Co-hosts of The Charlie Kirk Show went live on Friday for the first episode since Charlie Kirk’s death, with an empty chair in honor of him.
Kirk, the founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Authorities announced on Friday that the alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, is in custody after being turned in by family.
At the beginning of the episode, executive producer Andrew Kolvet said he was “filling in for the one and only Charlie Kirk,” before shaking his head and adding, “Nobody can.”
“Charlie would’ve wanted us to be here. He would be upset if we weren’t here,” Kolvet said. “And we of course have left his chair open and empty, because nobody will ever fill it — nobody could ever hope to.”
Kolvet was joined by other conservative commentators who were Kirk’s friends, including Jack Posobiec, Blake Neff, and Tyler Bowyer.
“We wanted so badly to do this show for all of you today, and I wanted the friends of this show and of Charlie that knew him best — the thought crime crew — to be here in the studio to commemorate our friend, our dear brother, for this sacred and solemn moment, this occasion none of us ever dreamed we would have to do,” Kolvet said, visibly growing emotional.
“And here we are,” he said.
Kirk started The Charlie Kirk Show as a podcast. He moved it to broadcast in October 2020, when he became the host of a daily radio show on the Salem Radio Network that went live from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. every weekday.
The show regularly ranked among the top 10 news shows on Apple Podcasts and surpassed 130 million downloads in 2023, according to Kirk’s personal website.
Throughout the episode, Kolvet emphasized that they were “blessed” to have known Kirk.
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“We got yelled at by him. We got pushed to [be] more and to be better because of Charlie, and by Charlie,” he said.
The Washington Examiner reached out to The Charlie Kirk Show, Kolvet, and Bowyer for comment.
