Tucker Carlson will replace Charlie Kirk, the conservative Turning Point USA organization announced Tuesday — at least for one night.
Carlson is headlining a revamped Turning Point USA campus tour at Indiana University on October 21. The tour features an all-star lineup of conservative media and Republican leaders who are stepping in after Kirk’s assassination.
Turning Point USA announced Monday that Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck, and Michael Knowles will lead the organization’s fall campus tour alongside multiple GOP governors.
The lineup preserves seven stops originally planned before Kirk’s death and adds four new events across Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, and California.
“Our campus tour this fall will continue,” said Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow and the new CEO of Turning Point USA.
Carlson has already taken over Kirk’s role as temporary guest-host of The Charlie Kirk Show in the days following the assassination, along with Beck, Kelly, and Knowles. The conservative commentator also spoke at Kirk’s memorial service September 21, telling the crowd of over 90,000 people that “Charlie was fearless at all times, truly fearless in his last moment.”
James Chambers, president of Turning Point USA at Indiana University, said the national organization made the decision to bring Carlson to campus.
“It’s very fortunate that Tucker is coming to IU, and I think it is a benefit to free speech,” Chambers said. “I think this is what Charlie would have wanted.”
The campus tour kicked off September 22 at the University of Minnesota with Michael Knowles, one day after Kirk’s memorial in Arizona. Knowles told the crowd that Kirk’s “enemies” believed they could “silence” Kirk and his movement, but “that will not happen.”
The schedule continues September 24 at Virginia Tech with Megyn Kelly and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. On September 30, Utah State University will host Alex Clark, Senator Mike Lee, Governor Spencer Cox, Representative Andy Biggs, and former Representative Jason Chaffetz.
Additional Republican governors joining the tour include Montana’s Greg Gianforte at Montana State University and Louisiana’s Jeff Landry at Louisiana State University. Ohio GOP gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy and comedian Rob Schneider are also scheduled speakers.
Kirk was murdered in cold blood on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University during the first stop of what Turning Point USA called “The American Comeback Tour.” A far-Left radical, Tyler Robinson, has been charged with murder and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Turning Point USA operates on over 3,000 college and high school campuses nationwide, creating what the organization describes as a conservative activist network focused on debate and education. Kirk co-founded the group in 2012 at age 18.
Carlson rose to prominence as a conservative commentator in the late 1990s, appearing on CNN, PBS and MSNBC before hosting “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News from 2016 to 2023. He has spoken at multiple Turning Point USA events over the years.
The organization’s 11-campus tour represents an effort to maintain Kirk’s mission of engaging young conservatives on college campuses. President Donald Trump called Kirk’s assassination “an attack on the whole country,” saying at the memorial that “the bullet was aimed at all of us.”
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— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) September 22, 2025