Savannah Chrisley said she had been scheduled to join Charlie Kirk on a college speaking tour next month and shared an emotional reaction after the conservative activist was fatally shot during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Chrisley, a 28-year-old reality television personality, posted a tearful video late Wednesday on TikTok saying, "Today's been a tough day," and that she had been preparing to join Kirk on his American Comeback Tour in October. She described Kirk as someone who had supported her and her family during a difficult period.
Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot and killed earlier that day during the first stop of the tour, authorities and multiple outlets reported. The event at Utah Valley University in Orem was the initial appearance on a schedule of campus dates listed on the American Comeback Tour website. The site listed a Sept. 18 appearance at Colorado State University and additional October dates at campuses in Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Mississippi and North Dakota.
In her video, Chrisley said Kirk had "believed in me and in my family when the world turned its back" and that he brought her into the "Turning Point family." In a longer written caption accompanying the post, she wrote, "I am numb. I can't believe I'm even writing these words. Charlie Kirk changed my life...he brought me into the Turning Point family this past year, and I was supposed to be standing next to him at every college this October. Instead, I sit here with a broken heart, devastated beyond words."
Chrisley said Kirk had supported her efforts to secure the release of her parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted of tax evasion and bank and wire fraud in 2022 and were released from prison after receiving a presidential pardon in May. She said the past two and a half years had been among the hardest of her life but that she had made lifelong friends during that time.
She offered condolences to Kirk's wife, Erika Frantzve, and their children, calling Frantzve "one of the kindest, most loving human beings I've ever had the pleasure of knowing." Chrisley added, "Take politics out of it...Charlie was a young man, a husband, and a father. He had so much life left to live. My heart aches for Erika and their children. No words will ever be enough to fill the space his love once held."
Kirk was a prominent conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, a group that organizes on college campuses. The American Comeback Tour was promoted as a series of campus appearances through September and October.
Law enforcement and local officials have not released a full public account of the circumstances surrounding the shooting beyond confirming that Kirk died after the incident at Utah Valley University's event. Media reports identified the appearance as the tour's first stop.
Chrisley concluded her public messages with a plea for privacy and prayer, saying, "This is tough. Pray for Charlie, pray for his parents, his children, his entire family. Erika, my heart is with you. I love you."