Charlie Kirk was a rising star MAGA conservative influencer who was assassinated at a town hall at Utah Valley University on Wednesday when a bullet pierced his throat in the middle of a well-attended speaking engagement.
Kirk, 31, the CEO of Turning Point USA, rose to prominence on YouTube and X and became famous for his unapologetic — and often boldly stated — conservative opinions.
Kirk’s Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action grassroots organization grew from a total revenue of $4.3 million in 2016 to $92.4 million in 2023 — with a vast majority of it coming from donations, The New York Times reported.
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It has a presence in over 3,500 high schools and college campuses nationwide and boasts over 250,000 student members, according to TPUSA’s website.
Kirk’s upbringing
Kirk grew up in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. His mother is a mental health counselor, and his father ran his own architecture firm, Baptist News reported, citing the 2022 book “Raising Them Right.”
As a young boy, the go-getter was a member of the Boy Scouts and later became an Eagle Scout.
In his senior year at Wheeling High School, Kirk wrote an essay for Breitbart News alleging liberal bias in high school textbooks, which led to an appearance on Fox Business, the New York Times reported.
That same year, Kirk led a successful boycott of cafeteria cookies after a price hike, which peers said portended his ability to rally people to a cause, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Kirk attended Harper College near Chicago but dropped out before getting a degree — opting instead for a career in politics after just a few weeks of class, the Economist reported.
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Kirk shares two kids with wife Erika Frantzve, a former Miss Arizona
Kirk married Erika Frantzve, 36, in 2021. He and the former Miss Arizona USA 2012 share two young children, a 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son, according to their social media.
Frantz is a model, ministry leader and former NCAA Women’s Basketball player at Regis University in Denver, according to her website. She also majored in political science and international relations at Arizona State University, received a juris master’s in American legal studies and a doctorate in biblical studies from Liberty University.
Frantz is also the host of the podcast “Midweek Rise Up” and calls herself a “multidimensional philanthropist and social entrepreneur.”
In July, the loving dad shared a behind-the-scenes clip of his daughter adorably running up to greet him on the set of “Fox & Friends” on Instagram.
Kirk and his wife were both major proponents of marriage and regularly encouraged their followers to “Get married and have children.”
From dropout to conservative influencer
In 2012, 18-year-old Kirk founded Turning Point USA, which developed into one of the most influential conservative political action groups in the nation, according to reports.
Kirk has written several books, including “Time for a Turning Point” (2016), “Campus Battlefield” (2018), “The MAGA Doctrine” (2020), “The College Scam” (2022) and “Right Wing Revolution” (2024).
In February, Kirk joined the Trinity Broadcasting Network to host a weekday talk show called “Charlie Kirk Today.”
Professional debater
The father of two boasts millions of followers and billions of views for videos in which he would engage in fiery debates with students on college campuses.
“Charlie Kirk Hands Out Huge L’s at University of California San Diego” and “Charlie Kirk VS the Washington State Woke Mob” are the titles of the two most recent videos uploaded to his YouTube page, which has 3.83 million subscribers.
Kirk would debate all-comers on any potential subject matter — speaking at length and articulately without any notes to reference. He would debate on matters of politics and religion, with recent debates on Mormonism sparking lots of conversation, Fox News reported Wednesday.
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Provocative viewpoints
In the hours before Kirk was shot dead, he posted on social media about the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte, NC.
“If we want things to change, it’s 100% necessary to politicize the senseless murder of Iryna Zarutska because it was politics that allowed a savage monster with 14 priors to be free on the streets to kill her,” Kirk wrote on X Wednesday morning of the shocking stabbing allegedly at the hands of Decarlos Brown Jr.
On Tuesday, he wrote that “Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America.”
Kirk was also vociferously anti-abortion and regularly engaged in debates on the subject, calling out pro-choice activists for “dehumanizing” language around the unborn in a recently posted debate.
Gunned down
On Wednesday, Kirk was hosting an event for his American Comeback Tour when he was shot dead.
The tour visited college campuses around the country in a bid to confront the orthodoxy of liberal college students and spark open debate.
Former Congressman Jason Chaffetz witnessed the attack and told Fox News Kirk was speaking about transgender mass shooters shortly before the bullet struck his neck.
Kirk’s close relationship with President Trump
Kirk has boasted an incredibly close relationship with President Trump since the 2016 election.
Originally a Ted Cruz supporter, Kirk became one of the president’s most loyal and vociferous supporters — garnering praise from the commander in chief, who called him a “warrior of light” in 2018, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Kirk was one of a select few people invited to golf with Trump at Mar-a-Lago two days before the 2025 inauguration, The New York Times reported.
“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“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,” the president concluded.
