Charlie Kirk was assassinated on the first stop of Turning Point USA’s ‘American Comeback Tour’ of university campuses.
The ‘prove me wrong’ event where he was shot dead on Wednesday was one of thousands Kirk had hosted since he co-founded the movement in 2012.
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Turning Point claims to be the “largest Conservative student movement” in the US with groups at more than 3,500 universities and high schools, and “exists to educate young people about the importance of limited government, free markets, and freedom” – according to its website.
Kirk and his wider movement have been credited with the surge in Gen Z voters who helped re-elect Donald Trump as president last year.
In his tribute on Truth Social, Mr Trump said they had “brought young people into the political process… better than anybody ever”.
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What is Turning Point USA – and what does it stand for?
Turning Point (TPUSA) is often described as one of the biggest youth movements in the US.
It was set up as a non-profit organisation in the wake of Barack Obama’s re-election to educate more young people about conservative politics and encourage others to spread the word.
It recruits ‘field representatives’ at universities and high schools in all 50 states to create forums for right-wing discussions on the economy, race, religion, and other issues.
TPUSA claims to be “effectively reshaping the culture on college campuses” and says its members are “encouraged to be leaders in their communities and educate others on American ideals”.
It describes its high school sub-section as a “mobilisation of America’s most spirited anti-woke warriors” and a “new generation of pro-America patriots”. Some of its campus events have led to clashes with left-wing groups.
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Who was Charlie Kirk?
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Kirk co-founded TPUSA the day after he finished high school with the help of ultra-conservative Tea Party activist Bill Montgomery, who convinced him to abandon his plans to go to university after hearing him speak.
It is funded largely by conservative donors.
Both the movement and Kirk himself have been in the spotlight over controversies, having expressed anti-transgender, COVID-sceptic, and pro-gun views, as well as support for the false claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Mr Trump.
What else does it do?
Outside of its schools and universities programmes, TPUSA hosts six national summits and eight regional conferences a year – and has several spin-off groups.
Turning Point Action is its grassroots political arm, which talks to voters and helps get conservative candidates elected. Turning Point Faith focuses specifically on religious advocacy, and Turning Point Endowment is responsible for the organisation’s charitable and financial activities.
The movement has its own podcasts, which boast millions of downloads.
The Charlie Kirk Show was hosted by Charlie himself and focuses largely on right-wing politics, while the Culture Apothecary is presented by Alex Clark and promotes conservative attitudes towards health, such as scepticism around birth control.
In 2016, TPUSA created a Professor Watchlist website to list any academics it deemed to “discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom”.
Similarly in 2021, it set up the School Board Watchlist, which publishes the names of school governors who have endorsed what it describes as “anti-racist curricula” or COVID mask mandates.
In 2023, it merged with an organisation called Blexit, originally set up in response to a police killing of a black man in Minneapolis in 2016.
Like TPUSA, the Blexit Foundation has ‘chapters’ and ‘grassroots warriors’ who promote the “black exit from victimhood mentality” and “dispel the notion” that black people are “oppressed simply because of the colour of their skin”.
This year, Kirk’s wife, former Miss Arizona Erika Kirk, hosted TPUSA’s largest ever young conservative women’s event, where she encouraged them to put marriage and children above their careers.
What’s the link to MAGA and Donald Trump?
TPUSA is often credited with galvanising young Trump supporters – during his successful 2016 and 2024 election campaigns, as well as the one that ended in defeat to Joe Biden in 2020.
Mr Trump has spoken at TPUSA events alongside other prominent Republicans such as his former Vice President Mike Pence, Vice President JD Vance, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Kirk attended both the president’s inaugurations and was invited to visit him at the White House on several occasions.
At his father’s second inauguration ball in January, Donald Trump Jr described Kirk as “one of the true rockstars of this movement”.
In 2020, Kirk published a book called The MAGA Doctrine, taking its name from the Trump campaign slogan ‘Make America Great Again’.
In it, he claims: “The movement that brought Donald Trump to the White House has better ideas than the old right or the new left. It’s time the rest of America started listening.”
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His supporters described it as a “powerful reminder of the true narrative of freedom and greatness that swept Donald Trump to the presidency”.
Although the term is loosely used to describe Trump supporters, since 2023, MAGA has been registered as a ‘super PAC’ or ‘independent expenditure-only political action committee’. This means it is free to spend as much money as it wants on supporting him, but is banned from funding his official presidential campaigns directly.
