Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist who helped Donald Trump mobilize youth votes and co-founder of Turning Point USA, passed away Wednesday after being shot at a college event in Utah, Trump announced about the true society. Kirk was 31 years old.
“The great and even legendary Charlie Kirk is dead,” Trump wrote Wednesday afternoon. “I didn’t understand and had the center of the youth of the United States better than Charlie. He was with everyone, especially me, and now he’s not with us anymore. Melania and my sympathy went out to his family with his beautiful wife Erica. Charlie, we love you!”
Kirk’s spokesman Andrew Corvette confirmed his death with the New York Times.
Kirk was attacked on an “American Comeback Tour” with a student at Utah Valley University at about 12:10pm. A bullet penetrated his neck, and he answered student questions about the shooter. He was soon rushed to the hospital by his security. The graphic video of the shooting went viral on social media as Republicans and Democrats shared Kirk’s prayers on social media.
The first suspect was handcuffed, but was later released. Police are continuing to search for shooters. The FBI has launched an investigation with local law enforcement agencies.
Born in the Chicago suburbs, Kirk was a right-wing media personality and CEO of Turning Point Action, a nonprofit political advocacy group that elected Trump for his second term. Connecting religious leaders with local politics, Kirk founded the spin-off organisation Turning Point Faith and also developed the Turning Point Academy with the mission of “reviving noble education.”
Kirk was probably best known for his viral “Prove Me Wrong” video. There, tables were set up on university campuses and students were welcomed to discuss specific topics. On his radio show The Charlie Kirk Show, he supported a conservative cultural perspective and often opposed liberal beliefs related to climate change, critical race theory, and gun control.
Kirk often sparked controversy in his perspective. He opposed gay marriages and insisted on mask orders during the pandemic. Following Trump’s loss in 2020, he breeds disguised allegations about election fraud.
Until Trump’s reelection in 2024, Kirk became one of the most famous faces of the Magazine movement and one of the leading operators to turn young votes red. His excellence in modern political culture is typical of his recent parody of his “prove me wrong” concept in “South Park.”
Kirk’s success in reaching young voters online and promoting conservative beliefs and values in college was recognized by Democrats who wanted to replicate the impact of the turning point on the left. In the first episode of his podcast earlier this year, California Governor Gavin Newsom said, “We must praise California Governor Gavin Newsom for being able to “organize different perspectives on these university campuses, rather than weaponizing weapons.” The governor, one of the leading democrats in the fight against Trump, denounced Kirk on September 10 as “aversion, despicable, and condemnable,” adding that “the United States must reject political violence in all forms.” The country’s top politicians, including JD Vance, Kamala Harris, and Bernie Sanders, also condemned the assassination.
Kirk was survived by his wife, Erica Franzbe and two children.
