Apologist and author Frank Turek has maintained a calm, faith-based approach to confronting the unthinkable. Turek, a close ally of the late conservative Christian commentator Charlie Kirk, was at Utah Valley University when Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025.
When asked how he made sense of everything that happened before his eyes, Turek answered candidly.
“I understood because I knew what happened was bad,” he told CBN News. “And the only way I know it was evil is because I know what is good. And the only reason I know what is good is because there is a standard of good outside of myself, and that is the nature of God.”
Turek continued, “As soon as you see something evil, you know it’s evil.”
The Lord’s mercy abounds
While Kirk’s death and other horrific events may have led some to doubt God, Turek pushed back against that reaction and explained why the Lord’s mercy is always abundant.
“Such evil events do not disprove God,” he said. “It might prove that the devil exists, but it doesn’t deny God, because without a standard of good we don’t even know what evil is, and if God doesn’t exist we don’t even know what good is. So this is really an argument for God, not against God.”
Turek, who considered Kirk like a son, was not only dealing with the tragedy of loss and murder. He was also the subject of bizarre conspiracy theories that have now been debunked.
Immediately after Kirk’s death, the internet was ablaze with claims that the man seen in the video (later identified as Turek) was sending hand signals to the gunman.
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puzzling theory
As it turns out, Turek was just supporting and watching over Kirk, not giving hand signals. The bizarre theory that was circulating left Turek perplexed.
“I was just adjusting (my) hat,” he said, lamenting the bizarre reaction online. “It makes no sense at all.”
Since Kirk’s death, prominent figures have asked questions, made statements, sparked debate, caused waves, and shocked the public. Among these people is commentator Candace Owens, who has remained completely silent about Kirk’s death.
“I know she was a good friend of Charlie’s many years ago,” he said. “Charlie would never say anything bad about someone personally without first telling them and trying to make it right. So Charlie never said anything bad about Candace or anything else, but I think the idea that she’s making all these suggestions without any evidence is very distressing for people.”
Turek continued, “It’s fine to suggest, ‘Well, it might be this, it might be that,’ but as soon as you start making accusations, you say, ‘TPUSA…betrayed Charlie.’ … ‘I had a dream that Charlie said this to me,’ and that’s not evidence.”
He said that hurling accusations and allegations without evidence was “causing discord among the brethren” and was “an abomination to the Lord”.
“There are people who have enough pain in their lives,” Turek said. “We don’t need to add more pain when people are going through this.”
He said it was fine for Owens and others to ask questions, but stressed that making suggestions without evidence was “harmful.”
“There’s a difference between possibility and evidence, and you see this all the time in Christian apologetics,” he says. “People will say, ‘Well, this could have happened to Jesus’ body, or that could have happened to Jesus’ body, and that’s how you explain what a resurrection is. It wasn’t really a resurrection.’ All of those things are possible, but give me first-century evidence that that’s a possibility. ‘Oh, we don’t have any.’ Well, that’s just a possibility. ”
Looking back on Kirk’s death
Turek also recalled the moments after Kirk was shot, explaining that he initially lay low because he wasn’t sure if more shots were coming.
“Within a second — it was a few seconds. I don’t know how long it was, but it was very short… They got him out of there,” he said. “So I ran with them to the car.”
Turek was aware of the risks of Kirk’s endeavor and had pondered in the past what he would do if something happened. In that moment, he remembered his promise to do everything in his power to save Kirk.
“I can’t live with myself otherwise,” he said. “He was like a son to me.”
When she got into the car on the way to the hospital, Turek said it was clear Kirk was “gone.” While this entire ordeal was emotional, it also confirmed some realities for the apologists.
“It further strengthens my belief that evil exists and therefore God exists,” he said. “I know God can bring good out of evil. He does that all the time. We’ve seen it since Charlie’s death.”
Revival and an outpouring of spirituality
Since Kirk’s death, with revivals and spiritual expansion, many have talked about how God took what was supposed to be for evil and used it for good.
“Charlie looks down and says, ‘Well, it was worth it,'” he says. “If we say, “Charlie, if you offer yourself as a martyr, 100 people will come to faith,” he would say, “Sign it.”
Ultimately, Kirk would not have wanted to leave his wife and children, but Turek said he knew he would have wanted to see the revival unfold.
Misconceptions about Kirk
The conversation also turned to misconceptions about Kirk that have spread since his death. These include claims that he is condemning Israel or changing his perspective in some way.
“The day before he was killed, he had a meeting via Zoom with two people in Israel and a man who lives here, so certainly his views on Israel hadn’t changed,” he said. “And the premise of the meeting was what Charlie wanted to know: ‘How can I better answer questions from college students about the situation with Israel and Hamas?'”
Turek continued, “Charlie was frustrated that some people think they have to agree with everything the Israeli government does. If they don’t, he’s anti-Semitic in some way. I agree that that’s a frustration, too, because… even if you agree that the Bible says we should bless Israel… the descendants of Abraham… bless people doesn’t mean you agree with people about everything.”
Nevertheless, Turek said it is simply not true that Kirk is “running away from Israel.”
“He knew they were great friends of the area,” he said. “He knew that Islam was the only democracy there. He knew that Islam was a big threat in terms of religious freedom and freedom of speech.”
That’s not all. Mr. Turek also said that claims that Mr. Kirk was considering becoming a Catholic were “nonsense.” While Kirk is said to have respected the Catholic Church, Turek reflected on the fact that people didn’t care if he went to a Catholic church.
“When I go to Protestant churches, people always want to take selfies with me,” he said. “So he enjoyed the beauty of the Catholic Church.”
Ultimately, Turek said he has no intention of backing out of visiting college campuses and is moving full speed ahead with plans to continue telling students the truth.
“Jesus would want us to do that,” he said. “He wanted us to do that, and so did Charlie, so we didn’t cancel any events.”
Watch the full interview above.
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