Turning Point USA will honor slain co-founder Charlie Kirk with a touching tribute in Minnesota on Monday as his American Comeback Tour goes ahead as planned in the wake of his assassination.
Conservative commentator Michael Knowles told “Fox & Friends” that he will leave an empty chair on stage for Kirk when the tour holds its next stop at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities on Monday evening.
“I will appear tonight. There will be an empty chair on stage. I will give a tribute to Charlie and then we will open up the floor to an open conversation,” he said.
“Charlie’s enemies will not have stopped that. People who disagree can, like at all of his events, cut to the front of the line and we will continue to have a healthy debate.”
Kirk was gunned down on stage during a tour stop at the Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
In the wake of his murder, Knowles said Kirk’s friends had vowed to forge ahead with the remaining stops on the tour.
“I’ll be doing it with a lot of Charlie’s friends,” he said.
“I think that Charlie’s enemies thought that they could not only silence him, but in fact silence his whole movement. That will not happen. In fact, they will not even silence his speaking tour.”
The latest event comes a day after some 78,000 mourners – including President Trump and Vice President JD Vance — packed the State Farm Stadium in Arizona on Sunday for the 31-year-old’s memorial service.
“He’s a martyr now for America’s freedom,” Trump told mourners. “I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie. And neither now will history.”
Cops told The Post the overflow crowd surpassed 200,000 people, many of whom watched live from a big-screen TV in the stadium parking lot, or on a Jumbotron at the Desert Diamond Stadium next door, which was packed to capacity at around 19,000.
A 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson, has been charged with killing Kirk and faces the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges.
In her own fearless tribute, Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, said she had forgiven the alleged assassin.
“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” she said. “I forgive him.”
Erika, who has taken over as Turning Point USA’s leader, vowed to continue her late husband’s work.
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she said. “The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love – love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
Who is Michael Knowles?
Knowles, 35, is a political commentator, author and podcaster boasting millions of followers on social media who has been with the Daily Wire since 2016.
A close friend of Kirk, Knowles embodies many of the same characteristics as the slain commentator. Known for his rapier wit and sharp debate skills, Knowles has held speaking arrangements at colleges nationwide where he invites attendees up to the microphone to challenge him.
“He’s very similar to Charlie in a lot of ways, he’s very jovial, kind and able to have that dialogue and that back-and-forth,” a Daily Wire spokesperson told The Post.
“He’s become quite a force in mainstream media for debating many of the same kinds of issues.”
Knowles often went on Kirk’s podcast, and was a fixture at Turning Point USA events. The two appeared on stage at an event earlier this year where they debated Catholicism vs. Protestantism. Just two weeks before Kirk was shot, Knowles was a guest on “The Charlie Kirk Show” where the subject of transgender Annunciation Catholic School shooter Robin Westman was discussed.
A devout Catholic, Knowles has become a prominent part of the “movement among young conservative men becoming more faith-driven,” the spokesperson said.
The Daily Wire confirmed that other talent from its roster will be coming to college campuses across the country in the wake of Kirk’s assassination.
Knowles has had his share of viral moments, including in July when he dismantled ex-MSNBC host Joy Reid on “Piers Morgan Uncensored.”
After playing a clip of Knowles shredding her then-recently cancelled program “The ReidOut,” Morgan asked Reid to react to the criticism.
“Obviously people watched the show. That’s the reason the show was on for four and a half, nearly five years. So if he didn’t like the show, I guess, sorry you didn’t enjoy it, but I really am not that interested in his views on it.”
It was then Morgan revealed a surprise guest, Knowles himself.
“I guess I would agree with Joy’s take. People watched the show, in the past tense,” Knowles said, appearing on a split-screen with a visibly stunned Reid.
“And now there’s no longer a market for that absolutely vile content, and I think that’s good for the culture broadly.”
UMN’s website bills tonight’s American Comeback Tour stop featuring Knowles as “a high-energy evening featuring a candid conversation about conservative values, followed by a live Q&A.”
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