About Charlie Kirk

Charles James Kirk was born on October 14, 1993, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and was raised in nearby Prospect Heights, Illinois. His mother is a mental health counselor, and his father is an architect. Kirk was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

During his junior year at Wheeling High School in 2010, he volunteered for the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Illinois Republican Mark Kirk (no relation). In his senior year, he launched a campaign to reverse a price increase for cookies at his school and wrote an essay for Breitbart News alleging liberal bias in high school textbooks, which led to an appearance on Fox Business.

Kirk briefly attended Harper College, a community college near Chicago, but dropped out without completing a degree to pursue political activism full-time. He was influenced by Tea Party member Bill Montgomery, whom he met at a speaking engagement at Benedictine University in 2012. That year, with Montgomery, he founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a conservative student organization, and met donor Foster Friess at the 2012 Republican National Convention, who financed the organization. (Source: Wikipedia - fair use summary)

Kirk has been the CEO, chief fundraiser, and public face of Turning Point USA since its founding in 2012 at age 18. The organization, backed by donors like Foster Friess, grew into a well-funded media operation with initiatives like the Professor Watchlist and School Board Watchlist, raising millions in donations.

In 2019, he founded Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4) entity targeting Democrats, and acquired Students for Trump, launching a campaign to recruit one million students for the 2020 Trump re-election, though it was unsuccessful. In 2021, after leaving the Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty at Liberty University, he founded Turning Point Faith to mobilize religious communities on conservative issues.

Kirk is also a William F. Buckley Jr. Council Member of the Council for National Policy and a spokesperson for CNP Action. In March 2025, President Trump appointed him to the United States Air Force Academy Board of Visitors. Kirk hosts The Charlie Kirk Show, a daily three-hour radio talk show on Salem Media's "The Answer" channel since October 2020, with podcast downloads between 500,000 and 750,000 daily in 2024, ranked No. 13 on Apple Podcasts for news. In February 2025, he signed with Trinity Broadcasting Network to host Charlie Kirk Today, a weekday talk show. Kirk has been involved in political activities, including addressing the 2016 Republican National Convention, and in 2024, led the "You're Being Brainwashed" tour, visiting around 25 college campuses to engage Gen-Z voters, producing two billion viral social media views. On September 10, 2025, Kirk was fatally shot in the neck during his "American Comeback" tour at Utah Valley University, with a suspect taken into custody. (Source: Wikipedia and multiple news sources including NBC, CBS, PBS, ABC, NYT - fair use summary)

As of September 10, 2025, Kirk's legacy includes founding and leading Turning Point USA, a significant conservative youth organization, and expanding its influence through related entities like Turning Point Action and Turning Point Faith.

His media presence through The Charlie Kirk Show and Charlie Kirk Today has made him a prominent voice in conservative circles, particularly among Gen-Z audiences.

His political activism, including efforts to mobilize voters and influence Republican leadership, has positioned him as a key figure in pro-Trump and Christian nationalist movements. The fatal shooting incident at Utah Valley University may further shape his public profile and the narrative around his activism. (Source: Wikipedia - fair use summary)