Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., told Newsmax on Friday that conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed during a visit to a Utah college campus on Wednesday, should be remembered for his commitment "to open discourse."
Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University in a Q&A session attended by about 3,000 people. The alleged gunman, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was later apprehended by police and remains in custody.
Meuser, in an appearance on "Wake Up America," when asked about how Kirk should be remembered, said, "I appreciate that question because I've talked to my children about it, and … the man was committed to the truth" and "to open discourse."
The congressman praised Kirk for his student outreach efforts, noting that he spent "years" traveling to college campuses to speak with young people despite opposition.
Meuser said Kirk "was taking people on, you know what, five years ago, six years ago, seven years ago. And he was going to the college campuses, he was being ridiculed, he was being protested, they didn't want him there. Now he brings in 3,000 enthusiastic people. He's taught them to think differently, to think outside of the echo chamber of what occurs … at some good schools."
"He said, 'It's OK to think that way, even conservatism can be cool.' You know, it can be the America that you know, that people have talked about. And let's bring the modernists to it."
Meuser added that Kirk "was a tolerable person, but on the same note, he had his positions based upon gaining the truth, using the facts, and expressing them as enthusiastically and in as loving a way as he could because he did. You watch his videos, and boy oh boy, you can't help but be attracted to his message."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.