‘Made It Cool To Be A Conservative’: Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Celebrated At Utah Capitol

The same day that President Donald Trump honored the late Charlie Kirk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, hundreds of Utah college students gathered in Salt Lake City for a memorial honoring the Turning Point founder’s life. 

Students from chapters of Kirk’s Turning Point organization from nearby universities like Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University, where Kirk was assassinated last month, gathered alongside Republican lawmakers at the Utah Capitol building on Tuesday to reflect on Kirk’s life. Rep. Brandon Gill, a Texas Republican, spoke at the event and urged young conservatives in attendance to carry on Kirk’s legacy. 

“One of the things that Charlie talked a lot about during his lifetime was the value of political debate,” Gill said.  “Whenever we win the debate we get to change policy. And whenever we change policy, we can start to take our country back. And we’ve seen that this year.” 

During his speech, Gill issued a warning about the rise of violence committed by the political Left. 

“It’s not just Charlie Kirk. Right now there’s an attorney general’s race in Virginia where the leading Democrat candidate just had some of his text messages released where he was saying he would celebrate the death of his political opponents, that he would celebrate the death of his opponents’ young children,” he said, referring to bombshell text messages promoting violence from Democrat attorney general candidate Jay Jones. 

Gill told The Daily Wire that the students at the event were somber but “fired up.” 

“We heard from probably 20 or so student leaders from a few different campuses in the area,” he said. “And they were ready to take back our country. They saw what happened to Charlie. They remember the message that Charlie had been putting out there.”

Gill also praised the students in attendance for continuing Kirk’s legacy of engaging in civic debate. He said that respectful debate among two completely opposing ideologies would be one aspect of Kirk’s legacy that would live on. 

“The other thing that Charlie did was he was able to build a political movement and get young people involved in politics in a way you’ve never seen before,” he said. “
Charlie made it, and Turning Point has made it cool to be a conservative for a young person who’s in college.”

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The Texas Republican also said that Kirk’s message of going to church, getting married, and having kids would continue to resonate with young Americans.

Student leaders who spoke at the event called for young conservatives to carry on Kirk’s message. 

“Tonight we’re picking up the mic and carrying forward this message louder and bolder than ever before,” said Turning Point USA Provo chapter president Aubree Farmer. “We were born for such a time as this, and it’s time for people to start listening.”

Other speakers at the event included Utah Reps. Celeste Maloy and Mike Kennedy, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown, and multiple state lawmakers.