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Charlie Kirk

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This article is about the American activist. For other people named Charles Kirk, see Charles Kirk (disambiguation).

Charlie Kirk
Kirk in July 2025
Born
Charles James Kirk

(1993-10-14)October 14, 1993
Arlington Heights, Illinois, U.S.
DiedSeptember 10, 2025(2025-09-10) (aged 31)
Orem, Utah, U.S.
Cause of deathGunshot wound
EducationHarper College (dropped out)
Occupations
  • Political activist
  • author
  • media personality
Years active2012–2025
OrganizationsTurning Point USA
Turning Point Action
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
(m. 2021)​
Children2
AwardsSee full list
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2018–2025
Genre
Subscribers3.95 million[1]
Views1.09 billion[1]
Silver Play Button100,000 subscribers
Gold Play Button1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: September 10, 2025
Kirk's voice
Kirk on the influence of religion on people's behavior
Recorded March 15, 2022

Charles James Kirk (October 14, 1993 – September 10, 2025) was an American right-wing political activist, author, and media personality. He co-founded the conservative organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA) in 2012 and was its executive director. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Turning Point Action (TPAction) and a member of the Council for National Policy (CNP). The Washington Post described him as "one of the most prominent voices on the right" in his later years.[2]

Kirk was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs of Arlington Heights and Prospect Heights, Illinois. In high school, Kirk actively engaged in politics, supporting Mark Kirk (no relation) and his U.S. Senate campaign, as well as campaigning against a price increase in his school's cafeteria. He briefly attended Harper College before dropping out to pursue political activism full-time, influenced by Tea Party member Bill Montgomery. In 2012, Kirk founded TPUSA, a conservative student organization that quickly grew with backing from donors like Foster Friess.

Kirk expanded the organization's influence through initiatives like the Professor Watchlist and School Board Watchlist, which sought to fire or silence professors for sharing opinions opposed by Turning Point. Critics called this a form of modern day McCarthyism. In 2019, Kirk founded Turning Point Action, a political advocacy arm, and later, with Pentecostal pastor Rob McCoy, formed Turning Point Faith—aimed at mobilizing religious communities on conservative issues. Kirk hosted The Charlie Kirk Show, a conservative talk radio program. A key ally of Donald Trump, Kirk promoted conservative and Trump-aligned causes. He received criticism for a variety of controversial statements regarding his opposition to gun control, COVID-19 vaccines mandates, abortion, LGBT rights, his criticism of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Martin Luther King Jr., and promotion of Christian nationalism and the Great Replacement theory.

In September 2025, Kirk was shot and killed at the age of 31 while speaking at a TPUSA event on the campus of Utah Valley University, as part of his long-running public debate events at universities across the United States.

Early life and education

Charles James Kirk was born on October 14, 1993, in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois,[3] and raised in nearby Prospect Heights. His mother is a mental health counselor, and his father is an architect.[4] Kirk was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and earned the rank of Eagle Scout.[5] In 2010, during his junior year at Wheeling High School, he volunteered for the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Illinois Republican Mark Kirk (no relation).[6] In his senior year, Kirk created a campaign to reverse a price increase for cookies at his school.[4] He also wrote an essay for Breitbart News alleging liberal bias in high school textbooks, which led to an appearance on Fox Business.[7]

At a subsequent speaking engagement at Benedictine University's "Youth Empowerment Day", Kirk met Bill Montgomery, a retiree more than 50 years his senior, who was then a Tea Party–backed legislative candidate.[8][9]

Montgomery encouraged Kirk to engage in political activism full-time.[4] He subsequently founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a "grass-roots organization to rival liberal groups such as MoveOn.org." At the 2012 Republican National Convention, Kirk met Foster Friess, a prominent Republican donor, and persuaded him to finance the organization.[10][8]

Kirk attended Harper College near Chicago. He withdrew before completing a degree or certificate.[11]

Leadership of Turning Point organizations

Turning Point USA

Main article: Turning Point USA

Kirk was CEO, chief fundraiser, and the public face of Turning Point from its founding to his death in 2025.[12][5] He co-founded the organization in 2012 at 18 years of age.[11] According to The New York Times, he turned the organization into a "well-funded media operation, backed by conservative megadonors like the Wyoming businessman Foster Friess."[13] TPUSA's activities include publication of the Professor Watchlist and the School Board Watchlist.[14]

Kirk and President Donald Trump speaking with attendees at a Turning Point Action Conference in 2023

In 2020, ProPublica investigated the finances of TPUSA and claimed in their report that the organization made "misleading financial claims", that the audits were not done by an independent auditor, and that the leaders had enriched themselves while advocating for Trump. ProPublica also reported that Kirk's salary from TPUSA had increased from $27,000 to nearly $300,000 and that he had bought an $855,000 condo in Longboat Key, Florida.[15] In 2020, Turning Point USA had $39.2 million in revenues.[16] Kirk earned a salary of more than $325,000 from TPUSA and related organizations.[17]

In 2021, TPUSA announced an online academy targeted towards students in schools "poisoning our youth with anti-American ideas." Turning Point Academy was intended to cater to families seeking an "America-first education." Arizona education firm StrongMind initially partnered with TPUSA with plans to open the academy by the fall of 2022 and assessed its "potential to generate over $40 million in gross revenue at full capacity (10,000 students)." The partnership ended after StrongMind received backlash from its own employees and key subcontractor Freedom Learning Group, who prepared course content for the academy, also backed out of the academy after learning that it would be run by TPUSA.[18]

Turning Point Action

Main article: Turning Point Action

In May 2019, it was reported that Kirk was preparing to launch Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4) entity designed to target Democrats.[19] In July 2019, Kirk announced that Turning Point Action had acquired Students for Trump along with "all associated media assets."[20] He became chairman and launched a campaign to recruit one million students for the 2020 Trump re-election campaign.[21] The unsuccessful effort led to TPUSA and the Trump campaign blaming each other for an overall decline in youth support for Trump.[22] In December 2022, Kirk announced the Mount Vernon Project, an initiative by Turning Point Action to remove members from the Republican National Committee who were determined by them to not be allied with "grassroot conservatives" and to cut off donorship to members who "vote[d] incorrectly".[23]

Turning Point Faith

After Liberty University did not renew Kirk's contract with the Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty in 2021, Kirk founded Turning Point Faith, an organization dedicated to "recruit pastors and other church leaders to be active in local and national political issues."[24] Its activities include faith-based voter drives "and educating members on TPUSA's core values."[25] According to TPUSA's 2021 Investor Prospectus, the program—with a budget of $6.4 million—"will 'address America's crumbling religious foundation by engaging thousands of pastors nationwide' in order to 'breathe renewed civic engagement into our churches'."[26]

Talk radio

From October 2020 until his death, Kirk hosted a daily three-hour radio talk show, called The Charlie Kirk Show, on Salem Media's "The Answer" radio channel.[27][28] According to internal data from Turning Point USA, Kirk's podcast was being downloaded between 500,000 and 750,000 times each day in 2024.[29]

Political positions and activities

Kirk was the William F. Buckley Jr. Council Member of the Council for National Policy (CNP), a group "that has served for decades as a hub for a nationwide network of conservative activists and the donors who support them",[30] according to the CNP's September 2020 membership directory leaked in February 2021.[31][32][33] He was a spokesperson for CNP Action, the political arm of the CNP.[32][34] In March 2025, President Trump appointed Kirk to the United States Air Force Academy Board of Visitors. Other notable people appointed by Trump included Senator Tommy Tuberville, Col. Doug Nikolai, and Dina Powell[relevant?].[35][36] Kirk's last political rally had taken place in Kentucky, where he appeared alongside Senate candidate Nate Morris.[37][38]

Republican and pro-Trump activism

Kirk with President Donald Trump at a rally in 2021

Kirk addressed the 2016 Republican National Convention.[39] In an interview with Wired magazine during the convention, Kirk said that while he "was not the world's biggest Donald Trump fan", he would vote for him, and that Trump's candidacy made Turning Point's mission more difficult.[40] Kirk flipped to supporting Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention and spent the remainder of the campaign assisting with travel and media arrangements for Donald Trump Jr.[7]

In October 2016, Kirk participated in a Fox News event along with Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Lara Trump that had a pro-Donald Trump tone.[41]

In July 2019, Kirk became chairman of Students for Trump, which had been acquired by Turning Point Action, and launched a campaign to recruit one million students for the 2020 Trump reelection campaign.[21] The unsuccessful effort led to TPUSA and the Trump campaign blaming each other for an overall decline in youth support for Trump.[22]

At an August 2020 meeting of the Council for National Policy, Kirk said: "Democrats have done a really foolish thing by shutting down all these campuses ... It's gonna remove ballot harvesting opportunities and all their voter fraud that they usually do on college campuses – so they're actually removing half a million votes off the table. So please keep the campuses closed – it's a great thing. Whatever!"[30]

Matthew Rosenberg and Katie Rogers wrote in the The New York Times that Kirk "[walks] the line between mainstream conservative opinion and outright disinformation" and that "with a powerful ally in the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., Mr. Kirk both amplifies the president's message and helps shape it.[7]

In December 2022, Kirk warned the Republican National Committee that they needed to listen to their grassroots voters or face the consequences of ignoring them. Kirk stated that "If ignored, we will have the most stunted and muted Republican Party in the history of the conservative movement, the likes of which we haven't seen in generations."[23]

Kirk was an early investor in 1789 Capital, which invests in conservative "MAGA" businesses. Trump Jr. joined 1789 Capital in November 2024, after Trump won the 2024 election.[42]

Prior to the 2024 presidential election, Kirk visited approximately 25 college campuses, marketed as the "You're Being Brainwashed" tour. His aim was to stir up more Gen Z voter turnout, and he would engage and debate with students on many different relevant topics. According to Turning Point Action, the tour produced around two billion viral views on social media.[43] The tour has been praised as having a "critical role" in helping Donald Trump's election.[44] Kirk aided the president-elect in choosing leadership positions for his administration, including cabinet positions.[45]

Promotion of falsehoods and conspiracy theories

According to Forbes, Kirk was known for "his repudiation of liberal college education and embrace of pro-Trump conspiracy theories."[46] Kirk promoted the antisemitic Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, and described universities as "islands of totalitarianism."[5][47][48]

External videos
video icon Charlie Kirk ~ The Conservative Forum ~ 9-8-2015 on YouTube (Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley) (at 2:10–3:20)

In a 2015 speech at the Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley, Kirk stated that he had applied to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, and was not accepted.[12] He said that "the slot he considered his went to 'a far less-qualified candidate of a different gender and a different persuasion'" whose test scores he claimed he knew.[5] He told The New Yorker in 2017 that he was being sarcastic when he said it.[5]

He told the Chicago Tribune in 2018 that "he was just repeating something he'd been told",[4][49] while at a New Hampshire Turning Point event featuring Rand Paul in October 2019 he claimed that he never said it.[49]

In July 2018, Kirk falsely claimed on social media that Justice Department statistics showed an increase in human trafficking arrests from 1,952 in the year 2016 to 6,087 in the first half of 2018. He deleted the tweet without an explanation the next day, after a fact-checker had pointed out that the false 2018 number had originated on a conspiracy site 8chan.[50][51]

In December 2018, Kirk falsely claimed that protesters in the French yellow vests movement chanted, "We want Trump." These false claims were later repeated by President Trump himself.[52]

Kirk spread falsehoods about voter fraud[53][54] and the COVID-19 pandemic.[46] In defending the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kirk falsely stated that, during the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, it "took President Barack Obama 'millions infected and over 1,000 deaths'" to declare a public health emergency.[55][56] In actuality, when the Obama administration acknowledged the WHO's declaration of a public health emergency on April 26, 2009,[57] there were less than 280 cases of H1N1 infection reported in the US,[58] and the first confirmed death (of a Mexican toddler on vacation) would only occur the subsequent day, April 27.[59] The WHO projected 1,000,000+ US cases on June 25, after declaring a pandemic on June 11.[60]

COVID-19 misinformation

Kirk with Simone Gold, founder of America's Frontline Doctors, at a TPUSA forum in 2020

Kirk spread false information and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 on social media platforms, such as Twitter, in 2020. Kirk sharply criticized Democrats' criticism of Donald Trump's withdrawal of World Health Organization (WHO) funding and referred to COVID-19 as the "China virus", which was retweeted by Trump.[7]

Kirk alleged that the WHO covered up information about the COVID-19 pandemic. He was briefly banned from Twitter after falsely claiming that hydroxychloroquine had proved to be "100% effective in treating the virus";[7] he alleged that Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan, threatened doctors who tried to use the medication.[7] These falsehoods were retweeted by Rudy Giuliani whose account was then suspended by Twitter as well.[7][61] Kirk also described the public health measure of social distancing prohibitions in churches as a "Democratic plot against Christianity" and made the unfounded assertion that authorities in Wuhan, China, were burning patients.[7] In 2020, Kirk said that he refused to abide by mask requirements, stating that "the science around masks is very questionable."[46][62]

In July 2021, Kirk promoted misleading claims about the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines.[17] On Fox News' Tucker Carlson show, Kirk called mandatory requirements for students to take the COVID-19 vaccine "medical apartheid".[63]

Election fraud claims and the 2021 United States Capitol attack

Immediately after Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, Kirk promoted false and disproven claims of fraud in the election.[64][65] On November 5, 2020, Kirk was the leader of a Stop the Steal protest at the Maricopa Tabulation Center in Phoenix.[66]

Charlie Kirk was considered a "big name" social influencer in Rudy Giuliani's communications plan to overturn the 2020 election.[67]

On January 5, 2021, the day before the Washington, D.C., protest that led to the January 6 United States Capitol attack, Kirk wrote on Twitter that Turning Point Action and Students for Trump were sending more than 80 "buses of patriots to D.C. to fight for this president".[68][69][70] A spokesman for Turning Point said that the groups ended up sending seven buses, not 80, with 350 students.[68][71] In the lead-up to the storming, Kirk said he was "getting 500 emails a minute calling for a civil war."[72] Publix heiress Julie Fancelli gave Charlie Kirk's organizations $1.25 million to fund the buses to the January 6 event. Kirk also paid $60,000 for Kimberly Guilfoyle to speak at the Trump rally.[73]

Afterward, Kirk said the violent acts at the Capitol were not an insurrection and did not represent mainstream Trump supporters.[74][75]

Appearing before the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, Charlie Kirk pleaded the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. His team however "provided the committee with 8,000 pages of records in response to its requests."[76] In another closed-door meeting of the House January 6 Committee, Ali Alexander blamed Kirk and Turning Point USA for financing the travel of demonstrators to the Stop the Steal rally.[77]

Social policy

Abortion

In a debate hosted by Jubilee Media, Kirk argued that there may be situations wherein abortion could be medically necessary if the mother's life is at risk. However, he also argued that abortion is murder and should be illegal. He opposed exceptions for rape.[78]

Gun rights and the Second Amendment

Kirk was a gun owner and gun rights advocate. After the Parkland shooting in February 2018, he spoke for the National Rifle Association in Parkland, Florida.[79][80] Kirk was invited by a student to a pro-gun event in the school where the shooting happened, but the event was cancelled. He had said that guns, armed guards and gun detectors could be used in order to prevent shootings in schools and campuses.[81][82]

In an April 2023 Turning Point USA event in Salt Lake City, Utah, Kirk said: "I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights."[83][84][85]

Views on relationships and "sexual anarchy"

In October 2021, Kirk said on his podcast that Democrats wanted Americans to live where "there is no cultural identity, where you live in sexual anarchy, where private property is a thing of the past, and the ruling class controls everything." Following social media backlash, he released a statement on the website of the Claremont Institute doubling down on and expanding his remarks.[86][87][88]

According to Media Matters, at the TPUSA Young Women's Leadership Summit 2022 Conference, Kirk said that the "biblical model" for women to pursue in romantic relationships is a partner who is "a protector and a leader, and deep down, a vast majority of you agree" and that "if you want to go meet conservative men that have their act together, that aren't like, woke beta men, like, start a Turning Point USA chapter, you'll meet a lot of them."[89]

Kirk advocated for parents to never let their daughters receive prescriptions for birth control medication for any reason. He claimed that the medication makes women angry and bitter, which he alleged suited the political leanings of the Democratic Party.[90]

Anti-BDS laws

In May 2025, Kirk voiced opposition to a bipartisan proposal that would expand anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions laws (BDS) punishing the boycott of Israel, saying, "We've allowed far too many people who hate America move here from abroad, but the right to speak freely is the birthright of all Americans."[91]

Race and Martin Luther King Jr.

Kirk said that the concept of white privilege is a myth and a "racist idea".[92][12][93] Kirk served on President Donald Trump's 1776 Commission, a response to the 1619 Project.[94] Assuming "more hard-right positions", he said that Democratic immigration policies were aimed at "diminishing and decreasing white demographics in America."[33][95] In October 2021, Kirk began the "Exposing Critical Racism Tour" of a number of campuses and off-campus venues to "fight racist theories on America's college campuses!"[96][97] On the Minnesota leg of the tour on October 5, 2021, Kirk called George Floyd a "scumbag" and appeared to refer to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol when he said that "if you dare walk into the U.S. Capitol building and take a selfie, they'll put you in solitary confinement."[98]

In a November 2021 Fox News article, Kirk wrote that he believed state power should be used to stop teachers from instructing children on critical race theory: "directly confronting the left, and promising to fight their illiberal ideology with state power when necessary, is the key to winning everyday Americans."[99][100]

Kirk praised Martin Luther King Jr. prior to December 2023, variously calling him a "hero" and a "civil rights icon"; that December, however, he used a speech at AmericaFest to describe him as "awful ... not a good person" and as someone who is admired only because he "said one thing he didn't actually believe." The speech also saw Kirk condemn the Civil Rights Act of 1964, calling its passage a "huge mistake" and alleging that it had created a "permanent DEI-type bureaucracy".[100] Kirk told The New York Times, "I take the Caldwellian view, from his book The Age of Entitlement, that we went through a new founding in the '60s and that the Civil Rights Act has actually superseded the U.S. Constitution as its reference point. In fact, I bet if you polled Americans, most of them would have more reverence for the Civil Rights Act than the Constitution. I could be wrong, but I think I'm right."[101] In January 2024, Kirk said that a "myth" had been created around King which had "grown totally out of control" and that King was currently "the most honored, worshiped, even deified person of the 20th century" despite "most people" supposedly disliking him during his life. Responding to accusations by Malcolm Kenyatta that he was working to undermine King and the Voting Rights Act, Kirk called this claim "a lie" and "fear-mongering", and added that telling the "truth" about King "should not be trampling sacred ground" since he was "just a man ... a very flawed one at that" and a "mythological anti-racist creation of the 1960s." Kirk later said he had "found the sacred cow of modern America" in criticizing King.[102]

Also in January 2024, Kirk blamed DEI programs for national aviation issues, saying, "If I see a Black pilot, I'm going to be like, 'Boy, I hope he's qualified.'"[103][104][105] He had previously expressed opposition to DEI programs, describing them as "anti-White".[106] NBC News further reported that Kirk's comments about DEI programs and his comment about Black or African American airline pilots resulted in ongoing conflict with the Republican National Committee over outreach to Black voters.[29]

Kirk posted on Instagram in March 2024 that "The 'Great Replacement' is not a theory, it's a reality." Alongside this statement, Kirk shared a screenshot from a Fox News story headline that read; "7.2M illegals entered the U.S. under Biden admin[istration], an amount greater than population of 36 states."[107] After Elon Musk was widely criticized for endorsing an antisemitic post that referenced the Great Replacement Theory and blamed "Jewish communities" for supporting mass migration, Kirk defended Musk, stating that "Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them."[108]

School board activism

In May 2021, Kirk tweeted for parents to protest at school board meetings urging parents to stand up and push back on mask mandates and the teaching of critical race theory.[109]

LGBTQ issues

According to a 2024 NBC News report, Kirk was relatively secular regarding LGBTQ issues in 2018, but shifted towards more socially conservative stances.[110] Kirk argued there is an "LGBTQ agenda",[110] and he opposed gay marriage.[111]

In 2024, Kirk cited Leviticus 20:13 ("If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them") as "God's perfect law when it comes to sexual matters".[112]

Kirk argued against gender-affirming care for transgender people, saying, "We must ban trans-affirming care — the entire country. Donald Trump needs to run on this issue", according to Media Matters.[113]

Kirk stated that "there are only two genders" and that "transgenderism and gender 'fluidity' are lies that hurt people and abuse kids".[88]

Religion

The Christian denomination to which Charlie Kirk belonged was the Calvary Chapel Association.[114]

Initially, in the 2010s, Kirk was described as secular and a critic of religious influence on politics and the state.[110][115] "We do have a separation of church and state, and we should support that" Kirk told Dave Rubin in 2018.[110] In 2021, Kirk partnered with California pastor Rob McCoy to launch TPUSA Faith to mobilise conservative Christians to vote Republican. Kirk's shift was influenced by events such as Trump's move of the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and COVID-era church closures, which he and his allies portrayed as religious persecution.[110]

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After his switch from secularism to Christianity, Kirk was described as a Christian nationalist who advocated for the end of the separation of Church and state in the United States.[112][116][110] In 2024, Kirk stated, "One of the reasons we're living through a constitutional crisis is that we no longer have a Christian nation, but we have a Christian form of government, and they're incompatible. You cannot have liberty if you do not have a Christian population".[117][118] Appearing at a Trump campaign rally in the same year, he declared "This is a Christian state. I'd like to see it stay that way".[119] Kirk promoted the Seven Mountain Mandate, a Dominion theology concept which calls for Christians to control seven spheres of society (government, education, media, arts and entertainment, business, family, and religion).[110]

Islam

Following the victory of Zohran Mamdani in the 2025 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, Kirk posted that "24 years ago a group of Muslims killed 2,753 people on 9/11. Now a Muslim Socialist is on pace to run New York City." Liberal Fox News commentator Jessica Tarlov asked Kirk to take down the "gross and islamophobic" post.[120] In a separate post, Kirk argued that "It's not Islamophobia to notice that Muslims want to import values into the West that seek to destabilize our civilization."[121]

In 2018, Kirk spoke at the annual conference of anti-Muslim group ACT for America, an organization with multiple ties to Turning Point USA.[122]

Foreign policy

Israel

Kirk was highly supportive of Israel.[123][124][125][126] Amidst the Gaza war, Israeli politicians and political activists including Itamar Ben-Gvir, Eli Cohen, Danny Danon, Benny Gantz, Isaac Herzog, Yoav Kisch, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yair Netanyahu, Amir Ohana, Miri Regev and Miki Zohar mourned Kirk's death, with many describing him as a "friend" of Israel and linked his death to anti-Zionist activism.[127]

Iran–Israel War

Main article: Iran-Israel War

In June 2025, Kirk opposed the involvement of the United States in the Iran–Israel War.[128]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Main article: Russo-Ukrainian War

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kirk characterized the Russo-Ukrainian War as a "border dispute" and spread false claims from Russian state media that Ukrainian forces were firing mortar shells at a Russian separatist enclave in Ukraine.[129] The Donetsk People's Republic was a breakaway state created by Russian people's militias in Ukraine in 2014.[130] A report by the French Institute of International Relations in 2016 found that Russian nationalism has also shaped the official ideology of the breakaway Luhansk People's Republic.[131] Following the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, in April 2014 , the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Security and Defence Council launched an anti-terrorist operation "in the war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine".[132]

At the February 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference, Kirk said that "The southern border matters a lot more than the Ukrainian border" and that "In fact, I want every Republican leader who comes up on stage the next couple days to call what's happening on the southern border an invasion because two million people waltzed into our country last year."[133]

Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty

In November 2019, Kirk and Jerry Falwell Jr. co-founded the "Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty", a right-wing think-tank funded, owned and housed by Liberty University.[134][135][24] Fellows included Antonia Okafor, director of outreach for Gun Owners of America; Sebastian Gorka, former deputy assistant to President Trump; and Jenna Ellis, a senior legal counselor for Trump.[136][135] In 2020, the Falkirk Center spent at least $50,000 on political Facebook advertisements promoting Trump and Republican candidates.[137]

Students and alumni raised objections about the organization's aggressive political tone, which they considered to be inconsistent with the university's mission.[135][24] Falwell resigned as president of Liberty University in August 2020, and the university did not renew Kirk's one-year contract in late 2020. In 2021, the university renamed the organization "Standing for Freedom Center".[24]

Awards, achievements and honors

Kirk was listed on the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Law & Policy.[138][139]

In May 2019, Kirk was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities (D.Hum.) from Liberty University.[140]

Kirk was appointed by Donald Trump in 2020 to a commission promoting "patriotic education".[46]

Books

Kirk co-wrote, with Brent Hamachek, the 2016 book Time for a Turning Point: Setting a Course Toward Free Markets and Limited Government for Future Generations (Simon & Schuster).[141]

Kirk wrote the 2018 book Campus Battlefield: How Conservatives Can WIN the Battle on Campus and Why It Matters. Donald Trump Jr. wrote the foreword for the book.[142] In a review for The Weekly Standard, Adam Rubenstein described the book as a "hot mess", "nothing more than a marketing pitch for [Turning Point USA]" and said the "thin" book was "stuffed with reprintings of his tweets and quotes from others."[143]

Other books include The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future (2020),[144][145] The College Scam: How America's Universities Are Bankrupting and Brainwashing Away the Future of America's Youth (2022),[146] and Right Wing Revolution: How to Beat the Woke and Save the West (2024).[147]

Bibliography

  • Hamachek, Bruce; Kirk, Charlie (October 4, 2016). Time for a Turning Point: Setting a Course Toward Free Markets and Limited Government for Future Generations. Post Hill Press. ISBN 9781682612477.
  • Kirk, Charlie (October 9, 2018). Campus Battlefield: How Conservatives Can WIN the Battle on Campus and Why It Matters. Post Hill Press. ISBN 9781642930948.
  • — (March 3, 2020). The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future. Broadside. ISBN 9780062974686. {{cite book}}: |last1= has numeric name (help)

Media

Kirk debating with a college student in April 2024

As of December 7, 2021, The Charlie Kirk Show podcast was ranked as the 21st most popular podcast on Apple Podcasts.[148] Kirk's "Turning Point Live" was a three-hour streaming talk show aimed at Generation Z. Turning Point USA's monthly online average grew to 111,000 unique visitors in 2021.[149] A February 2023 Brookings Institution study found Kirk's podcast contained the second-highest proportion of false, misleading and unsubstantiated statements among 36,603 episodes produced by 79 prominent political podcasters.[150]

In 2022, journalist Bari Weiss released a report of internal Twitter documents dubbed "The Twitter Files", which alleged that Twitter was censoring conservative personalities on the social media platform. Weiss posted screenshots of Twitter tools that moderators could use to limit the reach of posts and accounts. According to Rolling Stone magazine, Kirk's Twitter account was flagged under "do not amplify", which meant algorithms would not highlight tweets coming from those accounts.[151][152]

In April 2024, Kirk created a TikTok account after previously expressing skepticism of the social media platform. Kirk's account gained popularity on the platform after he posted numerous videos of him talking to college students during his campus tours, with some videos garnering as many as 50 million views.[101]

In February 2025, Kirk signed with Trinity Broadcasting Network to host a weekday talk show, Charlie Kirk Today.[153]

Personal life

Kirk and his wife, Erika Frantzve, speaking together at an event in Texas in 2025

Kirk was an evangelical Christian.[154] In May 2021, he married Erika Frantzve, a businesswoman, podcaster, and philanthropist who won the Miss Arizona USA pageant competition in 2012.[155][156] The couple's first child, a daughter, was born in August 2022.[157] The couple's second child, a son, was born in May 2024.[158]

Death

Main article: Shooting of Charlie Kirk

On September 10, 2025, while on stage at Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem, Utah, for a TPUSA event known as "The American Comeback Tour",[159] Kirk was shot fatally in the neck. The shooting took place around 12:20 p.m. MST (18:20 UTC), 20 minutes after the event began.[160][161][162] Footage recorded at the moment of the shooting shows him recoiling while speaking and blood pouring from his neck. A university spokesperson later stated that a suspect was in custody, but the person was determined not to be the shooter.[163][164][165][166]

Kirk was taken to the Timpanogos Regional Hospital in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead later that afternoon at the age of 31.[167][168] His death was publicly announced by U.S. president Donald Trump on 4:40 p.m. EDT (20:40 UTC) by a post on Truth Social, and was later confirmed by Kirk's spokesperson.[163][169]

At 6:21 p.m. EDT (22:21 UTC), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Kash Patel announced on social media that a "subject" was in custody.[170][163] Utah governor Spencer Cox confirmed that there was one person in custody and that it was believed the perpetrator acted alone.[163] This individual was later released after interrogation.[171] At a press conference, FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls described the investigation as "in its early stages" and encouraged members of the public to come forward with information.[172]

Reactions

Main article: Shooting of Charlie Kirk § Reactions

Following the shooting, prior to Kirk's pronounced death, Trump called for prayers for Kirk on Truth Social.[173][174][163] Other politicians echoed the sentiment while condemning the act of political violence, including Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, former president Barack Obama, former president Joe Biden, former president George W. Bush, former president Bill Clinton, former vice president Kamala Harris, former vice president Mike Pence,[175] California governor Gavin Newsom,[162] Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu,[176][177] British prime minister Keir Starmer,[178] Canadian prime minister Mark Carney,[179] Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Argentine president Javier Milei, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, and former British primer minister Boris Johnson.[180]

Following Kirk's death, President Trump issued an order for all U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff throughout the United States in his honor until September 14 at 6:00 p.m.[181] The White House correspondent Maggie Haberman stated that "the mood at the White House in the wake of the shooting was one of shock and sorrow", and that many in the Trump administration admired Kirk.[163]

References

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  157. ^ Kirk, Charlie [@charliekirk1776]; (August 29, 2022). "Welcome to the world baby girl. We love you so much.❤️ Erika did so so well, praise God! 🙏". Retrieved November 28, 2022 – via Instagram.
  158. ^ Kirk, Charlie (May 20, 2024). "Glory be to God for the birth of our Son! Erika did so amazing, I am so proud of her!". www.facebook.com. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  159. ^ Pitts, Emma (September 9, 2025). "Charlie Kirk brings 'Prove Me Wrong' tour to Utah this week". Deseret News. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  160. ^ "Charlie Kirk Shooting: Visual Timeline, Maps and Photos". September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
  161. ^ "Charlie Kirk shot during event at Utah university". The Guardian. September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  162. ^ a b "Charlie Kirk: Trump ally shot dead at campus event in Utah". BBC News. September 10, 2025. Archived from the original on September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  163. ^ a b c d e f Barrett, Devlin; Thrush, Glenn; Patil, Anushka; Pager, Tyler; Mineiro, Megan; Toler, Aric; Ahn, Ashley; Levenson, Michael; Draper, Robert; Baker, Mike; Kanno-Youngs, Zolan; Testa, Jessica; Bensinger, Ken; Goldberg, Emma; Sakamoto, Rex; Walker, Mark (September 10, 2025). "Live Updates: Charlie Kirk, Right-Wing Influencer, Shot in Utah". The New York Times. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  164. ^ Pitts, Emma; Terry, Eva (September 10, 2025). "Charlie Kirk shot at Utah event, suspect not in custody". Deseret News.
  165. ^ Powell, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury, Aditi Sangal, Dalia Faheid, Elizabeth Wolfe, Tori B. (September 10, 2025). "Live updates: Charlie Kirk shot at Utah Valley University event". CNN. Retrieved September 10, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  166. ^ "The American Comeback Tour". The American Comeback Tour. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  167. ^ "JUST IN: Charlie Kirk is in critical condition at hospital after being shot at Utah event, AP source says". Associated Press. September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  168. ^ Romine, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury, Aditi Sangal, Dalia Faheid, Elizabeth Wolfe, Tori B. Powell, Cindy Von Quednow, Taylor (September 10, 2025). "Utah Department of Public Safety and FBI are leading criminal investigation into Kirk's death, official says". CNN. Retrieved September 10, 2025. After Kirk was shot, he was taken 'by private vehicle' to Timpanogos Regional Hospital, where he died...{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  169. ^ Trump, Donald (September 10, 2025). "The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!". Truth Social. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  170. ^ Patel, Kash [@FBIDirectorKash] (September 10, 2025). "The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody. Thank you to the local and state authorities in Utah for your partnership with @fbi. We will provide updates when able" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  171. ^ Patel, Kash [@FBIDirectorKash] (September 10, 2025). "The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement. Our investigation continues and we will continue to release information in interest of transparency" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  172. ^ FBI Salt Lake City Press Office (September 10, 2025). "Remarks Delivered by Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls at a Press Conference Regarding Sept. 10 Shooting at Utah Valley University". fbi.gov (Press release). Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  173. ^ Liptak, Kevin (September 10, 2025). "Trump calls for prayers for Charlie Kirk". CNN. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  174. ^ Trump, Donald (September 10, 2025). "We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!". Truth Social. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  175. ^ Powell, Tori B. (September 10, 2025). "Prominent political figures react to Kirk's death". CNN. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  176. ^ "Trump and Netanyahu: 'Praying for Charlie Kirk'". Ynetglobal. September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  177. ^ Powel, James (September 10, 2025). "Politicians react after Charlie Kirk is fatally shot at Utah event". USA Today. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  178. ^ Gooch, Bryony (September 10, 2025). "Sir Keir Starmer leads UK tributes to Trump ally and right-wing activist Charlie Kirk". The Independent. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  179. ^ Morrison, Catherine (September 10, 2025). "Canadian politicians condemn shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  180. ^ "Israeli, world officials give condolences, condemn Charlie Kirk assassination". The Jerusalem Post. September 11, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  181. ^ "Live: Donald Trump announces Kirk's death". BBC News. September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
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