Charlie Kirk, the prominent right-wing activist and podcast host, was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. He was 31.
Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, Kirk went on to become one of the most polarizing figures of his generation. In 2012, when Kirk was just 18, he cofounded the influential conservative youth organizing group Turning Point USA. Kirk specialized in digital and grassroots organizing, harnessing social media to reach young voters. He eventually became a key ally and adviser to President Donald Trump.
Trump announced Kirk’s passing on Truth Social Wednesday afternoon. “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!”
Kirk was killed at an event TPUSA was hosting at UVU in Orem, Utah, as part of his organization’s American Comeback Tour, a nationwide campus tour aimed at “equipping students with the tools to push back against left-wing indoctrination in academia,” according to a February press release announcing the series. There are over 800 TPUSA chapters at schools across the country.
Kirk’s Turning Point played an instrumental role in the right’s efforts to dominate the digital political sphere. Over the past few years, the organization has scouted and developed right-wing talent, providing social media creators with platforms and funding to spread conservative ideology across the internet. Kirk was known as a powerful fundraiser, helping TPUSA raise more than $85 million in 2024 alone, according to tax records.
Some of the right’s most popular creators, from Benny Johnson to Jack Posobiec, have had stints as Turning Point contributors, often helming live shows and podcasts like Culture Apothecary by Alex Clark. Kirk also hosted his own daily current events podcast called The Charlie Kirk Show, which regularly topped download charts.
“For so many conservative influencers and content creators, Charlie Kirk represented the blueprint. When I was just 12 years old and Charlie was hardly 18, he was the first person to reach out to me in this movement,” CJ Pearson, a prominent GOP creator, tells WIRED. “His legacy will endure because of the concerted effort he made to incubate the next generation of conservative leaders.”
Kirk championed numerous right-wing causes and was frequently condemned by critics for his incendiary rhetoric. He was a fixture on college campuses across the country, giving speeches imploring young people to embrace Trump and conservatism writ large, and decrying the popularity of what he described as gender ideology and Marxism. He echoed similar ideas in his books, including the 2020 bestseller The MAGA Doctrine. He frequently argued that the United States is a fundamentally Christian country, borrowing from Christian nationalist rhetoric and characterizing the right’s opposition of progressive politics as a spiritual battle.
His influence grew even larger in 2020, when Kirk repeatedly spread misinformation about Covid-19. He fiercely opposed public health measures to stop the spread of the virus, such as mask mandates and school closures, and mocked the World Health Organization. Kirk also led a Stop the Steal rally in Arizona shortly after Trump lost the 2020 election, spreading conspiracy theories about President Joe Biden’s win.
“Charlie Kirk is now a martyr,” Johnson said in an X post on Wednesday. “The world will change forever now, a sign of how dominant and powerful Charlie’s work was.”
On Truth Social, Trump called for flags to be lowered to half-mast until Sunday evening to honor Kirk.
Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Turning Point Action chief operating officer Tyler Bowyer did not respond to a separate request from WIRED.
