The death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk — and the national response — was a major talking point Saturday at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition fall banquet for GOP speakers, who said his shooting was a call to action for Republicans.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Iowa Republicans shared their memories of the Turning Point USA co-founder at the annual fundraiser held in Des Moines. The event began with a moment of silence and prayer for Kirk and a memorial video.
The fatal shooting of Kirk on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University has fueled a national discussion among politicians and others about the need to prevent future instances of political violence and lower polarization. There has also been a significant push to condemn and pursue punishments for people who celebrate or make controversial statements about the rightwing influencer, including in Iowa, where the Board of Regents directed state universities to investigate social media posts allegedly made by employees about Kirk.
Many on the slate of Republican speakers shared their personal experiences with Kirk. Noem, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson shared stories of their children watching videos of Kirk’s speeches and debates online, and the importance of defending free speech in the wake of his death.
Noem said she stayed in close contact with Kirk during her time in public service, and shared a story of getting a text message from him the day before he was killed.
“When I went back to look at what the last text was that I had gotten from him, I realized I hadn’t replied to it,” Noem said. “He had sent it to me the day before he passed away, and he said, ‘We have to hold these mayors and governors accountable.’ We have to hold them accountable. And I was traveling and meeting with other security ministers from other countries, and I had completely missed it. And I will forever be sick that I didn’t respond to him.”
She said she would have told Kirk, “I’m on it,” and added, “I think he knows that.”
Noem, as well as Moreno, said they planned to attend the memorial service for Kirk on Sunday in Glendale, Arizona, which featured President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and many other top Republican leaders from across the country. Moreno also shared his experience meeting Kirk, who asked him for support in founding Turning Point USA, and added, “it hasn’t quite hit yet that Charlie’s gone.”
He said Kirk’s killing is in part the result of the U.S. losing “its moral center of spirituality.”
“I think what he would hope for us, more than anything else, is that we literally imagine this as a quite literal turning point in our country’s history,” Moreno said. “Where we just say, ‘We’re not going to allow this to happen. We will not lose this country for the next generation. We will do everything possible to spread the word, always speak our minds, defend free speech and absolutely refuse to cede an inch to the lunatics that would take over this country.’”
Ernst said at the event the loss of spirituality, which Moreno called an “empty hole” in many people, is “rampant across the folks on the left in the Democratic Party.”
“They are consumed by that darkness and that hole,” Ernst said. “And that’s why it is so easy to embrace abortion — abortion on demand. But it’s also been very easy for them to be swallowed in that darkness and not valuing life, where they believe they can go out and take a life when they disagree with that person’s position. And we saw that quite clearly a week and a half ago with the murder of Charlie Kirk.”
Conservative CNN political commentator Scott Jennings, who gave the keynote address for the event, also linked Democrats and leftwing beliefs with Kirk’s death. He said the Democratic Party wants to “control everything,” from speech to acceptable vehicles and stoves.
“They want government to make decisions that you should be making for yourself and for your family,” Jennings said. “And if you disagree, if you speak up, if you push back, as a matter of politics, or even as a matter of faith? Well, we saw what happened to Charlie. We saw what happened nearly to our president last summer. We saw what happened in Minneapolis. We saw what happened in Nashville. Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you tonight we have seen enough — enough.”
Federal authorities have not found evidence linking the man charged with the shooting, Tyler Robinson, to leftwing organizations, according to NBC News.
As politicians shared their memories and thoughts on the incident, Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed also invoked Kirk, as well as Trump, who has faced assassination attempts, as he asked for financial support for the organization.
“I want you to think of the price that Charlie Kirk paid last Wednesday,” Reed said. “He bore the ultimate burden. He paid the ultimate price. I want you to think about what President Trump and his family have been put through in the last 10 years — indicted, they tried to bankrupt him, they debanked the Trump Organization, they impeached him twice. And then after they did all that, they tried to kill him. You see, if you’re not willing to put it all on the line, this goes away.”
Speakers tout Trump immigration policies
In addition to speaking about Kirk, immigration was a major topic for speakers at the event. Noem said Kirk was one of her biggest supporters in implementing Trump’s immigration and deportation policies at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and spoke about her work with the president on his promises to increase border security and “build the wall.”
Moreno, who was born in Columbia and immigrated with his family to the U.S. at a young age, said he believes more Latino voters will begin voting for conservatives in upcoming elections, saying many people in these communities have Republican values, on issues like faith, education and on LGBTQ+ issues, saying, “there is no word for transgenderism in Spanish” and “family means a mom and dad together, married.”
He also said he believed most legal immigrants from central and South America shared his perspective on immigration. He said it is “an honor to be welcomed to this country” legally, and that allowing undocumented immigrants to gain citizenship outside the established immigration process is insulting to those who went through proper channels.
“Imagine that somebody takes away that honor from you, and the way they take that honor away from you is by allowing people to come here illegally and then reward them,” Moreno said. “Let the people skip you in the line be the ones who are somehow sympathetic — when in reality, you know, people do not hire illegal migrants because they’re compassionate about illegals. They want to take advantage of those people, and that is the most horrifying idea that the Democrat Party has today. I find it insulting and I find it extremely demeaning.”
Robin Opsahl covers the Iowa Legislature and politics for Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this story first appeared.
