Riley Gaines shares emotional Charlie Kirk tribute after Utah assassination: 'We don’t have to live like this'

Gaines, the host of OutKick’s "Gaines for Girls" podcast, mourned Charlie Kirk in an emotional video Thursday after the conservative activist was assassinated during a campus event in Utah.

Riley Gaines mourned the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who she called "a friend and mentor," in a lengthy, emotional video in which she condemned the act of political violence against the popular conservative activist. 

Gaines, the host of OutKick’s "Gaines for Girls" podcast and a 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer, shared her thoughts in a video posted by OutKick Thursday. The video came after the killing of Kirk, who was fatally struck by a single bullet during a speaking event on the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday. 

Charlie Kirk speaks at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah, prior to the assassination. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)

"I’ve lost a friend, a mentor, the person I go to," Gaines began. "The intellectual mind and genius that is Charlie Kirk, the generational talent, I truthfully believe that his impact alone as one person and what he’s been able to do through Turning Point, which I’m a very very proud contributor of, I talk about it on this show all the time, what he’s been able to do is transform a nation, revive a culture. A culture of young people, people just like me."

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Gaines, who sat alongside Kirk for the "American Comeback Tour" event at San Francisco State University in May, mourned for Kirk’s wife and two young children. 

"I lost a friend and a mentor, Erika lost her husband, I can’t help but think about her. This is one of the most kind and compassionate women you can possibly imagine. This was her