Charlie Kirk, Conservative Activist and Founder of Turning Point USA, Dies at 31

Charlie Kirk will be missed.

Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who rose from suburban Chicago to become one of the most influential and divisive figures on the American right, was gunned down on September 10, 2025. He was 31.

For more than a decade, Kirk was a combative presence in U.S. politics. His sharp-tongued commentary, savvy organizational skills, and unapologetic embrace of culture-war battles made him a hero to many on the right and a constant lightning rod for critics on the left.

A Rapid Ascent

Kirk’s political rise was strikingly fast. In 2019, at just 25 years old, he announced the launch of Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4) offshoot of his already fast-growing student-focused group, Turning Point USA. The new entity was designed to take direct aim at Democrats in electoral politics.

That same year, Kirk acquired Students for Trump, pledging to mobilize one million young voters for President Trump’s 2020 re-election bid. The campaign fell short of its lofty target, and with youth enthusiasm lagging, tensions emerged between Turning Point and the Trump campaign over who was to blame.

Still, Kirk’s ambitions only grew. Later in 2019, he joined forces with Jerry Falwell Jr. to establish the Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty, a think tank at Liberty University that blended religion, politics, and conservative activism. The initiative, though criticized by Liberty students and alumni for its overtly partisan mission, injected itself into the national conversation, spending heavily on political ads during the 2020 election. After Falwell’s resignation later that year, Liberty rebranded the center in 2021 as the “Standing for Freedom Center.”

Controversy and January 6

Kirk was no stranger to controversy. On January 5, 2021, the day before the Capitol attack, he tweeted that his organization was sending “buses of patriots” to Washington, D.C. In reality, seven buses carrying about 350 people made the trip, largely funded by Publix heiress Julie Fancelli, who contributed $1.25 million. Kirk also paid $60,000 for Trump ally Kimberly Guilfoyle to speak at the rally that preceded the violence.

When the Capitol was stormed, Kirk quickly distanced himself, claiming it was not an insurrection. Called to testify before the House January 6 Committee, he invoked the Fifth Amendment. His team turned over 8,000 pages of documents, and a Turning Point USA spokesperson maintained that the group had never advocated violence.

Recasting the Republican Party

Even after January 6, Kirk remained a force in conservative circles. In December 2022, he launched the Mount Vernon Project, aimed at reshaping the Republican National Committee by ousting what he saw as establishment-aligned conservatives in favor of grassroots activists. For allies, the initiative embodied Kirk’s long-term vision: a populist Republican Party energized from the ground up.

His unapologetic style and willingness to challenge establishment figures made him beloved by his base. To critics, however, he embodied the very forces that inflamed polarization and undermined traditional conservatism.

A Generational Figure

By his early thirties, Kirk had achieved what few activists ever do: he made himself and his organizations central to the conversation about the future of the American right. Through Turning Point USA, his media presence, and a string of bestselling books, he became a defining figure for a new generation of conservatives.

Kirk often spoke about the “illusionary truth effect” — the idea that repeating a claim often enough makes it feel true. He both criticized and deployed that phenomenon in the cultural battles he waged, railing against what he saw as a media-driven distortion of American values.

Legacy and Loss

Whether history will see him as a visionary or a provocateur, Kirk left his mark on American politics. He built institutions from scratch, pushed the Republican Party toward a more populist identity, and refused to be timid in either rhetoric or strategy.

At just 31, his death leaves unanswered questions about how far his influence might have gone had his life not been cut short. What is certain is that Charlie Kirk altered the landscape of conservative politics in his generation and his absence will be felt by allies and opponents alike.

Our heartfelt prayers go out to his family and friends.