From Grassroots Activist to Trump's Right Hand Man: Who Was Charlie Kirk?

Key Points:

Charlie Kirk Shot: The conservative activist and aide to Donald Trump was killed at Utah Valley University on Wednesday 10 September 2025 while in the middle of a debate on mass shootings.

Kirk was the biggest face of America’s youth conservative movement, whose activism involved advocating for conservative values across schools and colleges, preaching these values on news channels and social media, and expanding the Republican voter base.

He was also the biggest right-wing influencer in the country, with over 5 million followers on social media, where he propagated traditionalist Christian values. A lot of Charlie’s commentary can also be perceived as racist and anti-immigrant, conspiracies, and something that endorses the MAGA movement.

He started several organizations aimed at developing a base for Republican politics in the younger generation and mobilizing action against left-leaning individuals and institutions.

He was a close associate of Donald Trump, helping him with his election campaigns and advising him on Presidential decisions.

In 2021, Kirk married Erika Frantzve, who was Miss Arizona USA, 2012 – the same year Kirk founded Turning Point USA. Erika is a staunch Christian and conservative like Kirk. They have two children together.

Charlie Kirk was born in Chicago, 1993. His parents – a mental health counselor and an architect - were casual Republicans and staunch Christians. He grew up in an affluent suburban neighborhood and attended a public school. He first established himself as a conservative in middle school, and in high school he made his first stand against “Marxist teachers”.

In his junior year, he volunteered under future Senator Mark Kirk (no relation) on his election campaign. In his senior year, he led a successful boycott against rising cookie prices in his cafeteria, writing in a Facebook post:

“Together we can show the establishment the power of our generation. Cookies are the highlight of most school days, only to be DOUBLED in price without our consultation? NO! Enough of the manipulation. We must stand together in this fight. Fight the Power!”

Thus began his career in activism.

Soon after, Kirk started a short-lived student organisation called SOS Liberty which he platformed through YouTube videos and speeches at conservative events. It was through one of these speeches that he met former businessman and Republican donor, Bill Montgomery. Montgomery approached Kirk and encouraged him to pursue activism full time.

Kirk had recently been rejected from West Point, the US’s most prestigious military academy. Instead of pursuing a college degree, a day after his graduation, Kirk founded Turning Point USA, his most influential organisation.

Activism

Turning Point USA (TPUSA), is a non-profit that advocates for conservative politics across education institutions. Its mission statement says it aims to “identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.” It currently has over 3,500 chapters across campuses, according to its website.

Kirk founded this organisation in 2012, the same year President Obama was re-elected. He pitched it as a grassroots initiative meant to counter the influence of a similar progressive group, MoveOn. Kirk aimed to improve the image of the Republican Party amongst the youth by developing a substantial online presence and providing an opposition to progressive movements across colleges.

He organised events at campuses where he would invite students to come and debate him on a variety of topics. Many clips from these debates have gone viral over the years, with him hosting his now iconic “Prove Me Wrong” table.

In 2016, Turning Point began publishing its Professor Watchlist, a website that lists ‘radical-left’ teachers who "discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values, and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." In 2021, it launched the similar School Board Watchlist, which would "hold district leaders accountable for 'dangerous agendas'”.

In 2019, Kirk launched Turning Point Action, an offshoot advocacy group that worked directly with voters to garner support for Republicans while targeting Democrats. In 2021, he founded Turning Point Faith, another associate organisation that aimed to meld conservative politics with Christian values.

In 2020, TPUSA made a revenue of USD 39.2 million, while Kirk earned USD 325,000 as CEO. The same year, an independent investigation into the company revealed financial irregularities in its practice.

See Also: Progressives Who Reviled Charlie Kirk’s Politics Repudiate His Murder

Politics

Many of TPUSA’s funders aligned themselves with Texas Senator Ted Cruz leading up to the 2016 presidential elections and so did Kirk. But as Cruz’s candidacy dissipated, Kirk looked to pivot.

In the lead up to the election, Kirk had initially described himself as “not the biggest Donald Trump fan in the world.” But as he got acquainted with Donald Trump Jr., his position changed. He began advocating for Trump’s presidency and even took a break from TPUSA to help with his campaign.

After this, TPUSA backed Trump unequivocally, becoming an important tool in his MAGA campaign. Turning Point Action acquired ‘Students for Trump’-- a student organisation hoping to get Trump re-elected as President in 2020 and launched a campaign across campuses to recruit 1 million for his campaign. After Trump’s loss in the elections, TPUSA and Trump’s team fell into an icy blame game.

But Kirk doubled down on his endorsement. He used his platform to peddle theories of voter fraud and pushed to overturn the election result. On 5 January 2021, a day before the Capitol attack, he claimed to be sending more than “80 buses of patriots to D.C. to fight for this president.”

Before the 2024 elections, Kirk took out his ‘You’re Being Brainwashed’ tour across campuses to improve Gen Z voter turnout, a category Trump ended up doing well with – white, gen z men, specifically. TPUSA and Kirk were credited with helping Trump get elected in 2024. After Trump’s win, Kirk joined him as an advisor to select candidates for his Cabinet.

The same year, TPUSA declared a revenue of USD 85 million.

Views and Opinions

Kirk was in the news many times for his opinions – whether to disseminate them or to defend them. He regularly showed up on Fox News, at Trump rallies and in viral clips, but was most prolific on his podcast.

He ran The Charlie Kirk Show, a podcast where he dissects current affairs from his “signature no-holds-barred, unapologetically conservative, freedom-loving point of view,” as stated in the show’s description. This was a three-hour long daily talk show hosted on Christian radio channel The Answer, that was downloaded between 500,000 and 750,000 times daily in 2024.

His views on both politics and social issues were often controversial, often backed by misinformation, and based on far-right conspiracies.

He famously referred to Covid-19 as the ‘China Virus’, dismissed mask requirements and social distancing as unscientific, claimed hydroxychloroquine was "100% effective in treating the virus," and promoted anti-vaccination campaigns.

In a Jubilee video from 2024, he argued that abortion is murder and stated that there should be no exceptions. When asked if a 10-year-old rape victim should be forced to deliver a baby, he replied that she should.

He has repeatedly argued against white privilege, dismissing it as a racist idea, while positing the Great Replacement theory – a conspiracy that immigrants are replacing white citizens in positions of power. He dismissed the Civil Rights Act as “a huge mistake”, called George Floyd a “scumbag”, and criticized Martin Luther King Jr. as a “very flawed man”. In 2025, with Zohran Mamdani looking to become Mayor of New York City, Kirk posted, “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.”

Kirk was also a staunch Christian nationalist, advocating for a state based on Christian values. Though his views on religion and governance were more secular before 2018, they shifted notably since, as evident when he founded Turning Point Faith.

This was also reflected in his views on LGBTQ issues, which saw a similar shift post 2018. In 2024, he publicly opposed gay marriage and has disparaged transgenderism many times.

His most consistent theme over the years was his view of liberal education, which he argued was poisoning the minds of the youth. He argued for inculcating traditionalist values in curriculums and even started the Turning Point Academy in 2021 for "families seeking an America-first education."

Finally, and most relevant, are his views on gun ownership. Kirk was himself a gunowner and proud advocate for gun rights. Speaking at a TPUSA Faith event in 2023, he said, “I think it's worth having 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.”

Death

Charlie Kirk had set up his famous “Prove Me Wrong” table at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, September 10, as the first stop of his “The American Comeback Tour.”

About 20 minutes into the event, around 12:20 p.m., he was in the middle of a debate on mass shootings when he was shot in the neck. At 2:40 p.m., President Donald Trump confirmed his death through a post on social media:

“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!”

Many government officials and politicians – both Republicans and Democrats – have expressed their condolences on social media. The FBI is investigating the incident along with local and state police. Two suspects were arrested and subsequently released for having no connection to the crime. It is believed the gunman acted alone.

Kirk is survived by his wife, Erika, and his two children – a 3-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy. [Rh/DS]

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