Turning Point USA founder and CEO Charlie Kirk was assassinated at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday afternoon. As of Thursday morning, police and federal agents are engaged in a manhunt for the shooter whose identity and motive have yet to be determined.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Newsmax on Thursday that Kirk "will be a voice in the future." Ernst noted how Kirk touched the lives of her own children with his open debate style on college campuses.

"He inspired them, and he challenged them. And they appreciated his promise of faith and his fellowership of God and just spreading the truth about our nation and the greatness of the United States of America. So again, our sincerest sympathies to the family of Charlie Kirk," she said on "Wake Up America."

"He will be a voice yet in the future as well. I know that he may be silenced in the form of his physical body, but his words will remain and continue to inspire others well into the future," said Ernst.

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