How Charlie Kirk shaped a generation of young people into a conservative force

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How Charlie Kirk shaped a generation of young people into a conservative force

[html]Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk speaks to the audience on his "Exposing Critical Racism Theory" tour on Oct. 5, 2021, in Mankato, Minn. (AP Photo/Jackson Forderer, File)

2025-09-11T18:40:09Z

                                       

Charlie Kirk began plotting a way to mold young minds into conservatism at an age when he was still sorting out his own path. Looking to channel         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shooting-utah-university-republicans-8357c3d102de09e3320fde761258131a">his political inclinations into action after a rejection from West Point, Kirk was 18 when he launched a grassroots organization from an Illinois garage that would grow alongside the rise of President Donald Trump and fuel the “Make America Great Again” movement.

Kirk admitted later he had “no money, no connections and no idea what I was doing” when he started         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-shot-utah-turning-point-e771e3967d5a6024f7cf84d5e0228fed">Turning Point USA in 2012. But his rhetorical gifts for countering progressive ideas by leaning into cultural tensions and making provocative declarations instantly resonated with college audiences during the Obama years.

As video clips of his early campus appearances spread online, it helped him secure a steady stream of donations that transformed Turning Point into one of the country’s largest political organizations, attracting young people to star-studded gatherings and making it a presence at high schools and colleges around the country.

   
       




   

“No one understood or had the heart of the youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump said on Wednesday after Kirk was assassinated while speaking at         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-conservative-activist-shot-546165a8151104e0938a5e085be1e8bd">a college in Utah.

           
               
                   

   

       
   


       

       
     
   

   
   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   
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From left, Republican National Committee deputy press secretary Raffi Williams, Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA, and Sen. Ben Sasse R-Neb., participate in a panel discussion in National Harbor, Md., Feb. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

               
           
       
       
   

   
   
   


               
           
       

In the early stages, Kirk described his group as a student organization that advocated for free markets and limited government. He needled peers who bashed capitalism and backed presidential candidate and democratic socialist Bernie Sanders yet “shamelessly enjoy the fruits of the free market,” like Starbucks, Amazon and Netflix.

   
   
       
           
               
   
   


   
   

       
   

           
       
   
   

Over time, Turning Point began holding mass rallies that drew tens of thousands of young voters each year to hear top conservative leaders – Trump included – speaking on glitzy stages with massive screens, pyrotechnics and lighting shows befitting a stadium concert.

Alongside Turning Point’s growth, Kirk’s fame skyrocketed, and he leveraged his nonprofit, celebrity status and a successful podcast into considerable personal wealth.

   
       
   

It is not immediately clear who will lead Turning Point after Kirk’s death.

   
       
   

“You don’t replace a Charlie Kirk,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “He was unique.”

           
               
                   

   

       
   


       

       
     
   

   
   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   
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Minnesota State University Mankato students applaud Charlie Kirk as he finished his speech at an event on Oct. 5, 2021, in Mankato, Minn. (AP Photo/Jackson Forderer, File)

               
           
       
       
   

   
   
   


               
           
       

Turning Point spreads conservative ideas across college campuses

Kirk’s bread-and-butter remained anchored on college campuses.

His final appearance Wednesday at Utah Valley University was the opening event of his latest series, titled the “American Comeback Tour.”

In his college stops, Kirk would often sit beneath a tent, as he was when he was shot. He was often behind his “Prove Me Wrong” table, where he held forth.

He mainly drew young conservatives — many sporting “Make America Great Again” hats — who said they often felt unwelcome or out of place at school. And he had hundreds of Turning Point employees and volunteers there to recruit students into becoming GOP voters and activists themselves.

The real draw, however, was Kirk arguing with students. He seemed to relish jeers when he had a less friendly audience.

Kirk frequently repeated Trump’s false claims that former Vice President Kamala Harris was directly responsible for all immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally. He called George Floyd, a Black man whose death by a Minneapolis police officer sparked a national debate over racial injustice, a “scumbag.”

He espoused culturally conservative views, advocating for gun rights, condemning abortion, holding up women as wives and mothers — and men as heads of households. And he mastered the art of the “what about?” retort, turning questions back on progressives and liberals who challenged him.

Kirk was sometimes kept away from schools. In 2018, Turning Point said a Chicago university denied requests for him to speak on their campus citing safety concerns, and a Florida high school would not allow him to speak to students two months after a teenager with an assault rifle had killed 17 people there.

Tommy Richardson, a 36-year-old from Mesa, Arizona, arrived at the Turning Point headquarters after Kirk’s death was announced. He praised Kirk as a charismatic leader who helped shape his generation of conservatives and “was a champion of everything we believe.”

   
       
   

“That’s a huge legacy that will have repercussions for the political landscape for decades to come,” he said.

           
               
                   

   

       
   


       

       
     
   

   
   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   

   
       

   
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President Donald Trump is joined on stage with Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk as he finishes speaking at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, July 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

               
           
       
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