In my view, we can all agree that the assassination of Charlie Kirk was a senseless, horrific tragedy (those of us that are sane, anyway). Charlie was a healer, not a divider, and the outpouring of praise, respect and love for him since his assassination has been astounding. It’s almost what one might expect for a Head of State. As his wife, Erika and many others have said, if the goal of the assassin was to silence Charlie and his cause the assassin miscalculated greatly, and the repercussions for those who opposed Kirk will be just the opposite.
In fact, it has already begun. His death has sparked international attention and has reignited the condemnation of violence rather than peaceful and respectful discourse as a means of resolving political differences. To paraphrase what Erika said in Charlie’s eulogy and what many other commentators have since reiterated, “they have unleashed the whirlwind.” Trump announced that Kirk would posthumously receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest medal that can be awarded to a civilian.
Charlie has been martyred. As I said, he has become more popular in death than he was in life. In the aftermath (of his assassination), millions of people who had never heard of Charlie Kirk and his forum, Turning Point, have become ardent supporters. They have become cognizant of what he stood for and his ability to communicate peacefully and respectfully with young people, especially college students. TP’s popularity has never been higher. Recently, tens of thousands of fans have been attending TP’s sessions and often there have been many more who could not get into the venue. Fox News has reported that there have been in excess of 120,000 requests for new TP chapters.
Kirk was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs of Arlington Heights and Prospect Heights. He attended Harper College, but he dropped out after one semester to pursue his real dream, political activism. (He was a prime example of “college is not for everyone.”)
He published a range of books and hosted The Charlie Kirk Show, a talk radio program. He co-founded Turning Point (USA) (TPUSA) in 2012 and was its executive director. Kirk described it as a student organization advocating for free markets and limited government. Kirk remained the executive director, chief fundraiser, and the public face of Turning Point USA until his death. Kirk was one of the most prominent voices of the MAGA movement and an ardent supporter of President Trump. Many people viewed him as an icon of contemporary conservatism.
He became renown for visiting college campuses where he would debate peacefully and respectfully with anyone, not only students but also anyone in the audience who espoused an opposing viewpoint. He would listen patiently to their side of an issue and then say “prove me wrong” as he rebutted their arguments.
According to the Associated Press and other media outlets video clips of these campus appearances spread online. AP reported that the result was “a steady stream of donations that transformed TPUSA into one of the country’s largest political organizations.” Eventually, TPUSA began holding massive rallies in which top conservative leaders addressed tens of thousands of young voters.
Commencing in October 2020 Kirk hosted a daily three-hour radio talk show, The Charlie Kirk Show, on Salem Media Group’s “The Answer” radio channel. Also, he launched “Turning Point Live,” which was a three-hour streaming talk show aimed at Gen Z’ers. It was among the most-popular podcasts on Apple Podcasts. According to internal data from TPUSA, Kirk’s podcast was downloaded between 500,000 and 750,000 times each day in 2024.
In 2021, TPUSA launched Turning Point Academy, an online alternative to schools that were “poisoning our youth with anti-American ideas.” TPA was intended to cater to families seeking an “America-first education.”
In a March 2025 interview with California Governor Gavin Newsom Kirk related that while building TPUSA, “I recognized that there was an ideological imbalance on a lot of these college campuses, and we wanted to provide a counterpoint rooted in conservative, pro-freedom, pro-liberty, America First ideas.” He added that when TPUSA began, about 75% of college students identified as Democrat. Non-progressive students were afraid to voice their opinions and beliefs for fear of retaliation from students, professors, and school administrators. TPUSA provided emotional support for them.
TPUSA sought to make both the colleges and professors accountable for their actions. TPUSA’s goal was to shift the youth vote at least 10 points toward Republicans, a target that they achieved by the 2024 presidential election. I believe this shift helped Trump win the election. TPUSA’s other activities include the publication of the “School Board Watchlist” and the “Professor Watchlist,” which are lists sourced by published news stories that describe instances of radical behavior among college professors and schools.
Conclusion
In view of the foregoing, it is easy to see how Kirk became a target of the radical left. In retrospect it should not be surprising that a deranged far-left activist, fueled by the irresponsible, hateful and inaccurate characterizations spewed by Dem politicians and their supporters in the media would decide to assassinate him. Erika Kirk has said she “forgives” the assassin, which is her right, but I and many others cannot. Charlie was a great man, an icon, who was an inspiration to millions. The assassin’s goal was to silence him, but as I said above, it has had the opposite effect.
Rest in peace, Charlie. You will be sorely missed and long remembered.
We Built It Blog by Larry Jacob 