Thoughts from event speaker, former Utah Rep. Chaffetz, ahead of TPUSA’s stop at USU

SALT LAKE CITY — Ahead of a highly anticipated event at Utah State University — the first Utah event held by Turning Point USA after the killing of Charlie Kirk — a speaker selected to be there shared his thoughts as he prepared himself hours ahead. 

Utah’s former-Rep. Jason Chaffetz said it was an honor to be asked by the nonprofit, which referred to him as “The Honorable Jason Chaffetz” in its event details, to be a part of it. 

“It’s an emotional moment,” Chaffetz told KSL NewsRadio on Tuesday. “Charlie Kirk was one of a kind and there are not many people that have affected a younger generation to the degree that Charlie did. And it’s still hard to fathom that he’s no longer with us after that assassination less than three weeks ago.”

Chaffetz will be joined in a panel by commentator Alex Clark, Gov. Spencer Cox, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Congressman Andy Biggs, R-Arizona. 

“It was an honor that I would be asked,” Chaffetz said. “I hope I do it justice because he had a message of faith and family and freedom and love of country. And it’s a very positive message, but he was just so good and so unique in how he carried that message forward unabashedly.”

He said that after a presentation and memorial, the event would follow Kirk’s outline by opening up the mics so students could ask questions. He praised the nonprofit’s founder for inviting his “biggest detractors” to come have a discussion.

To Chaffetz, continuing the Turning Point campus tour after Kirk’s death will help fight for something he believes students should always have: their voices. 

“They can get up and share their voice in the public square without fear of harm. And here you had the assassination of Charlie Kirk less than three weeks ago,” Chaffetz said. “We had the attack on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just this past Sunday. These emotions are raw, but particularly for a younger generation, they need to know they have a voice and they shouldn’t cower.”

Asked about the importance of healthy conversations within younger groups, Chaffetz characterized recent adversity in the U.S. as “good versus evil.”

“This is a fight of good versus evil. And I think the evil side would want to suppress the good side,” he said. “And you got to be able to make sure that the good who are out there in mass don’t feel afraid.” 

Chaffetz further said he was on campus the day Kirk was shot, and had traded texts with him beforehand. He said he was glad to see him scheduled to visit Utah twice — first at UVU and then at USU. 

“I still have all the emotions, from sadness and sorrow to great optimism,” he said. “I think that memorial that they did for Charlie after, with Erika Kirk’s comments — that was as Christ-like as it gets, and I was just inspired by that and I think a lot of people were and even more will be in the future.”