Right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, dead at 31, played key role in Trump's 2024 victory

By Steve Gorman and Helen Coster

(Reuters) - U.S. right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk was credited with building President Donald Trump's base among younger voters, galvanizing conservative youth and rising to international prominence through a group he founded at age 18.

Kirk, an Illinois native who founded the conservative student group Turning Point USA and went on to become a rising star in the Republican Party under Trump, had just returned to the United States from an overseas speaking tour when he was shot to death on Wednesday. He was 31 years old.

The shooting came as Kirk, the president of Turning Point USA, was addressing a large outdoor crowd on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah.

The Utah governor described Kirk's death as a "political assassination." The motive is unknown and it was not clear whether a suspect had been arrested.

On Sunday, Kirk headlined an event in Tokyo organized by the far-right Sanseito party, which made big gains in Japan's upper house election in July. He also recently spoke in South Korea.

Kirk had 5.3 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."

INFLUENCE BUILT ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

In addition to founding Turning Point USA in 2012 with conservative activist Bill Montgomery, Kirk launched Turning Point Action in 2019 as a non-profit advocacy group backing conservative candidates for office.

Turning Point USA, an organization dedicated to advancing conservative causes on college campuses, was instrumental in driving youth support for Trump in the November 2024 election.

Kirk’s Turning Point events were raucous, a mix of a political rally, tent revival, rock concert and professional wrestling match. Speakers would take the stage backed by ear-splitting anthems and bright pyrotechnics before often high-spirited crowds of thousands.

"No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie," Trump wrote on his online platform Truth Social in announcing Kirk's death. "He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us."

Trump ordered flags flown at half-staff in Kirk's honor.

Kirk was provocative, taking aim at Muslim politicians, including Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh and Islam as a whole. He said in April, "Islam has conquest values. They seek to take over land and territory, and Europe is now a conquered continent."

He repeated conspiracy theories popular among white nationalists. During an August podcast episode, Kirk accused Democratic lawmaker Jasmine Crockett, who is Black, of being part of an “attempt to eliminate the white population in this country.”

The son of a counselor at a mental-health clinic and an architect, Kirk saw his political career propelled with a 2012 op-ed he wrote for conservative media outlet Breitbart that caught the attention of Fox News, according to a February New York Times report.

Fox then booked Kirk to discuss the national debt, the Times reported. That appearance led to a speech at Benedictine University, where he met Montgomery, a Tea Party activist. Montgomery encouraged Kirk to spread his message to college campuses, and registered the name Turning Point USA for Kirk in July 2012.

Kirk is survived by his wife Erika, a former Miss Arizona USA beauty pageant winner, and their two children.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Helen Coster in New York; Additional reporting by Jim Oliphant, Jasper Ward, Andrew Hay, Brad Brooks, Andrea Shalal, Joseph Ax, Jana Winter, Kanishka Singh; editing by Donna Bryson, Chris Reese and Stephen Coates)