ALLENTOWN, Pa. — On the eve of vigils in the Lehigh Valley and nationwide honoring slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, Fox News commentator Greg Gutfeld said he didn't feel safe.
"There was a selfish part of my brain saying, 'Am I next?'" Gutfeld told an audience announced as nearly 5,000 for his Greg Gutfeld 2020 presentation Saturday night at PPL Center.
"His death is a true martyrism."Conservative TV talk show host Greg Gutfeld, about Charlie Kirk
But Gutfeld, whose Fox News program "Gutfeld!" is television's most-watched late-night talk show, said he decided that overcoming fear was part of the message of Kirk, who was fatally shot at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
"They shot him because he was effective," Gutfeld told the audience. "They couldn't counter his passion and wit, so they just killed him.
"It was like Charlie was the energy that just got released. We are going to fight harder than ever. His death has created a rebirth, a re-setting.
"His death is a true martyrism."
Kirk's death, as could be expected, was a large subject of Gutfeld's presentation — 17 minutes of Gutfeld's 52-minute show (plus a question-and-answer period.)
But the program also touched on subjects including ABC-TV's sudden suspension of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, former President Joe Biden, President Donald Trump, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Gutfeld's co-workers at FOX, and more.
Despite being a constant attack on liberals, the show also included fun recollections of Gutfeld's time working for Rodale publishing company and living in the Lehigh Valley.
"You are in the fun party," he told the right-leaning crowd. "They [liberals] have no humor. They have no wit."
A talk show
Much like the talk and political discussion shows Gutfeld hosts on Fox News, his show at PPL Center had him and guest comedian Tom Shillue — a FOX contributor — seated on sofa chairs and talking about mostly politics.
In fact, the show didn't stray far from what Gutfeld does on TV — simply changing location to a live stage.
The audience sat, reserved, for most of the show, occasionally booing when a Democrat was shown on the large screen, or laughing at jokes at their expense.
But Kirk was the most pressing topic.
When Gutfeld put Kirk's photo on the large screen behind him, the PPL Center crowd rose to its feet in a standing ovation.
Gutfeld called the shooting of Kirk during a public appearance "the biggest political story of my lifetime" and said people will remember where they were when they heard word of Kirk's death "like the [space shuttle] Challenger explosion" in 1986.
He said he knew Kirk for 10 years and appeared at events for Kirk's Turning Point organization, as well as had him on Gutfeld's show.
Gutfeld said the reaction to Kirk's death showed the difference between conservatives and liberals.
"There were no crimes committed in protest" of Kirk's death, Gutfeld said, referring to civil unrest after the 2023 police killing of George Floyd.
"It's not about one sick man," Gutfeld said of Kirk's alleged shooter. "It's about a sick party."
Criticizing Democrats
The bulk of the show was commentary criticizing prominent Democrats:
Jimmy Kimmel: The late-night talk show host's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" was paused by ABC-TV after Kimmel said in a monologue that the "MAGA gang" was "desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them."
"It's hilarious how the media is trying to compare him to Charlie Kirk," Gutfeld said of Kimmel. "He didn't get fired on — he got fired.
"If you ever want to know if something's [liberals'] fault, wait for them to say, 'It's both sides.'"
President Biden: Gutfeld called the Biden presidency "the biggest cover-up in political history. They hid the danger of competence, and the media hid the dangers of Biden."
He noted Biden is just six months older than Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, and asked what the response would be if Biden was the singer of that group.
Kamala Harris: Gutfeld said of Harris's new memoir, "107 Days": "We know she didn't write it. She probably didn't read it. She was a DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] hire."
President Trump: Gutfeld said Trump — who he said showed him up close the bullet wound to his ear from the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt — was, "in my opinion, the most consequential president in my lifetime."
Gutfeld said that included President Ronald Reagan, whom he said he met at a dinner and even ate the chicken Reagan left on his plate.
"We're never going to be able to look at politics the same way again" after Trump, Gutfeld said.
Remembering the Lehigh Valley
Perhaps some of the show's most interesting moments came when Gutfeld commented on his time living in the Lehigh Valley.
For 10 years early in his career, he was a staff writer at Emmaus-based Rodale Press's Prevention magazine and editor for other Rodale magazine.
"I could talk about the Lehigh Valley for the rest of the show."Greg Gutfeld
"Ah, the Lehigh Valley," Gutfeld said to open his time on stage. He told the crowd he was looking forward to visiting former strip club Erv's BYO, but found it had closed — as had The Brass Rail restaurant.
He later made references to Catasauqua and the food at Stahley's Cellarette in Allentown.
Gutfeld said he once called up late Allentown Mayor Joe Daddona for an article, "and he would not shut up. I was on the phone with him for two hours."
He said he lived on 11th Steet in Allentown and would go to Louie's restaurant "almost every night." He also mentioned the former Sterling Hotel, Rockin' Robins and the Stonewall bar.
He said as a Rodale editor, he made sure the Allentown bar Cannon's, which closed in 2007, was included in an article about the best dive bars in America.
He said it was where he got in his last fistfight ever.
"I could talk about the Lehigh Valley for the rest of the show," Gutfeld said.
