Patel, the FBI director, also offered a personal tribute at the press conference: “Rest now brother, we have the watch. I’ll see you in Valhalla,” he said in closing his remarks, referring to the heavenly reward for warriors in Norse mythology.
Kirk, co-founder and president of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, began his career in conservative and right-wing politics as a teenager.
Trump told Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” program that Kirk’s ability to connect with young people and explain his policies had helped him win the 2024 election. “He had a big impact on the election,” the president said. “I got so many young voters. No Republican’s ever gotten anything close.”
Kirk appeared at Utah Valley on Wednesday as part of a planned 15-event “American Comeback Tour” of college campuses, having just returned to the US from an overseas speaking tour in South Korea and Japan.
Known for his often-provocative discourse on race, gender, immigration and gun regulation, Kirk would use such events to invite members of the crowd to debate him live, and was frequently challenged by both people on the left and the far right.
“We will never be able to solve all the other problems, including the violence problems that people are worried about if we can’t have a clash of ideas, safely and securely,” the governor said at Friday’s briefing. “That’s why this matters so much.”
