Almost 2,700 students crammed into Northrup Auditorium on the campus of the University of Minnesota Monday night as Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire picked up the torch passed to him when Charlie Kirk was gunned down.
Wednesday night an estimated 3,000 students from Virginia Tech packed out Burruss Auditorium to hear Megyn Kelly and Virginia governor Glen Younkin.
American Family Radio host Frank Turek told Today’s Issues he will take his turn sitting in Charlie Kirk's (shown right) seat down the road.
“We're doing these events because they were scheduled before Charlie was murdered, and Charlie would want us to continue them,” Turek said.
He says Turning Point will not miss a single date on this tour.
“The TPUSA tour continues. We're going to be at Georgia Tech on October 23, me and Lucas Miles as the head of TPUSA Faith. Then, as I say, Lord willing, we'll be at Cal-Berkeley on November 10 to end the tour for this semester.”
Meanwhile, praise and tributes continue to pour in for Charlie Kirk.
Curtis Hill is an ambassador from Project 21 and a former attorney general for the state of Indiana.
He wrote a commentary shared by the National Center for Public Policy Research, titled Counting the Cost of Truth.
"Charlie Kirk led an incredibly bold life, and he reaped in death what he sowed in life, and then he planted the seeds for a revolution of young minds to really shake off the shackles of the past and look to the future and look to practical solutions that began with truth."
Hill told AFN what's interesting about Kirk is that he knew the cost of "his truth," and that he paid the price.
"I think what we're seeing now in this country is a genuine inspiration of young people, old people, people from various walks of life recognizing that there are sacrifices that we need to make for the truth, and as painful as it is to see a young man cut down even before his prime, he had a purpose in his life, and his death is having a more meaningful purpose going forward."
Speaking the truth also means dealing with detractors out there that try to parse every word and take things out of context.
“That happened with Charlie on a regular basis, particularly in areas of diversity equity and inclusion, DEI. One example in particular, at one point, Charlie made a comment about being concerned about seeing a black pilot and wondering if she was qualified to fly the plane. That particular quote taken out of context and was used to suggest that Charlie was a racist."
Hill clarified that what Charlie was actually doing, and what the detractors are missing the point on, or purposely evading the point on, was pointing out the issue with DEI.
“DEI policies put in place ostensibly to uplift a particular group actually do the opposite and create a marginalization of the very group that they purpose to uplift. Charlie understood that. I myself, as a black American, am very concerned when I see examples of someone who has been promoted or propped up from a racial standpoint or a sexual standpoint instead of from a meritorious standpoint."
He gave the example of Joe Biden stating his chief qualification for vice president was he wanted to choose a black woman, and he chose Kamala Harris.
“Now, this may be a bad example because of her confidence, but certainly from the standpoint of identifying her as a black woman, he instantly marginalized her effectiveness to millions of Americans because she was chosen specifically because he was looking for a black woman as opposed to looking for the best person available."
Kirk articulated those positions while sharing and defending the gospel.
A TPUSA explosion
As his organization adjusts and adapts, applications for Turning Point campus groups are exploding.
“They had 2,000 chapters two weeks ago when Charlie was murdered. Now they have requests for 120,000,” Turek said.
He says if only 10% of those end up starting it will quadruple Turning Point's reach. Turek says the organization will continue to organize conservative students politically, but Kirk's vision was far bigger than politics.
“This is not just a political revival. It's a spiritual revival. And that's the most important thing Charlie wanted,” Turek said.
