# Who is Charlie Kirk? Why is he important? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 11, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971 "2025-09-11T22:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/1 "2025-09-11T22:13:17Z")
Ok–who is he? He has something vaguely to do with MAGA-youth? Who is this guy? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/2 "2025-09-11T22:15:04Z")
He was an influential MAGA guy. He founded TurningPointUSA, a group that specialized in trying to win over high-school and college-aged folks to the conservative cause. Imagine if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were a prominent liberal Democratic speaker who started her own liberal-youth organization but had never actually run for Congress. That’s kind of who Kirk was to MAGA. He is now getting martyr-treatment. [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/us/charlie-kirk-martyr-conservative-christians.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/us/charlie-kirk-martyr-conservative-christians.html) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/3 "2025-09-11T22:16:37Z")
He was the future of MAGA and their number one recruiter of young voters. Along with Elon Musk, he is one of the two people most responsible for the success of Trump’s 2024 campaign. His assassination is the closest thing to a direct attack on Trump outside of his immediate family. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/4 "2025-09-11T22:18:07Z")
> [@Will Charlie Kirk's assassination set off US civil war/breakup?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-charlie-kirks-assassination-set-off-us-civil-war-breakup/1022958/25): > > Charlie Kirk has been a pretty big draw for the younger ‘conservatives’ that showed up in droves to elect Trump in 2024, and he’s been doing the college talk circuit harder than an up-and-coming stand up comic. He also has a big following on social media and podcast: > > [Slain podcaster, Trump ally Charlie Kirk built influence among young conservatives | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/charlie-kirk-death-reaction-1.7630652) > > > _Kirk had more than five million followers on his X account and drew an audience of more than 500,000 monthly listeners to podcasts of his radio program, The Charlie Kirk Show . He also authored or contributed to several books, including Time for a Turning Point and The College Scam._ > > > > _Kirk showed off an apocalyptic style in his popular podcast, radio show and on the campaign trail. During an appearance with Trump in Georgia last fall, he said that Democrats “stand for everything God hates.” He called Trump’s election race against Kamala Harris “a spiritual battle.”_ > > > > _“This is a Christian state. I’d like to see it stay that way,” Kirk told the 10,000 or so Georgians, who at one point joined Kirk in a deafening chant of “Christ is King! Christ is King!”_ > > > > _Kirk also remained a regular presence on college campuses. Last year, for the social media program Surrounded, he faced off against 20 liberal college students to defend his viewpoints, which included the belief that abortion is murder and should be illegal._ > > He’s a pretty big deal among young MAGAts and the Christian Nationalist contingent. He’s “That Fuckin’ Guy”. > [@Velocity](#): > > I’m having a hard time picturing what the liberal equivalent of him would be - maybe it would be like as if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were a prominent liberal Democratic speaker who started her own liberal-youth organization but had never actually run for Congress. There really isn’t a “liberal equivalent”. Despite his rhetoric, Kirk doesn’t actually have anything of real substance to say. He’s not advocating for any real policy or in support of any kind of affirmative development. He basically just exists to pander to bigotry, pander hatred and conspiranoia, and tell Christians that they should be anything but meek. He gets celebrated a lot for his skill at argumentation but his most common tactic is just to speak loud and fast, pettifogging opponents to tangle them in rhetorical nots rather than present and defend an actual thesis. He was so fucking hollow it’s surprising that he doesn’t sound like a percussion block when he walks. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/5 "2025-09-11T22:20:58Z")
He founded Turning Point USA: > **Turning Point USA** ( **TPUSA** ) is an American [nonprofit organization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonprofit_organization) that advocates for [conservative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism_in_the_United_States) politics on high school, college, and university campuses.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA#cite_note-3)[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA#cite_note-Rebekah_Riess-4) It was founded in 2012 by [Charlie Kirk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Kirk) and [Bill Montgomery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Montgomery_(activist)).[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA#cite_note-ADL-5)[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA#cite_note-6) TPUSA’s affiliate groups include Turning Point Endowment, [Turning Point Action](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_Action) and TPUSA Faith.[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA#cite_note-ADL_TPUSA-7)[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA#cite_note-:6-8)[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA#cite_note-WaPo_2021-07-29-9) TPUSA has been described as the fastest growing organization of campus chapters in America, and according to _[The Chronicle of Higher Education](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicle_of_Higher_Education)_ it is the dominant force in campus conservatism.[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA#cite_note-The_Far_Right's_College_Crusade-10)[[11]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA#cite_note-11) - [SOURCE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA) Kirk was very active on social media and in interviews and staged events at universities (like the one where he was shot) where he would let people ask him questions and he would respond with a conservative answer that would seem almost reasonable unless you thought about it a bit more and understood the rhetorical tactics he used (mostly fallacies of one sort or another…usually a strawman argument or moving the goalposts). This notes some of his views: > Charlie Kirk believed that gay people [should](https://x.com/patriottakes/status/1800678317030564306) be stoned to death, that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was [a “huge mistake,”](https://www.wired.com/story/charlie-kirk-tpusa-mlk-civil-rights-act/) that we should legally be allowed to [whip foreigners](https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-calls-shooting-and-whipping-migrants-southern-border-if-you-enter-we-have) in the U.S., that Muslims only move here to [destroy the country](https://5pillarsuk.com/2025/09/10/islamophobic-u-s-commentator-charlie-kirk-shot-dead-at-university-event/), that American Jews [encourage](https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-jews-are-experiencing-hate-we-white-people-have-been-experiencing-last) anti-whiteness, that men [should](https://bsky.app/profile/ripperoni.com/post/3lyjloionwc2f) physically attack transgender people, that all women [should submit](https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-tells-taylor-swift-submit-your-husband-and-have-ton-children) to their husbands, and that Black professionals [“steal” their jobs](https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/charlie-kirk-legacy) from more qualified white people. - [SOURCE](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/09/no-i-wont-be-shedding-any-tears-for-charlie-kirk/) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/6 "2025-09-11T22:26:48Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Despite his rhetoric, Kirk doesn’t actually have anything of real substance to say. Nitpick: _didn’t_ ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/7 "2025-09-11T22:27:13Z")
MHO: He’s (in)famous for being (in)famous. (In)famous enough, in fact, to have his body returned home on Air Force Two. > **[Charlie Kirk's body will be flown on Air Force Two to his home in Arizona,...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/charlie-kirk-flown-air-force-two-arizona/)** > > Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an event at Utah Valley University Wednesday. His body will be flown on Air Force Two to Arizona, where he lived with his family, officials said. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/8 "2025-09-11T22:27:58Z")
And who is paying for that? (really asking) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/9 "2025-09-11T22:28:55Z")
I personally hope his estate will be billed, but don’t bet on it. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/10 "2025-09-11T22:38:57Z")
MAGA really screwed up here, not getting an American [Blutfahne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blutfahne) out of this is embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/11 "2025-09-11T22:52:48Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > He basically just exists to pander to bigotry, pander hatred and conspiranoia, and tell Christians that they should be anything but meek. He gets celebrated a lot for his skill at argumentation but his most common tactic is just to speak loud and fast, pettifogging opponents to tangle them in rhetorical nots rather than present and defend an actual thesis. He was sort of a political shock jock to me, however little he was on my radar. He said things that were inflammatory on purpose to get attention, but that really resonated with right wing folks, especially MAGA types. Much of his rhetoric came across very similar to how a troll (and particularly a sea lion) might communicate online. A great deal of it was especially callous, even for a right wing figure. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/12 "2025-09-11T23:13:14Z")
He was like Glenn Beck, Tucker Carlson, and Joe Rogan rolled into one with the debate tactics of Duane Gish and the smarmy personality of Seth McFarlane. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/13 "2025-09-12T00:18:25Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > …and the smarmy personality of Seth McFarlane. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2TAVx7wgqMc/maxresdefault.jpg "McNulty: What the fk did I do?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TAVx7wgqMc) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/14 "2025-09-12T01:52:13Z")
Since you mentioned Glenn Beck, his 19-year-old daughter was “there.” Literally, just feet from the tent, and she saw the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/15 "2025-09-12T02:04:39Z")
People are getting fired for saying negative things about him: > **[Matthew Dowd's firing begins flood of people facing consequences for their...](https://apnews.com/article/dowd-msnbc-kirk-comments-e08f349022c9d69171cd575664141075)** > > Former MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd opened a floodgate of people who faced consequences for statements in the media — social or otherwise — in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/16 "2025-09-12T02:26:32Z")
Most of it has been said - - he was very influential in getting younger voters, particularly men, to vote for DJT in 2024 - he has a HUGE following among Evangelical Christians - he had close relationships with many prominent GOP officials - he was well known to and admired by the MAGA faithful at large - he was very close to DJT, et al One thing not mentioned here that I think is worthy of note - **he would have turned 35 in October of 2028** meaning he would have been able to run for and follow Trump as POTUS. I think if he had wanted that he would have been able to take the nomination in a walk. He had more charisma in his pinkie toe than JD Vance will ever have. He was definitely very important to the viability of the future of MAGA. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/17 "2025-09-12T03:25:58Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > People are getting fired for saying negative things about him: These statements are far less harsh than many things said (some of them by Kirk himself) about the attack on Paul Pelosi. What a bunch of fucking hypocrites who can sling shit but can’t take it coming back at them. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/18 "2025-09-12T03:55:26Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > He’s “That Fuckin’ Guy”. I’d heard of him. I’d seen the memes, ‘Conservative Guy With The Weird Gums’, but I didn’t know that was he. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/19 "2025-09-12T13:43:19Z")
That South Park episode where Cartman becomes a master debater suddenly makes a lot more sense to this middle aged Brit. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971/20 "2025-09-12T19:49:08Z")
Let us not forget that he did not want to fly on an airliner with a [Black pilot.](https://blacknews.com/news/charlie-kirk-did-not-like-black-people-called-mlk-awful-george-floyd-scumbag/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMxWBtleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFya0xLSDd4cVRuRVc5QjMyAR5Wi2rBfPs4Evyb0Oik411wP2IByRIEpdprXP0cDJ3mQw28BB5nViAUk8HBLQ_aem_nB8I1S-_GZLbc6-GkCzt9Q) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-charlie-kirk-why-is-he-important/1022971.md?page=2)