Virginia Tech’s Burruss Auditorium was practically full for the occasion. Outside the venue, a small group of counter-protesters peacefully demonstrated and held indicators that learn “Hokies don’t hate” and “hate has no home here,” in line with NCS-affiliate WDBJ.
Virginia Tech pre-law scholar Philip Hamilton advised NCS that one in every of his pals determined towards attending Wednesday’s occasion as a result of she was “scared” and nervous to be in a big crowd following Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University. But Hamilton advised NCS he felt “it was important to show up” and honor Kirk. “I told her, we shouldn’t live in fear. We should stand up and show we can continue on life as normal,” he mentioned.
Despite the grief she felt upon studying of Kirk’s demise, Hannah Mortimer, a Virginia Tech alum, advised NCS that she feels “more hopeful than I ever felt before” concerning the state of the nation.
“That’s the crazy thing. I think, even as a Christian, I look at the impact that his life is having on a generation,” she mentioned, including, “We’re seeing just an awakening in this generation, where people are being more bold about their faith, more bold about who they are, just like Charlie.”