‘I’d give anything to have my friend back’: Turning Point USA’s Tyler Bowyer remembers Charlie Kirk

PHOENIX — The assassination of Charlie Kirk has affected thousands, if not millions, of people around the world, but few more so than one of his closest advisors, Tyler Bowyer.

“I would give anything to have my friend back,” Bowyer, the chief operating officer of Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Monday.

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“I would give anything to have my friend back.” — @turningpointusaofficialand @tpaction_ COO Tyler Bowyer joined The Mike Broomhead Show to remember his friend, Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in Utah last week. Watch the full segment on the KTAR News YouTube channel. #charliekirk #assassination #shooting #developing #fyp

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Bowyer had known Kirk for more than a decade. The pair met in 2014, when Bowyer was the chairman of the Maricopa County Republican Committee.

The next year, Bowyer joined TPUSA, rising through the organization to become its COO.

“We shared almost identical values and just that vision for wanting to do things for young people, and it was an easy decision to hitch my wagon to him,” Bowyer said.

Over the years, Bowyer said he “spent probably more one-on-one time with Charlie than I have with my wife.” Due to that, the loss of Kirk in a shooting last week at Utah Valley University has felt like the loss of a spouse.

“I spent so much one-on-one time with Charlie. I watched how he operated in every single scenario,” Bowyer said. “I met him when he was 19, and he just was so smart. He could outthink, outwork, outtalk anyone, and he often didn’t do that. He oftentimes was trying to win over the person he was talking to.”

How Tyler Bowyer wants Charlie Kirk to be remembered

After co-founding Turning Point in 2012, Kirk became known for hosting events on college campuses, where he would invite people to debate him on political topics.

Videos of many debates made their way onto social media, showing Kirk responding calmly to questions he was being asked by members of the audience.

That demeanor is something Bowyer hopes will be part of Kirk’s legacy.

“That example is what we hope what will continue, not just on college campuses, but, you know, in churches, out in the public space, and in the political space that you can stand up for your values, but you can do it in a calm and collective way that’s going to influence others because there’s always thousands of people watching you,” Bowyer said.

Bowyer added that every interaction that Kirk had with someone on a college campus was authentic.

“Everything you saw about Charlie is exactly who he was behind the scenes. He was endearing; he cared very much about the movement. He always put the movement before himself,” Bowyer said.

Voter registration forms to be handed out at Charlie Kirk’s memorial

TPUSA and TPA, with help from Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, will look to build on that legacy by handing out “as many voter registration forms as humanly possible” at Kirk’s memorial on Sunday at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium.

“We anticipate that tens of thousands, tens of thousands of people register to vote, that they’ll stop what they’re doing, that they’ll consider it, and actually register to vote, register the kids to vote, young people are the most frequent to not register to vote and especially on our side,” Bowyer said.

For anyone else looking to honor Kirk’s memory, Bowyer said the best ways to do that are by joining a local Turning Point USA chapter, attending church or registering to vote.

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