Charlie Kirk

        

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Charlie Kirk
YouTuber Information
Handle	@RealCharlieKirk
Style	Commentary
Date joined	January 30, 2018
Twitter / X	@charliekirk11
Facebook	Charlie Kirk
Instagram and Threads	@charliekirk1776
Other media	Telegram Apple Podcasts
Videos	1.8K+
Schedule	Unscheduled
Status	Active (Charlie Kirk himself is deceased, but the channels are run by his official organization)
Associates	Ben Shapiro • Matt Walsh • Turning Point USA
Personal information
Full name	Charlie James Kirk
Nationality	American
Location	Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Pronouns	he/him
Channel trailer
Most viewed video
First video

The Charlie Kirk Show Clips
YouTuber Information
Handle	@CharlieKirkShorts1776
Style	Commentary
Date joined	April 13, 2023
Videos	69
Schedule	Unscheduled
Status	Inactive (deceased)
Most viewed video
First video

Charles James Kirk † (October 14, 1993 – September 10, 2025 [aged 31]) was an American right-wing commentator and the founder of Turning Point USA.

Early life

Kirk was born in a prosperous family in Illinois. His father, Robert W. Kirk, held the position of project architect manager for Trump Tower in New York. He ventured into political engagement following Barack Obama's presidency. In 2010, he aligned himself with the Tea Party and volunteered for the US Senate campaign of Illinois Republican Mark Kirk, despite not sharing any familial relation. By 2012, he authored his initial piece for Breitbart, expressing dissatisfaction with what he perceived as "liberal bias" in high school economics textbooks. Although he was marketed as "Trump's representative on campus," Kirk ultimately discontinued his studies at community college, with an unverified claim that he was denied admission to West Point, for which he attributed affirmative action as the reason, although without any substantiating evidence.

Politics

Charlie was a Christian, Conservative, right-wing Youtuber. In 2012, he co-founded the right-wing Turning Point USA organization, which wants to put conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses.

On October 12, 2023, a clip of Charlie on the PBD Podcast resurfaced, where he says that he is against Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Israel has been trying to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip in Palestine. He also later says that he is pro-Israel, but is against the current Israeli Government. On September 16, 2025, Youtuber Candace Owens, who was a friend and collaborator of Kirk made a video about the shooting which led to his death and alleged Israel's government was involved with it.

Turning Point USA

Turning Point USA is a Christian Nationalist organization was started by Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgomery on June 5, 2012. It was financed by the Koch network with the aim of rebranding traditional conservatism to be more appealing to millennials. They achieve this by sharing memes and image macros. These images predominantly feature uplifting quotes from prominent conservative figures like Ronald Reagan, Ben Shapiro, Ismael Ryan Boukari, and Chairman Kirk himself. They also include quotes from socialists like George Orwell and Nelson Mandela, taken out of context to fit their narrative. Their go-to template often involves a top panel featuring a liberal quote, for instance, "Capitalism is bad" by Bernie Sanders, and a bottom panel with TPUSA's response, typically accompanied by a picture of Charlie Kirk or a stock photo model with lensless glasses, mimicking a trendy look. They also employ hashtags like #BigGovSucks, #SocialismSucks, #iHeartCapitalism, and #iHeartFossilFuels to promote their messages.

Bill Montgomery passed away in July 2020 from COVID-19, despite downplaying the severity of the virus for several months. In 2021, during the pandemic, Kirk mobilized his followers against COVID vaccine mandates and propagated false information about vaccine effectiveness and "medical raids."

Turning Point UK

Turning Point UK, a branch inspired by TPUSA, co-founded by Kirk and Candace Owens in 2018, it's currently overseen by George Farmer, the son of a prominent Conservative Party supporter. They espouse right-wing ideologies reminiscent of those associated with Donald Trump and strongly advocate for a hard Brexit. The organization's team includes prominent figures such as Kirk himself, Candace Owens, Tom Harwood, Darren Grimes, Oliver Anisfield, George Farmer, and Joe Mappin. Unfortunately, when Turning Point attempted to establish itself across the Atlantic, it encountered a challenging start, with a rapid influx of parody accounts that attributed anarcho-capitalist ideas to the organization.

Controversies

Professor Watchlist

The Professor Watchlist was launched by TPUSA on November 21, 2016. It's a website that identifies college professors accused of promoting leftist ideologies and discriminating against conservative students. The initiative was created to expose academics who TPUSA claims promote "leftist propaganda" in classrooms, with the organization encouraging public submissions of alleged incidents. As of December 2016, the list featured 250 professors, often citing articles from the conservative outlet Campus Reform. George Yancy and Kent State professor Julio Pino compared the watchlist to McCarthyism, that it fosters a climate of fear and public shaming. The Council for Defence of British Universities has criticized TPUSA's UK counterpart's watchlist "Education Watch", as "populist rightwing propaganda".

Educators listed have received harassment and threats; such as, Abdul-Malik Ryan of DePaul University compared pro-Israel Republicans to white nationalists. In 2023, Arizona State University (ASU) President Michael Crow formally requested that TPUSA remove ASU faculty members from its "Professor Watchlist" due to reports of harassment, intimidation, and threats directed at faculty following a TPUSA event on campus.

On December 8, 2016, in protest to the watchlist, over 100 faculty members from University of Notre Dame signed an open letter asking to be added to the Watchlist in solidarity with two of their colleagues who had been listed: Gary Gutting and Iris Outlaw. Then over 1,500 professors and faculty from around the world petitioned and also went to the "Free Academics" websiteto to have their names also added to the list in solidarity with those targeted.

Feud with Nick Fuentes

In October 2019, Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump, Jr. visited UCLA to promote Don Jr.'s controversial book, titled "Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us." They anticipated confronting easily provoked, left-leaning individuals and were met with heckling from a surprising source—supporters of Donald Trump. More precisely, these hecklers were fans of the far-right YouTuber Nick Fuentes, often referred to as "groypers," a term associated with a distorted version of Pepe the Frog. Fuentes, known for his white nationalist and Holocaust denial beliefs, has criticized TPUSA, Dan Crenshaw, Ben Shapiro, and other right-wing figures and organizations, claiming they do not adhere to his far-right ideology, although they make efforts in that direction. Nick would go on to criticize Kirk multiple times over the years until his death, where he held a eulogy the day after on his stream.

January 6 Capitol Attack

TPUSA was among the sponsors of the pre-riot gathering leading up to the unsuccessful January 6 United States Capitol attack coup attempt in 2021. Kirk promoted a rally in Washington, D.C., the day before the riot, tweeting that TPUSA and Students for Trump were sending more than 80 buses of supporters to the city. This event, later referred to as the "March to Save America," was linked to the broader "Stop the Steal" movement challenging the 2020 election results. Ali Alexander, an organizer of the "Stop the Steal" campaign, later testified before the House Select Committee and accused Kirk and TPUSA of financially supporting the transportation of protesters to Washington, D.C.. Kirk deleted a tweet in which he bragged about funding over 80 buses for the riot. TPUSA, the 501(c)(4) affiliate of TPUSA, was listed as a coalition partner on the now-removed "March to Save America" website. A man charged in the Capitol riot, Robert Sanford, stated he arrived in Washington, D.C., on a bus organized by TPUSA. A spokesperson for TPUSA claimed the Sanford was not participating in their bus efforts. Students for Trump, another project by TPUSA, was responsible for organizing the buses.

TPUSA initially denied involvement in the events of January 6. The organization and Kirk faced scrutiny for their role in mobilizing supporters. Kirk was interviewed by the January 6 Committee but invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to most questions. TPUSA’s promotion of election fraud claims and its mobilization efforts prior to January 6 drew criticism, with some describing the group as a significant force in amplifying pro-Trump rhetoric and misinformation leading up to January 6.

Assassination

On September 10, 2025, while on stage at Utah Valley University answering a question about American gun violence, Kirk was shot in the neck at 12:23 pm local time. The shot was believed to have come from the roof of a building 142 yards across from where Kirk was sat. Two seperate individuals were detained for suspicion of perpetrating the shooting, but were later released. Kirk died later that day due to the gun wound at age 31. His death was announced by Donald Trump at 4:40 p.m. and was later confirmed by Kirk's spokesperson. A different suspect has been apprehended by the name of Tyler Robinson, who was turned in by his own father to the FBI on September 12.

Trivia

• In 2018, Charlie was a fan of Jay-Z and Kanye West.

References

Attribution

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