🕷️ Crawler Inspector

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Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 16 (from laksa172)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa016.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxqnkwerj7o\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxqnkwerj7o\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cdxqnkwerj7o","crawl_time":1774380970,"first_indexed_time":1757536186,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,bbc!www,\/news\/articles\/cdxqnkwerj7o s443","src_root_hash":"1643509356818581016","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"What to know about Charlie Kirk, Trump ally and conservative activist","meta_descriptions":["The influential Trump ally who at age 18 set up Turning Point USA died in a shooting while speaking at a Utah campus event."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Charlie Kirk, the conservative influencer who became the voice of Maga youth\n20 September 2025\nGareth Evans\nWashington DC\nFrom Republican conventions to Oxford debates, watch Charlie Kirk speak\nWhen the right-wing American activist and influencer Charlie Kirk was shot dead aged 31, he was speaking at the kind of university event that helped propel him to social media stardom.\nKirk was just 18 when he co-founded Turning Point USA, a student organisation focused on spreading conservative ideas on college campuses. As he was killed with a single bullet, he was speaking under a sign that read: 'Prove me wrong'.\nAt these events, Kirk became known for his combative style, inviting students to step up to the microphone and challenge his right-wing Christian worldview in front of a baying audience.\nClips of these exchanges built him a huge following - more than 5m followers on X and 7m on TikTok - that helped him mobilise the youth vote for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly praised Kirk for inspiring a generation of young conservative activists.\n\"He's got this army of young people,\" Trump told the Turning Point Action Conference last year. \"These are young patriots. We thank you, Charlie.\"\nAfter Kirk's death on 10 September, Trump said he had once told him he could become president one day.\nReuters\nCharlie Kirk greets the crowd during the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, last December\nBorn in 1993, to an architect father and stock trader mother, Kirk grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights. He attended an Illinois community college briefly, before dropping out to devote himself to political activism.\nHe also applied unsuccessfully to West Point, the elite US military academy. Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when debating students and academics, revelling in his reputation as a deft public speaker and fluent debater.\nDuring his rapid ascent in public life, Kirk, who was always willing to say things that could rouse his supporters and offend his critics, used YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram to spread his message and build his audience.\nHe was one of the youngest speakers when he appeared aged 22 at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and his platform grew further when his hugely successful podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, began in 2019.\nJulia Pierce, a member of Turning Point USA for more than a decade, said he would be remembered for giving young conservatives in America the confidence to be themselves.\n\"It used to be that for young people it was cool to be a Democrat. But he made it cool to be a Trump supporter and to wear the Maga hat and live your life with traditional family values,\" she told the BBC after his death.\nKirk's de facto role as communicator - and defender - in chief for the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement on college campuses distinguished him from other right-wing activists because of his willingness to take his fight into conventionally hostile settings.\n\"When you pierce the liberal echo chamber, minds are changed… millions of them in fact,\" he wrote in one X post. \"The campus left is threatened by debate, dialogue, discussion, and differing ideas,\" he said in another.\nGetty Images\nCharlie Kirk revelled in the debates he held with liberal students on US campuses\nKirk was holding a \"Prove me Wrong\" debate at Utah Valley University when he was killed, the latest stop in a tour of colleges around the country. This summer, he also visited the UK and debated students at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.\nHis team would record all of them, posting short clips of the most heated exchanges online, and they followed a similar model to the \"You're Being Brainwashed\" tour he held across campuses in the run-up to the 2024 election.\nOn stage, in TV appearances and on his podcast, he would often defend the right-wing populist and nationalist thinking that is central to the Maga movement.\nKirk would invite students to challenge him directly on these views, and his stances on issues such as immigration, transgender rights, abortion, diversity programmes and climate change often provoked the fiercest exchanges and loudest criticism.\nOn an episode of the online show \"Surrounded\", for example, Kirk was asked if he had a 10-year-old daughter who was raped and became pregnant whether he would want her to have the baby.\n\"The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered,\" Kirk said.\nReuters\nPresident Trump on stage with Kirk in 2018, as their relationship grew stronger\nComments from Kirk on race and crime prompted an angry liberal backlash on numerous occasions. In 2020, he called George Floyd, a black man whose murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked nationwide protests, a \"scumbag\".\nWhen discussing crime on his podcast in 2023, he said \"prowling blacks go around for fun to go target white people\". Referring to his opposition to affirmative action and hiring practices to boost diversity, he said on the same podcast a year later: \"If I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified.\"\nWhen a student accused him of racism in one recent campus debate, Kirk replied: \"What have I ever said that's racist? What have I ever said that's hateful? He can't say anything I've ever said that's racist, because I've never said anything that's racist.\"\nKirk would often cite his Christian faith when explaining his positions on issues including Islam, gender and abortion.\n\"The West is the best because of Christianity. We must seek Christ first, and our national and cultural resurgence will naturally follow. For America to be great, we must remain majority Christian,\" he said.\nHe was also accused of antisemitism in 2023, when he said on his podcast that \"Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them\". He added: \"It is true that some of the largest financiers of left-wing, anti-white causes have been Jewish Americans.\"\nWatch: \"The cries of this widow will echo around the world\", says Erika Kirk\nKirk's evangelical Christianity and his young family were front and centre in his politics. He married Erika Kirk, a businesswoman and former Miss Arizona, in May 2021 and they had two children together.\nAccording to her website, Erika Kirk is the founder of Proclaim, a faith-based clothing line, a podcast host and the founder of two non-profit organisations.\nShe also frequently appeared by Kirk's side at public engagements. The couple regularly posted on Instagram about their family life, but kept their children's identities private.\nIn August, Kirk posted a photo of himself at the beach as they celebrated his daughter's third birthday.\nErika Kirk has been appointed CEO of Turning Point USA, after the death of her husband.\nIn a livestream she aired after his death, she directly addressed \"evil-doers\": \"You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife, the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.\n\"They should all know this: if you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before you have no idea, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world.\"\nGetty Images\nDonald Trump Jr (left to right), Vice-President JD Vance, Charlie Kirk, and singer Kid Rock on stage at an inaugural ball in January\nKirk's impact on the conservative movement - and the high regard with which he was held by Trump's inner circle - will be reflected at Sunday's memorial service at 60,000-seat stadium in Arizona. Every senior official from the administration will be in attendance.\nOver the years Kirk became an increasingly loyal and vocal supporter of the president. The relationship between the pair grew more close after he supported Trump's 2016 campaign, with Kirk attending his most recent inauguration in January in Washington DC. He was a regular visitor at the White House during both Trump terms in office.\nHe remained loyal to the president even when some other Maga stalwarts were critical of him, such as when Trump approved striking Iran in June. \"With the weight of the world on his shoulders, President Trump acted for the betterment of humanity,\" he said at the time.\n\"He cannot be replaced by any one person,\" Trump's chief-of-staff Susie Wiles said last week of Kirk when Vice-President JD Vance hosted the first episode of the slain activist's podcast after the shooting.\n\"He's got to be replaced by you, by Don Trump, by so many others.\"\nAdditional reporting by\nTiffany Wertheimer and Gabriela Pomeroy","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cdxqnkwerj7o#main-content)\n\n[Register](https:\/\/session.bbc.com\/session?action=register&userOrigin=BBCS_BBC&ptrt=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fcdxqnkwerj7o)\n\n[Sign In](https:\/\/session.bbc.com\/session?userOrigin=BBCS_BBC&ptrt=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fcdxqnkwerj7o)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/business)\n- [Technology](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/technology)\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/health)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture)\n- [Arts](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/arts)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/travel)\n- [Earth](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future-planet)\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/video)\n- [Live](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/live)\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/home)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n  - [US & Canada](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/us-canada)\n  - [UK](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk)\n    - [UK Politics](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/politics)\n    - [England](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/england)\n    - [N. 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[Live Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/live\/sport)\n\n[Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n\nNews\n\n[Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n\nBusiness\n\nTechnology\n\n[Health](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/health)\n\nCulture\n\nArts\n\nTravel\n\nEarth\n\nAudio\n\nVideo\n\nLive\n\n[Weather](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/weather)\n\n[Newsletters](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/newsletters)\n\n# Charlie Kirk, the conservative influencer who became the voice of Maga youth\n20 September 2025\n\nShare\n\nSave\n\nGareth EvansWashington DC\n\nShare\n\nSave\n\nFrom Republican conventions to Oxford debates, watch Charlie Kirk speak\n\n**When the right-wing American activist and influencer Charlie Kirk was shot dead aged 31, he was speaking at the kind of university event that helped propel him to social media stardom.**\n\nKirk was just 18 when he co-founded Turning Point USA, a student organisation focused on spreading conservative ideas on college campuses. As he was killed with a single bullet, he was speaking under a sign that read: 'Prove me wrong'.\n\nAt these events, Kirk became known for his combative style, inviting students to step up to the microphone and challenge his right-wing Christian worldview in front of a baying audience.\n\nClips of these exchanges built him a huge following - more than 5m followers on X and 7m on TikTok - that helped him mobilise the youth vote for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly praised Kirk for inspiring a generation of young conservative activists.\n\n\"He's got this army of young people,\" Trump told the Turning Point Action Conference last year. \"These are young patriots. We thank you, Charlie.\"\n\nAfter Kirk's death on 10 September, Trump said he had once told him he could become president one day.\n\n![Reuters Charlie Kirk stands in profile with confetti falling around him wearing a blue pinstripe suit on a darkened stage](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/5ceb\/live\/6b82b000-8e9a-11f0-9476-d3a745b00933.png.webp)Reuters\n\nCharlie Kirk greets the crowd during the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, last December\n\nBorn in 1993, to an architect father and stock trader mother, Kirk grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights. He attended an Illinois community college briefly, before dropping out to devote himself to political activism.\n\nHe also applied unsuccessfully to West Point, the elite US military academy. Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when debating students and academics, revelling in his reputation as a deft public speaker and fluent debater.\n\nDuring his rapid ascent in public life, Kirk, who was always willing to say things that could rouse his supporters and offend his critics, used YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram to spread his message and build his audience.\n\nHe was one of the youngest speakers when he appeared aged 22 at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and his platform grew further when his hugely successful podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, began in 2019.\n\nJulia Pierce, a member of Turning Point USA for more than a decade, said he would be remembered for giving young conservatives in America the confidence to be themselves.\n\n\"It used to be that for young people it was cool to be a Democrat. But he made it cool to be a Trump supporter and to wear the Maga hat and live your life with traditional family values,\" she told the BBC after his death.\n\nKirk's de facto role as communicator - and defender - in chief for the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement on college campuses distinguished him from other right-wing activists because of his willingness to take his fight into conventionally hostile settings.\n\n\"When you pierce the liberal echo chamber, minds are changed… millions of them in fact,\" he wrote in one X post. \"The campus left is threatened by debate, dialogue, discussion, and differing ideas,\" he said in another.\n\n![Getty Images Charlie Kirk stands outside in a black and white T-shirt smiling and surrounded by people in May 2025.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/3065\/live\/5b6068e0-8e9d-11f0-bd7c-d998da7c370c.png.webp)Getty Images\n\nCharlie Kirk revelled in the debates he held with liberal students on US campuses\n\nKirk was holding a \"Prove me Wrong\" debate at Utah Valley University when he was killed, the latest stop in a tour of colleges around the country. This summer, he also visited the UK and debated students at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.\n\nHis team would record all of them, posting short clips of the most heated exchanges online, and they followed a similar model to the \"You're Being Brainwashed\" tour he held across campuses in the run-up to the 2024 election.\n\nOn stage, in TV appearances and on his podcast, he would often defend the right-wing populist and nationalist thinking that is central to the Maga movement.\n\nKirk would invite students to challenge him directly on these views, and his stances on issues such as immigration, transgender rights, abortion, diversity programmes and climate change often provoked the fiercest exchanges and loudest criticism.\n\nOn an episode of the online show \"Surrounded\", for example, Kirk was asked if he had a 10-year-old daughter who was raped and became pregnant whether he would want her to have the baby.\n\n\"The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered,\" Kirk said.\n\n![Reuters Charlie Kirk gives a thumbs-up as he stands in profile next to Donald Trump who is waving. Both are wearing suits.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8333\/live\/5d8eacd0-8e98-11f0-8f5c-3754cd47c044.png.webp)Reuters\n\nPresident Trump on stage with Kirk in 2018, as their relationship grew stronger\n\nComments from Kirk on race and crime prompted an angry liberal backlash on numerous occasions. In 2020, he called George Floyd, a black man whose murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked nationwide protests, a \"scumbag\".\n\nWhen discussing crime on his podcast in 2023, he said \"prowling blacks go around for fun to go target white people\". Referring to his opposition to affirmative action and hiring practices to boost diversity, he said on the same podcast a year later: \"If I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified.\"\n\nWhen a student accused him of racism in one recent campus debate, Kirk replied: \"What have I ever said that's racist? What have I ever said that's hateful? He can't say anything I've ever said that's racist, because I've never said anything that's racist.\"\n\nKirk would often cite his Christian faith when explaining his positions on issues including Islam, gender and abortion.\n\n\"The West is the best because of Christianity. We must seek Christ first, and our national and cultural resurgence will naturally follow. For America to be great, we must remain majority Christian,\" he said.\n\nHe was also accused of antisemitism in 2023, when he said on his podcast that \"Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them\". He added: \"It is true that some of the largest financiers of left-wing, anti-white causes have been Jewish Americans.\"\n\nWatch: \"The cries of this widow will echo around the world\", says Erika Kirk\n\nKirk's evangelical Christianity and his young family were front and centre in his politics. He married Erika Kirk, a businesswoman and former Miss Arizona, in May 2021 and they had two children together.\n\nAccording to her website, Erika Kirk is the founder of Proclaim, a faith-based clothing line, a podcast host and the founder of two non-profit organisations.\n\nShe also frequently appeared by Kirk's side at public engagements. The couple regularly posted on Instagram about their family life, but kept their children's identities private.\n\nIn August, Kirk posted a photo of himself at the beach as they celebrated his daughter's third birthday.\n\nErika Kirk has been appointed CEO of Turning Point USA, after the death of her husband.\n\nIn a livestream she aired after his death, she directly addressed \"evil-doers\": \"You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife, the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.\n\n\"They should all know this: if you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before you have no idea, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world.\"\n\n![Getty Images Donald Trump Jr (left to right), JD Vance, Charlie Kirk, and Kid Rock on stage all smiling, wearing tuxedos except for Kid Rock who is wearing black and a black hat.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/c071\/live\/53c2e7d0-8e9c-11f0-a883-5905d9e9a939.png.webp)Getty Images\n\nDonald Trump Jr (left to right), Vice-President JD Vance, Charlie Kirk, and singer Kid Rock on stage at an inaugural ball in January\n\nKirk's impact on the conservative movement - and the high regard with which he was held by Trump's inner circle - will be reflected at Sunday's memorial service at 60,000-seat stadium in Arizona. Every senior official from the administration will be in attendance.\n\nOver the years Kirk became an increasingly loyal and vocal supporter of the president. The relationship between the pair grew more close after he supported Trump's 2016 campaign, with Kirk attending his most recent inauguration in January in Washington DC. He was a regular visitor at the White House during both Trump terms in office.\n\nHe remained loyal to the president even when some other Maga stalwarts were critical of him, such as when Trump approved striking Iran in June. \"With the weight of the world on his shoulders, President Trump acted for the betterment of humanity,\" he said at the time.\n\n\"He cannot be replaced by any one person,\" Trump's chief-of-staff Susie Wiles said last week of Kirk when Vice-President JD Vance hosted the first episode of the slain activist's podcast after the shooting.\n\n\"He's got to be replaced by you, by Don Trump, by so many others.\"\n\n*Additional reporting by* *Tiffany Wertheimer and Gabriela Pomeroy*\n\n[Killing of Trump ally lays bare America's bloody and broken politics](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cm2z9z4m22ro)\n\n['I will never let your legacy die' - Charlie Kirk's widow gives tearful address after shooting](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cz9je8lxge4o)\n\n[Charlie Kirk shooting throws Utah students into heart of US political divide](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c9dxexl7glvo)\n\n[Donald Trump](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/cp7r8vgl2lgt)\n\n[United States](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/cx1m7zg01xyt)\n\n[Utah](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/cywd23g04yqt)\n\n***\nRelated\n\n[Small window open for US-Iran talks, but swift end to war still unlikely](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c895xljyzewo)\n\n[Prospect of US-Iran talks puts Netanyahu under pressure](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cwyk5v8vw05o)\n\n[Marco Rubio testifies in former housemate's Maduro lobbying trial](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cj940j7ngwyo)\n\n***\nMore from the BBC\n\n[2 hrs ago ![A mugshot of Dayton Webber, 27, who was arrested for murder in Virginia ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/3c2e\/live\/3d4b4630-27a0-11f1-ac4d-5987f4dee3ad.jpg.webp) Quadruple amputee and bean-bag-toss champion accused of fatally shooting passenger while driving Dayton Webber, 27, was driving when he opened fire on a man in the front-seat, police say. 2 hrs ago](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cgqk18zgpxlo)\n\n[3 hrs ago ![Donald Trump is seen in profile in front of two globes](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/d952\/live\/ae60d9d0-f86a-11f0-b385-5f48925de19a.jpg.webp) As the world inches back to a pre-WW2 order, the 'middle powers' face a grave new challenge With economic stagnation and extremes of inequality comes corrosion of trust in democratic institutions. So Trump may be a symptom, not a cause, of what Carney called a \"rupture\" with the post-WW2 order. 3 hrs ago](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c99kkerr93ko)\n\n[3 hrs ago ![A black and white profile picture of Antoine Forest](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/0098\/live\/44ce57b0-2770-11f1-82f7-f757ccb9d4bd.jpg.webp) Pilots killed in LaGuardia plane crash named An Air Canada plane, carrying 73 passengers and four crew, collided with a firefighting vehicle shortly after landing at LaGuardia airport. 3 hrs ago](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cz67jq0enwpo)\n\n[4 hrs ago ![A woman consoles another woman who cries while sitting on the side of the street in Tehran on Monday.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/50fe\/live\/5001efa0-27a4-11f1-a79a-77e93010d956.jpg.webp) Iran war shows norms of international conflicts have been overturned US threats against energy infrastructure, and Iran's retaliation on its Gulf neighbours, signal a clear change. 4 hrs ago](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c4gjv02g54ko)\n\n[4 hrs ago ![Dennis Coyle with former US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and UAE special envoy Saif Al Ketbi shortly after his release by Taliban authorities. ](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8987\/live\/d22914e0-27a9-11f1-9089-39d9725da55d.jpg.webp) US detainee Dennis Coyle released by Taliban after more than a year Coyle, who was working as a language researcher, according to his family, was arrested in January 2025. 4 hrs ago](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c79j1wj4495o)\n***\n- [Home](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/)\n- [News](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news)\n- [Sport](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/business)\n- [Technology](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/technology)\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/health)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture)\n- [Arts](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/arts)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/travel)\n- 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All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [**Read about our approach to external linking.**](https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/editorialguidelines\/guidance\/feeds-and-links)","attrs_readable_markdown":"Charlie Kirk, the conservative influencer who became the voice of Maga youth\n\n20 September 2025\n\nGareth EvansWashington DC\n\nFrom Republican conventions to Oxford debates, watch Charlie Kirk speak\n\n**When the right-wing American activist and influencer Charlie Kirk was shot dead aged 31, he was speaking at the kind of university event that helped propel him to social media stardom.**\n\nKirk was just 18 when he co-founded Turning Point USA, a student organisation focused on spreading conservative ideas on college campuses. As he was killed with a single bullet, he was speaking under a sign that read: 'Prove me wrong'.\n\nAt these events, Kirk became known for his combative style, inviting students to step up to the microphone and challenge his right-wing Christian worldview in front of a baying audience.\n\nClips of these exchanges built him a huge following - more than 5m followers on X and 7m on TikTok - that helped him mobilise the youth vote for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly praised Kirk for inspiring a generation of young conservative activists.\n\n\"He's got this army of young people,\" Trump told the Turning Point Action Conference last year. \"These are young patriots. We thank you, Charlie.\"\n\nAfter Kirk's death on 10 September, Trump said he had once told him he could become president one day.\n\n![Reuters Charlie Kirk stands in profile with confetti falling around him wearing a blue pinstripe suit on a darkened stage](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/5ceb\/live\/6b82b000-8e9a-11f0-9476-d3a745b00933.png.webp)Reuters\n\nCharlie Kirk greets the crowd during the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, last December\n\nBorn in 1993, to an architect father and stock trader mother, Kirk grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights. He attended an Illinois community college briefly, before dropping out to devote himself to political activism.\n\nHe also applied unsuccessfully to West Point, the elite US military academy. Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when debating students and academics, revelling in his reputation as a deft public speaker and fluent debater.\n\nDuring his rapid ascent in public life, Kirk, who was always willing to say things that could rouse his supporters and offend his critics, used YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram to spread his message and build his audience.\n\nHe was one of the youngest speakers when he appeared aged 22 at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and his platform grew further when his hugely successful podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, began in 2019.\n\nJulia Pierce, a member of Turning Point USA for more than a decade, said he would be remembered for giving young conservatives in America the confidence to be themselves.\n\n\"It used to be that for young people it was cool to be a Democrat. But he made it cool to be a Trump supporter and to wear the Maga hat and live your life with traditional family values,\" she told the BBC after his death.\n\nKirk's de facto role as communicator - and defender - in chief for the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement on college campuses distinguished him from other right-wing activists because of his willingness to take his fight into conventionally hostile settings.\n\n\"When you pierce the liberal echo chamber, minds are changed… millions of them in fact,\" he wrote in one X post. \"The campus left is threatened by debate, dialogue, discussion, and differing ideas,\" he said in another.\n\n![Getty Images Charlie Kirk stands outside in a black and white T-shirt smiling and surrounded by people in May 2025.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/3065\/live\/5b6068e0-8e9d-11f0-bd7c-d998da7c370c.png.webp)Getty Images\n\nCharlie Kirk revelled in the debates he held with liberal students on US campuses\n\nKirk was holding a \"Prove me Wrong\" debate at Utah Valley University when he was killed, the latest stop in a tour of colleges around the country. This summer, he also visited the UK and debated students at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.\n\nHis team would record all of them, posting short clips of the most heated exchanges online, and they followed a similar model to the \"You're Being Brainwashed\" tour he held across campuses in the run-up to the 2024 election.\n\nOn stage, in TV appearances and on his podcast, he would often defend the right-wing populist and nationalist thinking that is central to the Maga movement.\n\nKirk would invite students to challenge him directly on these views, and his stances on issues such as immigration, transgender rights, abortion, diversity programmes and climate change often provoked the fiercest exchanges and loudest criticism.\n\nOn an episode of the online show \"Surrounded\", for example, Kirk was asked if he had a 10-year-old daughter who was raped and became pregnant whether he would want her to have the baby.\n\n\"The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered,\" Kirk said.\n\n![Reuters Charlie Kirk gives a thumbs-up as he stands in profile next to Donald Trump who is waving. Both are wearing suits.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8333\/live\/5d8eacd0-8e98-11f0-8f5c-3754cd47c044.png.webp)Reuters\n\nPresident Trump on stage with Kirk in 2018, as their relationship grew stronger\n\nComments from Kirk on race and crime prompted an angry liberal backlash on numerous occasions. In 2020, he called George Floyd, a black man whose murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked nationwide protests, a \"scumbag\".\n\nWhen discussing crime on his podcast in 2023, he said \"prowling blacks go around for fun to go target white people\". Referring to his opposition to affirmative action and hiring practices to boost diversity, he said on the same podcast a year later: \"If I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified.\"\n\nWhen a student accused him of racism in one recent campus debate, Kirk replied: \"What have I ever said that's racist? What have I ever said that's hateful? He can't say anything I've ever said that's racist, because I've never said anything that's racist.\"\n\nKirk would often cite his Christian faith when explaining his positions on issues including Islam, gender and abortion.\n\n\"The West is the best because of Christianity. We must seek Christ first, and our national and cultural resurgence will naturally follow. For America to be great, we must remain majority Christian,\" he said.\n\nHe was also accused of antisemitism in 2023, when he said on his podcast that \"Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them\". He added: \"It is true that some of the largest financiers of left-wing, anti-white causes have been Jewish Americans.\"\n\nWatch: \"The cries of this widow will echo around the world\", says Erika Kirk\n\nKirk's evangelical Christianity and his young family were front and centre in his politics. He married Erika Kirk, a businesswoman and former Miss Arizona, in May 2021 and they had two children together.\n\nAccording to her website, Erika Kirk is the founder of Proclaim, a faith-based clothing line, a podcast host and the founder of two non-profit organisations.\n\nShe also frequently appeared by Kirk's side at public engagements. The couple regularly posted on Instagram about their family life, but kept their children's identities private.\n\nIn August, Kirk posted a photo of himself at the beach as they celebrated his daughter's third birthday.\n\nErika Kirk has been appointed CEO of Turning Point USA, after the death of her husband.\n\nIn a livestream she aired after his death, she directly addressed \"evil-doers\": \"You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife, the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.\n\n\"They should all know this: if you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before you have no idea, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world.\"\n\n![Getty Images Donald Trump Jr (left to right), JD Vance, Charlie Kirk, and Kid Rock on stage all smiling, wearing tuxedos except for Kid Rock who is wearing black and a black hat.](https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/c071\/live\/53c2e7d0-8e9c-11f0-a883-5905d9e9a939.png.webp)Getty Images\n\nDonald Trump Jr (left to right), Vice-President JD Vance, Charlie Kirk, and singer Kid Rock on stage at an inaugural ball in January\n\nKirk's impact on the conservative movement - and the high regard with which he was held by Trump's inner circle - will be reflected at Sunday's memorial service at 60,000-seat stadium in Arizona. Every senior official from the administration will be in attendance.\n\nOver the years Kirk became an increasingly loyal and vocal supporter of the president. The relationship between the pair grew more close after he supported Trump's 2016 campaign, with Kirk attending his most recent inauguration in January in Washington DC. He was a regular visitor at the White House during both Trump terms in office.\n\nHe remained loyal to the president even when some other Maga stalwarts were critical of him, such as when Trump approved striking Iran in June. \"With the weight of the world on his shoulders, President Trump acted for the betterment of humanity,\" he said at the time.\n\n\"He cannot be replaced by any one person,\" Trump's chief-of-staff Susie Wiles said last week of Kirk when Vice-President JD Vance hosted the first episode of the slain activist's podcast after the shooting.\n\n\"He's got to be replaced by you, by Don Trump, by so many others.\"\n\n*Additional reporting by* *Tiffany Wertheimer and Gabriela Pomeroy*","meta_canonical":null}

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Meta Title	What to know about Charlie Kirk, Trump ally and conservative activist
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Boilerpipe Text	Charlie Kirk, the conservative influencer who became the voice of Maga youth 20 September 2025 Gareth Evans Washington DC From Republican conventions to Oxford debates, watch Charlie Kirk speak When the right-wing American activist and influencer Charlie Kirk was shot dead aged 31, he was speaking at the kind of university event that helped propel him to social media stardom. Kirk was just 18 when he co-founded Turning Point USA, a student organisation focused on spreading conservative ideas on college campuses. As he was killed with a single bullet, he was speaking under a sign that read: 'Prove me wrong'. At these events, Kirk became known for his combative style, inviting students to step up to the microphone and challenge his right-wing Christian worldview in front of a baying audience. Clips of these exchanges built him a huge following - more than 5m followers on X and 7m on TikTok - that helped him mobilise the youth vote for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly praised Kirk for inspiring a generation of young conservative activists. "He's got this army of young people," Trump told the Turning Point Action Conference last year. "These are young patriots. We thank you, Charlie." After Kirk's death on 10 September, Trump said he had once told him he could become president one day. Reuters Charlie Kirk greets the crowd during the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, last December Born in 1993, to an architect father and stock trader mother, Kirk grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights. He attended an Illinois community college briefly, before dropping out to devote himself to political activism. He also applied unsuccessfully to West Point, the elite US military academy. Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when debating students and academics, revelling in his reputation as a deft public speaker and fluent debater. During his rapid ascent in public life, Kirk, who was always willing to say things that could rouse his supporters and offend his critics, used YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram to spread his message and build his audience. He was one of the youngest speakers when he appeared aged 22 at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and his platform grew further when his hugely successful podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, began in 2019. Julia Pierce, a member of Turning Point USA for more than a decade, said he would be remembered for giving young conservatives in America the confidence to be themselves. "It used to be that for young people it was cool to be a Democrat. But he made it cool to be a Trump supporter and to wear the Maga hat and live your life with traditional family values," she told the BBC after his death. Kirk's de facto role as communicator - and defender - in chief for the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement on college campuses distinguished him from other right-wing activists because of his willingness to take his fight into conventionally hostile settings. "When you pierce the liberal echo chamber, minds are changed… millions of them in fact," he wrote in one X post. "The campus left is threatened by debate, dialogue, discussion, and differing ideas," he said in another. Getty Images Charlie Kirk revelled in the debates he held with liberal students on US campuses Kirk was holding a "Prove me Wrong" debate at Utah Valley University when he was killed, the latest stop in a tour of colleges around the country. This summer, he also visited the UK and debated students at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge. His team would record all of them, posting short clips of the most heated exchanges online, and they followed a similar model to the "You're Being Brainwashed" tour he held across campuses in the run-up to the 2024 election. On stage, in TV appearances and on his podcast, he would often defend the right-wing populist and nationalist thinking that is central to the Maga movement. Kirk would invite students to challenge him directly on these views, and his stances on issues such as immigration, transgender rights, abortion, diversity programmes and climate change often provoked the fiercest exchanges and loudest criticism. On an episode of the online show "Surrounded", for example, Kirk was asked if he had a 10-year-old daughter who was raped and became pregnant whether he would want her to have the baby. "The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered," Kirk said. Reuters President Trump on stage with Kirk in 2018, as their relationship grew stronger Comments from Kirk on race and crime prompted an angry liberal backlash on numerous occasions. In 2020, he called George Floyd, a black man whose murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked nationwide protests, a "scumbag". When discussing crime on his podcast in 2023, he said "prowling blacks go around for fun to go target white people". Referring to his opposition to affirmative action and hiring practices to boost diversity, he said on the same podcast a year later: "If I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified." When a student accused him of racism in one recent campus debate, Kirk replied: "What have I ever said that's racist? What have I ever said that's hateful? He can't say anything I've ever said that's racist, because I've never said anything that's racist." Kirk would often cite his Christian faith when explaining his positions on issues including Islam, gender and abortion. "The West is the best because of Christianity. We must seek Christ first, and our national and cultural resurgence will naturally follow. For America to be great, we must remain majority Christian," he said. He was also accused of antisemitism in 2023, when he said on his podcast that "Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them". He added: "It is true that some of the largest financiers of left-wing, anti-white causes have been Jewish Americans." Watch: "The cries of this widow will echo around the world", says Erika Kirk Kirk's evangelical Christianity and his young family were front and centre in his politics. He married Erika Kirk, a businesswoman and former Miss Arizona, in May 2021 and they had two children together. According to her website, Erika Kirk is the founder of Proclaim, a faith-based clothing line, a podcast host and the founder of two non-profit organisations. She also frequently appeared by Kirk's side at public engagements. The couple regularly posted on Instagram about their family life, but kept their children's identities private. In August, Kirk posted a photo of himself at the beach as they celebrated his daughter's third birthday. Erika Kirk has been appointed CEO of Turning Point USA, after the death of her husband. In a livestream she aired after his death, she directly addressed "evil-doers": "You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife, the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry. "They should all know this: if you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before you have no idea, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world." Getty Images Donald Trump Jr (left to right), Vice-President JD Vance, Charlie Kirk, and singer Kid Rock on stage at an inaugural ball in January Kirk's impact on the conservative movement - and the high regard with which he was held by Trump's inner circle - will be reflected at Sunday's memorial service at 60,000-seat stadium in Arizona. Every senior official from the administration will be in attendance. Over the years Kirk became an increasingly loyal and vocal supporter of the president. The relationship between the pair grew more close after he supported Trump's 2016 campaign, with Kirk attending his most recent inauguration in January in Washington DC. He was a regular visitor at the White House during both Trump terms in office. He remained loyal to the president even when some other Maga stalwarts were critical of him, such as when Trump approved striking Iran in June. "With the weight of the world on his shoulders, President Trump acted for the betterment of humanity," he said at the time. "He cannot be replaced by any one person," Trump's chief-of-staff Susie Wiles said last week of Kirk when Vice-President JD Vance hosted the first episode of the slain activist's podcast after the shooting. "He's got to be replaced by you, by Don Trump, by so many others." Additional reporting by Tiffany Wertheimer and Gabriela Pomeroy
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Kirk was just 18 when he co-founded Turning Point USA, a student organisation focused on spreading conservative ideas on college campuses. As he was killed with a single bullet, he was speaking under a sign that read: 'Prove me wrong'. At these events, Kirk became known for his combative style, inviting students to step up to the microphone and challenge his right-wing Christian worldview in front of a baying audience. Clips of these exchanges built him a huge following - more than 5m followers on X and 7m on TikTok - that helped him mobilise the youth vote for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly praised Kirk for inspiring a generation of young conservative activists. "He's got this army of young people," Trump told the Turning Point Action Conference last year. "These are young patriots. We thank you, Charlie." After Kirk's death on 10 September, Trump said he had once told him he could become president one day. ![Reuters Charlie Kirk stands in profile with confetti falling around him wearing a blue pinstripe suit on a darkened stage](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5ceb/live/6b82b000-8e9a-11f0-9476-d3a745b00933.png.webp)Reuters Charlie Kirk greets the crowd during the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, last December Born in 1993, to an architect father and stock trader mother, Kirk grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights. He attended an Illinois community college briefly, before dropping out to devote himself to political activism. He also applied unsuccessfully to West Point, the elite US military academy. Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when debating students and academics, revelling in his reputation as a deft public speaker and fluent debater. During his rapid ascent in public life, Kirk, who was always willing to say things that could rouse his supporters and offend his critics, used YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram to spread his message and build his audience. He was one of the youngest speakers when he appeared aged 22 at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and his platform grew further when his hugely successful podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, began in 2019. Julia Pierce, a member of Turning Point USA for more than a decade, said he would be remembered for giving young conservatives in America the confidence to be themselves. "It used to be that for young people it was cool to be a Democrat. But he made it cool to be a Trump supporter and to wear the Maga hat and live your life with traditional family values," she told the BBC after his death. Kirk's de facto role as communicator - and defender - in chief for the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement on college campuses distinguished him from other right-wing activists because of his willingness to take his fight into conventionally hostile settings. "When you pierce the liberal echo chamber, minds are changed… millions of them in fact," he wrote in one X post. "The campus left is threatened by debate, dialogue, discussion, and differing ideas," he said in another. ![Getty Images Charlie Kirk stands outside in a black and white T-shirt smiling and surrounded by people in May 2025.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3065/live/5b6068e0-8e9d-11f0-bd7c-d998da7c370c.png.webp)Getty Images Charlie Kirk revelled in the debates he held with liberal students on US campuses Kirk was holding a "Prove me Wrong" debate at Utah Valley University when he was killed, the latest stop in a tour of colleges around the country. This summer, he also visited the UK and debated students at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge. His team would record all of them, posting short clips of the most heated exchanges online, and they followed a similar model to the "You're Being Brainwashed" tour he held across campuses in the run-up to the 2024 election. On stage, in TV appearances and on his podcast, he would often defend the right-wing populist and nationalist thinking that is central to the Maga movement. Kirk would invite students to challenge him directly on these views, and his stances on issues such as immigration, transgender rights, abortion, diversity programmes and climate change often provoked the fiercest exchanges and loudest criticism. On an episode of the online show "Surrounded", for example, Kirk was asked if he had a 10-year-old daughter who was raped and became pregnant whether he would want her to have the baby. "The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered," Kirk said. ![Reuters Charlie Kirk gives a thumbs-up as he stands in profile next to Donald Trump who is waving. Both are wearing suits.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8333/live/5d8eacd0-8e98-11f0-8f5c-3754cd47c044.png.webp)Reuters President Trump on stage with Kirk in 2018, as their relationship grew stronger Comments from Kirk on race and crime prompted an angry liberal backlash on numerous occasions. In 2020, he called George Floyd, a black man whose murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked nationwide protests, a "scumbag". When discussing crime on his podcast in 2023, he said "prowling blacks go around for fun to go target white people". Referring to his opposition to affirmative action and hiring practices to boost diversity, he said on the same podcast a year later: "If I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified." When a student accused him of racism in one recent campus debate, Kirk replied: "What have I ever said that's racist? What have I ever said that's hateful? He can't say anything I've ever said that's racist, because I've never said anything that's racist." Kirk would often cite his Christian faith when explaining his positions on issues including Islam, gender and abortion. "The West is the best because of Christianity. We must seek Christ first, and our national and cultural resurgence will naturally follow. For America to be great, we must remain majority Christian," he said. He was also accused of antisemitism in 2023, when he said on his podcast that "Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them". He added: "It is true that some of the largest financiers of left-wing, anti-white causes have been Jewish Americans." Watch: "The cries of this widow will echo around the world", says Erika Kirk Kirk's evangelical Christianity and his young family were front and centre in his politics. He married Erika Kirk, a businesswoman and former Miss Arizona, in May 2021 and they had two children together. According to her website, Erika Kirk is the founder of Proclaim, a faith-based clothing line, a podcast host and the founder of two non-profit organisations. She also frequently appeared by Kirk's side at public engagements. The couple regularly posted on Instagram about their family life, but kept their children's identities private. In August, Kirk posted a photo of himself at the beach as they celebrated his daughter's third birthday. Erika Kirk has been appointed CEO of Turning Point USA, after the death of her husband. In a livestream she aired after his death, she directly addressed "evil-doers": "You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife, the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry. "They should all know this: if you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before you have no idea, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world." ![Getty Images Donald Trump Jr (left to right), JD Vance, Charlie Kirk, and Kid Rock on stage all smiling, wearing tuxedos except for Kid Rock who is wearing black and a black hat.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/c071/live/53c2e7d0-8e9c-11f0-a883-5905d9e9a939.png.webp)Getty Images Donald Trump Jr (left to right), Vice-President JD Vance, Charlie Kirk, and singer Kid Rock on stage at an inaugural ball in January Kirk's impact on the conservative movement - and the high regard with which he was held by Trump's inner circle - will be reflected at Sunday's memorial service at 60,000-seat stadium in Arizona. Every senior official from the administration will be in attendance. Over the years Kirk became an increasingly loyal and vocal supporter of the president. The relationship between the pair grew more close after he supported Trump's 2016 campaign, with Kirk attending his most recent inauguration in January in Washington DC. He was a regular visitor at the White House during both Trump terms in office. He remained loyal to the president even when some other Maga stalwarts were critical of him, such as when Trump approved striking Iran in June. "With the weight of the world on his shoulders, President Trump acted for the betterment of humanity," he said at the time. "He cannot be replaced by any one person," Trump's chief-of-staff Susie Wiles said last week of Kirk when Vice-President JD Vance hosted the first episode of the slain activist's podcast after the shooting. "He's got to be replaced by you, by Don Trump, by so many others." 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Readable Markdown	Charlie Kirk, the conservative influencer who became the voice of Maga youth 20 September 2025 Gareth EvansWashington DC From Republican conventions to Oxford debates, watch Charlie Kirk speak When the right-wing American activist and influencer Charlie Kirk was shot dead aged 31, he was speaking at the kind of university event that helped propel him to social media stardom. Kirk was just 18 when he co-founded Turning Point USA, a student organisation focused on spreading conservative ideas on college campuses. As he was killed with a single bullet, he was speaking under a sign that read: 'Prove me wrong'. At these events, Kirk became known for his combative style, inviting students to step up to the microphone and challenge his right-wing Christian worldview in front of a baying audience. Clips of these exchanges built him a huge following - more than 5m followers on X and 7m on TikTok - that helped him mobilise the youth vote for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly praised Kirk for inspiring a generation of young conservative activists. "He's got this army of young people," Trump told the Turning Point Action Conference last year. "These are young patriots. We thank you, Charlie." After Kirk's death on 10 September, Trump said he had once told him he could become president one day. ![Reuters Charlie Kirk stands in profile with confetti falling around him wearing a blue pinstripe suit on a darkened stage](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5ceb/live/6b82b000-8e9a-11f0-9476-d3a745b00933.png.webp)Reuters Charlie Kirk greets the crowd during the AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, last December Born in 1993, to an architect father and stock trader mother, Kirk grew up in the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights. He attended an Illinois community college briefly, before dropping out to devote himself to political activism. He also applied unsuccessfully to West Point, the elite US military academy. Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when debating students and academics, revelling in his reputation as a deft public speaker and fluent debater. During his rapid ascent in public life, Kirk, who was always willing to say things that could rouse his supporters and offend his critics, used YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram to spread his message and build his audience. He was one of the youngest speakers when he appeared aged 22 at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and his platform grew further when his hugely successful podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show, began in 2019. Julia Pierce, a member of Turning Point USA for more than a decade, said he would be remembered for giving young conservatives in America the confidence to be themselves. "It used to be that for young people it was cool to be a Democrat. But he made it cool to be a Trump supporter and to wear the Maga hat and live your life with traditional family values," she told the BBC after his death. Kirk's de facto role as communicator - and defender - in chief for the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement on college campuses distinguished him from other right-wing activists because of his willingness to take his fight into conventionally hostile settings. "When you pierce the liberal echo chamber, minds are changed… millions of them in fact," he wrote in one X post. "The campus left is threatened by debate, dialogue, discussion, and differing ideas," he said in another. ![Getty Images Charlie Kirk stands outside in a black and white T-shirt smiling and surrounded by people in May 2025.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3065/live/5b6068e0-8e9d-11f0-bd7c-d998da7c370c.png.webp)Getty Images Charlie Kirk revelled in the debates he held with liberal students on US campuses Kirk was holding a "Prove me Wrong" debate at Utah Valley University when he was killed, the latest stop in a tour of colleges around the country. This summer, he also visited the UK and debated students at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge. His team would record all of them, posting short clips of the most heated exchanges online, and they followed a similar model to the "You're Being Brainwashed" tour he held across campuses in the run-up to the 2024 election. On stage, in TV appearances and on his podcast, he would often defend the right-wing populist and nationalist thinking that is central to the Maga movement. Kirk would invite students to challenge him directly on these views, and his stances on issues such as immigration, transgender rights, abortion, diversity programmes and climate change often provoked the fiercest exchanges and loudest criticism. On an episode of the online show "Surrounded", for example, Kirk was asked if he had a 10-year-old daughter who was raped and became pregnant whether he would want her to have the baby. "The answer is yes, the baby would be delivered," Kirk said. ![Reuters Charlie Kirk gives a thumbs-up as he stands in profile next to Donald Trump who is waving. Both are wearing suits.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8333/live/5d8eacd0-8e98-11f0-8f5c-3754cd47c044.png.webp)Reuters President Trump on stage with Kirk in 2018, as their relationship grew stronger Comments from Kirk on race and crime prompted an angry liberal backlash on numerous occasions. In 2020, he called George Floyd, a black man whose murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked nationwide protests, a "scumbag". When discussing crime on his podcast in 2023, he said "prowling blacks go around for fun to go target white people". Referring to his opposition to affirmative action and hiring practices to boost diversity, he said on the same podcast a year later: "If I see a black pilot, I'm going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified." When a student accused him of racism in one recent campus debate, Kirk replied: "What have I ever said that's racist? What have I ever said that's hateful? He can't say anything I've ever said that's racist, because I've never said anything that's racist." Kirk would often cite his Christian faith when explaining his positions on issues including Islam, gender and abortion. "The West is the best because of Christianity. We must seek Christ first, and our national and cultural resurgence will naturally follow. For America to be great, we must remain majority Christian," he said. He was also accused of antisemitism in 2023, when he said on his podcast that "Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them". He added: "It is true that some of the largest financiers of left-wing, anti-white causes have been Jewish Americans." Watch: "The cries of this widow will echo around the world", says Erika Kirk Kirk's evangelical Christianity and his young family were front and centre in his politics. He married Erika Kirk, a businesswoman and former Miss Arizona, in May 2021 and they had two children together. According to her website, Erika Kirk is the founder of Proclaim, a faith-based clothing line, a podcast host and the founder of two non-profit organisations. She also frequently appeared by Kirk's side at public engagements. The couple regularly posted on Instagram about their family life, but kept their children's identities private. In August, Kirk posted a photo of himself at the beach as they celebrated his daughter's third birthday. Erika Kirk has been appointed CEO of Turning Point USA, after the death of her husband. In a livestream she aired after his death, she directly addressed "evil-doers": "You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife, the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry. "They should all know this: if you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before you have no idea, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world." ![Getty Images Donald Trump Jr (left to right), JD Vance, Charlie Kirk, and Kid Rock on stage all smiling, wearing tuxedos except for Kid Rock who is wearing black and a black hat.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/c071/live/53c2e7d0-8e9c-11f0-a883-5905d9e9a939.png.webp)Getty Images Donald Trump Jr (left to right), Vice-President JD Vance, Charlie Kirk, and singer Kid Rock on stage at an inaugural ball in January Kirk's impact on the conservative movement - and the high regard with which he was held by Trump's inner circle - will be reflected at Sunday's memorial service at 60,000-seat stadium in Arizona. Every senior official from the administration will be in attendance. Over the years Kirk became an increasingly loyal and vocal supporter of the president. The relationship between the pair grew more close after he supported Trump's 2016 campaign, with Kirk attending his most recent inauguration in January in Washington DC. He was a regular visitor at the White House during both Trump terms in office. He remained loyal to the president even when some other Maga stalwarts were critical of him, such as when Trump approved striking Iran in June. "With the weight of the world on his shoulders, President Trump acted for the betterment of humanity," he said at the time. "He cannot be replaced by any one person," Trump's chief-of-staff Susie Wiles said last week of Kirk when Vice-President JD Vance hosted the first episode of the slain activist's podcast after the shooting. "He's got to be replaced by you, by Don Trump, by so many others." Additional reporting by Tiffany Wertheimer and Gabriela Pomeroy
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