Charlie Kirk Explained

Charlie Kirk
Birth Date:14 October 1993
Birth Place:Arlington Heights, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation:Political activist
Years Active:2012–present
Organizations:Turning Point USA, Turning Point Action
Education:Wheeling High School
Harper College (no degree)
Children:1
Awards:Honorary Degree Doctorate (Liberty University)
Party:Republican

Charles J. Kirk (born October 14, 1993)[1] [2] is an American conservative political activist, radio talk show host, and internet personality. He founded Turning Point USA with Bill Montgomery in 2012, and has served as its executive director since. He is the CEO of Turning Point Action, Turning Point Academy, Turning Point Faith, president of Turning Point Endowment, and a member of the Council for National Policy. Kirk has written four books.

Early life and education

Kirk was born in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois, and raised in nearby Prospect Heights, Illinois. His mother is a mental health counselor and his father is an architect.[3] Kirk was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. In his junior year at Wheeling High School in 2010, he volunteered for the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Illinois Republican Mark Kirk, to whom he is not related.[4] In senior year he created a campaign to revert a price increase for cookies at his school. He also wrote an essay for Breitbart News alleging liberal bias in high school textbooks, which led to an appearance on Fox Business.

At a subsequent speaking engagement at Benedictine University's "Youth Empowerment Day", Kirk met Bill Montgomery, a retiree more than 50 years his senior, who was then a Tea Party-backed legislative candidate.[5] [6] Montgomery encouraged Kirk to get engaged in political activism full-time.[7] He subsequently founded Turning Point USA, a "grass-roots organization to rival liberal groups such as MoveOn.org." At the 2012 Republican National Convention, Kirk met Foster Friess, a prominent Republican donor, and persuaded him to finance the organization.[8]

Kirk briefly attended Harper College, a junior community college near Chicago, but dropped out without having completed any degree or certificate.

Leadership of Turning Point organizations

Turning Point USA

Kirk has been CEO, chief fundraiser, and the public face of Turning Point since its founding.[9] [10] He co-founded the organization in 2012 at 18 years of age.[11] According to The New York Times, he has turned the organization into a "well-funded media operation, backed by conservative megadonors like the Wyoming businessman Foster Friess."[12] TPUSA's activities include publication of the Professor Watchlist and the School Board Watchlist.[13]

In 2020, ProPublica investigated the finances of Turning Point USA and claimed in their report that the organization made "misleading financial claims", that the audits were not done by an independent auditor, and that the leaders had enriched themselves while advocating for Trump. ProPublica also reported that Kirk's salary from TPUSA had increased from $27,000 to nearly $300,000 and that he had bought an $855,000 condo in Longboat Key, Florida.[14] In 2020, Turning Point USA had $39.2 million in revenues.[15] Kirk earned a salary of more than $325,000 from TPUSA and related organizations.[16]

In 2021, Turning Point USA announced an online academy targeted towards students in schools "poisoning our youth with anti-American ideas." Turning Point Academy was intended to cater to families seeking an "America-first education". Arizona education firm StrongMind initially partnered with Turning Point USA with plans to open the academy by the fall of 2022 and assessed its "potential to generate over $40 million in gross revenue at full capacity (10,000 students)." The partnership ended after StrongMind received backlash from its own employees and key subcontractor Freedom Learning Group, who prepared course content for the academy, also backed out of the academy after learning that it would be run by Turning Point USA.[17]

Turning Point Action

In May 2019, it was reported that Kirk was preparing to launch Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4) entity designed to target Democrats.[18]

In July 2019, Kirk announced that Turning Point Action had acquired Students for Trump along with "all associated media assets".[19] He became chairman and launched a campaign to recruit one million students for the 2020 Trump reelection campaign.[20] The unsuccessful effort led to TPUSA and the Trump campaign blaming each other for an overall decline in youth support for Trump.[21]

Turning Point Endowment

Turning Point Endowment Inc., formed in 2017, is a self-described "supporting organization" whose "mission is to support and benefit Turning Point USA's charitable purposes and long-term vitality."[22]

Turning Point Faith

After Liberty University did not renew Kirk's contract with the Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty in 2021, Kirk founded Turning Point Faith, an organization dedicated to "recruit pastors and other church leaders to be active in local and national political issues." Its activities include faith-based voter drives "and educating members on TPUSA's core values."[23] According to TPUSA's 2021 Investor Prospectus, the program—with a budget of $6.4 million—"will 'address America's crumbling religious foundation by engaging thousands of pastors nationwide' in order to 'breathe renewed civic engagement into our churches'."[24]

Council for National Policy and CNP Action

Kirk is the William F. Buckley Jr. Council Member of the Council for National Policy (CNP), a group "that has served for decades as a hub for a nationwide network of conservative activists and the donors who support them,"[25] according to the CNP's September 2020 membership directory leaked in February 2021.[26] [27] [28] He is a spokesperson for CNP Action, the political arm of the CNP.[29]

Mount Vernon Project

According to Kirk, the Mount Vernon Project is a movement to "recruit leaders to serve on the (Republican National Committee) RNC and at the state level who wish to better represent the grassroots voice."[30]

Talk radio host

In October 2020, Kirk began hosting a daily three-hour radio talk show, called The Charlie Kirk Show, on Salem Media's "The Answer" radio channel.[31] [32]

In 2024, NBC News reported that it was presented with internal data showing that Kirk's podcast is being downloaded between 500,000 and 750,000 times each day. It’s ranked No. 13 on Apple Podcasts for news.[33] [34]

Political positions and activities

Promotion of falsehoods and conspiracy theories

Kirk promotes the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, and has described universities as "islands of totalitarianism".[10] [35] [36] In a 2015 speech at the Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley, Kirk stated that he had applied to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, and was not accepted.[9] He said that "the slot he considered his went to 'a far less-qualified candidate of a different gender and a different persuasion'" whose test scores he claimed he knew.[10] He told The New Yorker in 2017 that he was being sarcastic when he said it.[10] He told the Chicago Tribune in 2018 that "he was just repeating something he'd been told,"[37] while at a New Hampshire Turning Point event featuring Rand Paul in October 2019 he claimed that he never said it.

On July 7, 2018, Kirk falsely claimed on social media that Justice Department statistics showed an increase in human trafficking arrests from 1,952 in the year 2016 to 6,087 in the first half of 2018. He deleted the tweet without an explanation the next day, after a fact-checker had pointed out that the false 2018 number had originated on conspiracy site 8chan.[38] [39]

In December 2018, Kirk falsely claimed that protesters in the French yellow vests movement chanted "We want Trump." These false claims were later repeated by President Trump himself.[40]

In defending the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kirk falsely stated that during the H1N1 swine flu pandemic it "took President Barack Obama 'millions infected and over 1,000 deaths'" to declare a public health emergency.[41] [42]

Kirk has spread falsehoods about voter fraud[43] [44] and the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Forbes, Kirk is known for "his repudiation of liberal college education and embrace of pro-Trump conspiracy theories."

Racial issues

Kirk has said that the concept of white privilege is a myth and a "racist lie".[45] [46] Kirk served on President Donald Trump's 1776 Commission, a response to the 1619 Project.[47] During a September 2021 episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, he called for Texas to create a "citizen force" and have them deport Haitians.[48] Assuming "more hard-right positions", he said that Democratic immigration policies were aimed at "diminishing and decreasing white demographics in America". In October 2021, Kirk began the "Exposing Critical Racism Tour" of a number of campuses and off-campus venues to "fight racist theories on America's college campuses!!"[49] [50] On the Minnesota leg of the tour on October 5, 2021, Kirk called George Floyd a "scumbag" and appeared to refer to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol when he said that "if you dare walk into the U.S. Capitol building and take a selfie, they'll put you in solitary confinement."[51]

In November 2021 Fox News article, Kirk wrote that state power should be used to stop teachers from indoctrinating children with critical race theory: "directly confronting the left, and promising to fight their illiberal ideology with state power when necessary, is the key to winning everyday Americans."[52] [53]

Kirk praised Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. prior to December 2023, variously calling him a "hero" and a "civil rights icon"; that December, however, used a speech at AmericaFest to describe him as "awful [...] not a good person" and as someone who is admired only because he "said one thing he didn't actually believe". The speech also saw Kirk condemn the Civil Rights Act of 1964, calling its passage a "huge mistake" and alleging that it had created a "permanent DEI-type bureaucracy". He also spoke of the Act as being something that "really weak" federal courts "just yield to [...] as if it's the actual American Constitution" and as having the supposed ultimate aim of "re-found[ing] the [United States] [...] get[ting] rid of the First Amendment".[53] In January 2024, Kirk said that a "myth" had been created around King which had "grown totally out of control" and that King was currently "the most honored, worshipped, even deified person of the 20th century" despite "most people" supposedly disliking him during his life. Responding to accusations by Malcolm Kenyatta that he was working to undermine King and the Voting Rights Act, Kirk called this claim "a lie" and "fear-mongering", and added that telling the "truth" about King "should not be trampling sacred ground" since he was "just a man [...] a very flawed one at that" and a "mythological anti-racist creation of the 1960s". Kirk later claimed to have "found the sacred cow of modern America" in criticizing King.[54]

Also in January, 2024, Kirk blamed DEI programs for national aviation issues, saying "If I see a Black pilot, I'm going to be like, 'Boy, I hope he's qualified.'"[55] [56] [57] He had previously expressed opposition to DEI programs describing them as "anti-White."[58] NBC News further reported that Kirk's comments about DEI programs and his comment about Black or African American airline pilots resulted in ongoing conflict with the Republican National Committee over outreach to Black voters.

Climate change

Kirk has consistently supported the extraction and use of fossil fuels. He is a climate change denialist, falsely claiming that humans have no significant effect on global climate change.[10] [59] [60]

Republican and pro-Trump activism

Kirk addressed the 2016 Republican National Convention.[61] In an interview with Wired magazine during the convention, Kirk said that while he "was not the world's biggest Donald Trump fan," he would vote for him, and that Trump's candidacy made Turning Point's mission more difficult.[62] Kirk flipped to supporting Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention and spent the remainder of the campaign assisting with travel and media arrangements for Donald Trump Jr.[63]

In October 2016, Kirk participated in a Fox News event along with Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Lara Trump that had a pro-Donald Trump tone.[64]

In July 2019, Kirk became chairman of Students for Trump, which had been acquired by Turning Point Action, and launched a campaign to recruit one million students for the 2020 Trump reelection campaign.[65] The unsuccessful effort led to TPUSA and the Trump campaign blaming each other for an overall decline in youth support for Trump.

At an August 2020 meeting of the Council for National Policy, Kirk said: "Democrats have done a really foolish thing by shutting down all these campuses... It's gonna remove ballot harvesting opportunities and all their voter fraud that they usually do on college campuses - so they're actually removing half a million votes off the table. So please keep the campuses closed - it's a great thing. Whatever!"[66]

The New York Times argued that Kirk "[walks] the line between mainstream conservative opinion and outright disinformation" and that "with a powerful ally in the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., Mr. Kirk both amplifies the president's message and helps shape it.

COVID-19 misinformation

Kirk spread false information and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 on social media platforms, such as Twitter, in 2020. Kirk sharply criticized Democrats' criticism of Donald Trump's withdrawal of World Health Organization (WHO) funding and referred to COVID-19 as the "China virus", which was retweeted by Trump. Kirk alleged that the WHO covered up information about the COVID-19 pandemic. He was briefly banned from Twitter after falsely claiming that hydroxychloroquine had proved to be "100% effective in treating the virus"; He alleged Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan, threatened doctors who tried to use the medication. These falsehoods were retweeted by Rudy Giuliani whose account was then suspended by Twitter as well.[67] Kirk also described the public health measure of social distancing prohibitions in churches as a "Democratic plot against Christianity" and made the unfounded assertion that authorities in Wuhan, China, were burning patients. Kirk has said that he refuses to abide by mask requirements, claiming that "the science around masks is very questionable."[68] [69]

In July 2021, Kirk pushed misleading claims about the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines. On Fox News' Tucker Carlson show, Kirk called student mandatory requirements for taking the COVID-19 vaccine "medical apartheid".[70]

Election fraud claims and the 2021 United States Capitol attack

Immediately after Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, Kirk promoted false and disproven claims of fraud in the election.[71] [72] On November 5, 2020, Kirk was the leader of a Stop the Steal protest at the Maricopa Tabulation Center in Phoenix.[73]

Charlie Kirk was considered a "Big name" social influencer in Rudy Giuliani's communications plan to Stop the Steal.[74]

On January 5, 2021, the day before the Washington protest that led to the storming of the United States Capitol, Kirk wrote on Twitter that Turning Point Action and Students for Trump were sending more than 80 "buses of patriots to D.C. to fight for this president".[75] A spokesman for Turning Point said that the groups ended up sending seven buses, not 80, with 350 students.[76] [77] In the lead-up to the storming, Kirk said he was "getting 500 emails a minute calling for a civil war."[78] Publix heiress Julie Fancelli gave Charlie Kirk's organizations $1.25 million to fund the buses to the January 6 event. Kirk also paid $60,000 for Kimberly Guilfoyle to speak at the Trump rally.[79]

Afterward, Kirk said the violent acts at the Capitol were not an insurrection and did not represent mainstream Trump supporters.[80] [81]

Appearing before the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, Charlie Kirk pleaded the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. His team however "provided the committee with 8,000 pages of records in response to its requests."[82] In another closed-door meeting of the House January 6 Committee, Ali Alexander blamed Kirk and Turning Point USA for financing the travel of demonstrators to the Stop the Steal rally.[83]

School board activism

In May 2021, Kirk tweeted for parents to protest at school board meetings urging parents to stand up and push back on mask mandates and the teaching of critical race theory.[84]

Views on relationships and "sexual anarchy"

In October 2021, Kirk said on his podcast that Democrats wanted Americans to live where "there is no cultural identity, where you live in sexual anarchy, where private property is a thing of the past, and the ruling class controls everything." Following social media backlash, he released a statement on the website of the Claremont Institute doubling down on and expanding his remarks.[85] [86] [87]

In February 2022, in response to the Super Bowl LVI halftime show, Kirk said that "The NFL is now the league of sexual anarchy. This halftime show should not be allowed on television."[88] This statement was criticized by both liberals and conservatives.

According to Media Matters, at the TPUSA Young Women's Leadership Summit 2022 Conference, Kirk said that the "biblical model" for women to pursue in romantic relationships is a partner who is "a protector and a leader, and deep down, a vast majority of you agree" and that "if you want to go meet conservative men that have their act together, that aren't like, woke beta men, like, start a Turning Point USA chapter, you'll meet a lot of them."[89]

Kirk has advocated for parents to never let their daughters receive prescriptions for birth control medication for any reason. He claimed that the medication makes women angry and bitter, which he alleged suited the political leanings of the Democratic Party.[90]

2022 Ukraine invasion

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Kirk characterized the conflict as a "border dispute" and spread false claims from Russian state media that Ukraine was firing mortar shells at a Russian separatist enclave in Ukraine.[91]

At the February 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference, Kirk said that "The southern border matters a lot more than the Ukrainian border" and that "In fact, I want every Republican leader who comes up on stage the next couple days to call what's happening on the southern border an invasion because two million people waltzed into our country last year."[92]

Conflict with the Republican National Committee

In December 2022, Kirk warned the Republican National Committee that they needed to listen to their grassroots voters or face the consequences of ignoring them. Kirk stated that "If ignored, we will have the most stunted and muted Republican Party in the history of the conservative movement, the likes of which we haven't seen in generations."

Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty

In November 2019, Kirk and Jerry Falwell Jr. co-founded the "Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty", a right-wing think-tank funded, owned and housed by Liberty University.[93] [94] [95] Fellows included Antonio Okafor, director of outreach for Gun Owners of America; Sebastian Gorka, former deputy assistant to President Trump; and Jenna Ellis, a senior legal counselor for Trump.[96] In 2020, the Falkirk Center spent at least $50,000 on political Facebook advertisements promoting Trump and Republican candidates.[97]

Students and alumni raised objections about the organization's aggressive political tone, which they considered to be inconsistent with the university's mission. Falwell resigned as president of Liberty University in August 2020, and the university did not renew Kirk's one-year contract in late 2020. In 2021, the university renamed the organization "Standing for Freedom Center".

Awards, achievements and honors

Kirk was listed on the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Law & Policy.[98] [99]

In May 2019, Kirk was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities (D.Hum.) from Liberty University.[100]

Kirk was appointed by President Donald Trump to a commission promoting "patriotic education".[101]

Books

Kirk co-wrote, with Brent Hamachek, the 2016 book Time for a Turning Point: Setting a Course Toward Free Markets and Limited Government for Future Generations (Simon & Schuster).[102]

Kirk wrote the 2018 book Campus Battlefield: How Conservatives Can WIN the Battle on Campus and Why It Matters. Donald Trump Jr. wrote the foreword for the book.[103] In a review for The Weekly Standard, Adam Rubenstein described the book as a "hot mess", "nothing more than a marketing pitch for TPUSA" and said the "thin" book was "stuffed with reprintings of his tweets and quotes from others."[104]

In 2020, Kirk's book The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future was published.[105] [106]

In 2022, Kirk's fourth book, The College Scam: How America's Universities Are Bankrupting and Brainwashing Away the Future of America's Youth was published.[107]

In 2024, Kirk's book, Right Wing Revolution How to Beat the Woke and Save the West, was released.[108]

Media

As of December 7, 2021, The Charlie Kirk Show podcast was ranked as the 21st most popular podcast on Apple podcasts.[109] Kirk's "Turning Point Live" is a three-hour streaming talk show aimed at Generation Z. Turning Point USA's monthly online average has grown to 111,000 unique visitors in 2021.[110] A February 2023 Brookings Institution study found Kirk's podcast contained the second-highest proportion of false, misleading and unsubstantiated statements among 36,603 episodes produced by 79 prominent political podcasters.[111]

In 2022, journalist Bari Weiss released a report of internal Twitter documents dubbed "The Twitter Files", which alleged that Twitter was censoring conservative personalities on the social media platform. Weiss posted screenshots of Twitter tools that moderators could use to limit the reach of posts and accounts. According to Rolling Stone magazine, Kirk's Twitter account was flagged under "do not amplify", which meant algorithms would not highlight tweets coming from those accounts.[112] [113]

Personal life

Kirk is an evangelical Christian.[114] In May 2021, Kirk married Erika Frantzve, a podcaster and businesswoman who won the Miss Arizona USA pageant competition in 2012.[115] The couple's first child, a daughter, was born in August 2022.[116]

He has three properties, a Spanish-style mansion near Phoenix, with a nearby apartment, and a beachside condo on Florida's gulf coast.[117]

Notes and References

  1. 1127024997485154304 . libertyu . Congratulations to our honorary doctorate recipients Mr. Anthony A. Nobles and Mr. Charles J. Kirk! . Liberty University . Liberty University . May 10, 2019 . January 16, 2022.
  2. Web site: Turning Point USA - Happy Birthday To One Of America's Greatest Freedom Fighters, Charlie Kirk! . 2023-04-21 . Facebook . en.
  3. News: Keilman . John . October 22, 2018 . Before Trump and Kanye became fans, Charlie Kirk battled 'Marxist' high school teachers in Chicago's suburbs . September 27, 2021 . Chicago Tribune.
  4. News: Lester . Kerry . April 29, 2013 . Perfect storm launches 19-year-old Wheeling native into political punditry . subscription . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180129184002/http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130429/news/704299942 . January 29, 2018 . January 31, 2018 . . Arlington Heights, IL.
  5. Web site: Nelson . Rebecca . March 25, 2015 . The 21-Year-Old Becoming a Major Player in Conservative Politics . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170808135151/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/the-21-year-old-becoming-a-major-player-in-conservative-politics/451110/ . August 8, 2017 . September 25, 2020 . The Atlantic.
  6. Web site: Peterson . Anne . May 2019 . Charlie Kirk And Candace Owens' Campus Tour Is All About The Owns . 2020-12-10 . BuzzFeed News . en.
  7. News: Keilman . John . October 22, 2018 . Before Trump and Kanye became fans, Charlie Kirk battled 'Marxist' high school teachers in Chicago's suburbs . May 8, 2021 . Chicago Tribune.
  8. News: May 7, 2015 . This Boy Wonder Is Building the Conservative MoveOn.org in a Lemont Garage . subscription . Crain's Chicago Business . Bloomberg.
  9. Web site: Guinto . Joseph . April 7, 2018 . Trump's man on campus . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190401074336/https://www.politico.eu/article/charlie-kirk-donald-trump-man-on-campus-turning-point-usa/ . April 1, 2019 . May 9, 2021 . Politico.
  10. Mayer . Jane . December 21, 2017 . A Conservative Nonprofit That Seeks to Transform College Campuses Faces Allegations of Racial Bias and Illegal Campaign Activity . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171223012328/https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-conservative-nonprofit-that-seeks-to-transform-college-campuses-faces-allegations-of-racial-bias-and-illegal-campaign-activity . December 23, 2017 . May 9, 2021 . The New Yorker.
  11. Web site: 2019-11-01 . A Profile of Charlie Kirk . 2022-04-14 . The Dartmouth Review . en-US.
  12. News: Plott . Elaina . October 27, 2020 . Win or Lose, It's Donald Trump's Republican Party . January 6, 2021 . . en-US.
  13. Web site: Childress . Greg . September 7, 2021 . National watchlist for 'radical left' policies includes 5 North Carolina school boards . November 13, 2021 . The Pulse.
  14. Web site: Spies . Mike . Pearson . Jake . July 21, 2020 . At This Trump-Favored Charity, Financial Reporting Is Questionable and Insiders Are Cashing In . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200723015436/https://www.propublica.org/article/at-this-trump-favored-charity-financial-reporting-is-questionable-and-insiders-are-cashing-in . 2020-07-23 . 2020-07-23 . ProPublica.
  15. Web site: Stone . Peter . October 23, 2021 . Money and misinformation: how Turning Point USA became a formidable pro-Trump force . October 24, 2021 . The Guardian.
  16. News: Stanley-Becker . Isaac . July 29, 2021 . Charlie Kirk's pro-Trump youth group stokes vaccine resistance as covid surges again . November 13, 2021 . The Washington Post.
  17. News: Stanley-Becker . Isaac . Reinhard . Beth . 2022-02-08 . Firm saw $40 million potential in Charlie Kirk's 'America-first' academy. Then its plans fell apart. . 2022-03-06 . . en-US . 0190-8286.
  18. Web site: Schwartz . Brian . May 20, 2019 . Pro-Trump college GOP activist Charlie Kirk will launch a new group to target Democrats in 2020 . July 22, 2019 . CNBC.
  19. Web site: Turning Point Action Launches 2020 Expansion, Acquires 'Students for Trump' . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190721151305/https://www.studentsfortrump.net/blog . July 21, 2019 . July 21, 2019 . Students For Trump.
  20. News: Singman . Brooke . July 2, 2019 . Charlie Kirk launches GOTV campaign to enlist 1 million 'Students for Trump' in 2020 . July 19, 2019 . Fox News.
  21. News: Orr . Gabby . November 27, 2020 . Blame game erupts over Trump's decline in youth vote . April 19, 2021 . Politico.
  22. Web site: TURNING POINT ENDOWMENT INC . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210704194040/https://www.open990.org/org/821225311/turning-point-endowment-inc/ . July 4, 2021 . October 24, 2021 . Open 990.
  23. Web site: Turning Point Faith . 6 September 2021 . tpusa.com . Turning Point USA.
  24. News: Armiak . David . October 25, 2021 . Turning Point USA Seeks $43 Million to Escalate the Right's Culture War in American Schools . December 11, 2021 . Center for Media and Democracy.
  25. News: O'Harrow . Robert . October 14, 2020 . Videos show closed-door sessions of leading conservative activists: 'Be not afraid of the accusations that you're a voter suppressor . October 28, 2021 . The Washington Post.
  26. Web site: CNP Membership Directory September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210227084952/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7273354-CNP-Membership-Directory-September-2020.html . February 27, 2021 . September 18, 2021.
  27. Web site: Nelson . Annie . March 24, 2021 . The Shadow Network (Council for National Policy) Is Not Going Away . September 18, 2021 . billmoyers.com.
  28. News: Wilson . Jason . September 30, 2021 . Top Republicans rub shoulders with extremists in secretive rightwing group, leak reveals . October 28, 2021 . The Guardian.
  29. Web site: CNP Action, Inc. . https://web.archive.org/web/20211020213246/https://cfnp.org/cnp-action-inc/ . October 20, 2021 . October 30, 2021 . cfnp.org.
  30. News: Stanley-Baker . Isaac . 23 December 2022 . Charlie Kirk delivers a warning to the RNC, and sparks a backlash . 24 December 2022 . The Washington Post.
  31. News: Robins-Early . Nick . November 2, 2020 . The Christian Radio Network Working To Reelect Trump . May 9, 2021 . HuffPost.
  32. SRN Adds The Charlie Kirk Show to Weekday Lineup . September 1, 2020 . Caramillo, CA . November 25, 2020 . Salem Media Group . Business Wire.
  33. Web site: The Charlie Kirk Show Podcast - Listen, Reviews, Charts . 2024-03-19 . chartable.com.
  34. News: Smith . Allan . Gomez . Henry J. . Dixon . Matt . Hillyard . Vaughn . 2024-02-18 . Conservative activist Charlie Kirk helped oust Ronna McDaniel at the RNC. Now the knives are out for him. . 2024-03-19 . NBC News . en.
  35. Braune . Joan . 2019 . Who's Afraid of the Frankfurt School? 'Cultural Marxism' as an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory . Journal of Social Justice . New York City . . 9.
  36. Web site: . Cambridge Union allowed far right-linked Turning Point to invite three members of their own debate opposition . 2020-11-09 . Varsity Online.
  37. Web site: DePaolo . Joe . November 15, 2019 . Charlie Kirk Shouts 'Fake News' at a Town Hall Questioner for Asking About Something He Actually Said . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201008202705/https://www.mediaite.com/tv/charlie-kirk-shouts-fake-news-at-a-town-hall-questioner-for-asking-about-something-he-actually-said/ . October 8, 2020 . September 20, 2020 . mediaite.
  38. News: View . Travis . September 18, 2018 . How conspiracy theories spread from the Internet's darkest corners . May 6, 2021 . The Washington Post.
  39. Web site: View . Travis . September 12, 2018 . How A QAnon Talking Point Traveled From 8Chan To Charlie Kirk's Twitter Account . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210506174037/https://contemptor.com/2018/09/12/charlie-kirk-qanon-deleted-tweet/ . May 6, 2021 . May 6, 2021 . Contemptor.
  40. Web site: Louis . Baudoin-Laarman . Guillaume . Daudin . December 4, 2018 . No, French protesters are not chanting, 'We want Trump' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20181208222105/https://factcheck.afp.com/no-french-protesters-are-not-chanting-we-want-trump . December 8, 2018 . December 8, 2018 . AFP Fact Check . en.
  41. Web site: Fichera . Angelo . March 31, 2020 . Flawed Comparison on Coronavirus, H1N1 Emergency Timelines . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200413043721/https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/flawed-comparison-on-coronavirus-h1n1-emergency-timelines/ . April 13, 2020 . May 19, 2020 . . en-US.
  42. News: Qiu . Linda . Bouchard . Mikayla . March 5, 2020 . Tracking Trump's Claims on the Threat From Coronavirus . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200518103658/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-fact-check.html . May 18, 2020 . May 19, 2020 . . en-US . 0362-4331.
  43. News: Elizabeth . Culliford . February 4, 2020 . REFILE-Iowa official slams viral claim of suspicious voter registration activity as false . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200205165411/https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-election-iowa-misinformation-idUSL1N2A31MT . February 5, 2020 . May 17, 2020 . Reuters.
  44. Web site: 3 February 2020 . Report about potential Iowa voter fraud is false . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200525095204/https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/feb/03/charlie-kirk/conservative-organizations-are-spreading-misinform/ . May 25, 2020 . May 17, 2020 . . en-US.
  45. Web site: Kelley . Brendan Joel . Turning Point USA's blooming romance with the alt-right . 30 June 2021 . splcenter.org . Southern Poverty Law Center.
  46. Web site: Kirk . Charlie . 'White Privilege' is a Racist Lie . 30 June 2021 . tpusa.com . April 7, 2021 . Turning Point USA.
  47. Web site: Kotch . Alex . March 17, 2021 . The Right's Campaign to Erase America's Racist Roots . 13 September 2021 . prwatch.org . PR Watch.
  48. News: Rumpf . Sarah . September 23, 2021 . Charlie Kirk Wants to Start a Border Militia to Protect 'White Demographics in America' . October 24, 2021 . Mediaite.
  49. News: . September 8, 2021 . Right-Wing Activist Charlie Kirk Coming To Mankato . 9 September 2021 . Southern Minnesota News.
  50. News: Robinson . Riley . October 19, 2021 . After finding a venue, Charlie Kirk brings his show to Burlington . October 24, 2021 . VTDigger.
  51. Web site: Eischens . Rilyn . October 6, 2021 . Right-wing celeb Charlie Kirk thinks George Floyd is a 'scumbag' . October 24, 2021 . Minnesota Reformer.
  52. Web site: Kirk . Charlie . November 5, 2021 . Charlie Kirk: What Youngkin's victory tells us about Trump and the conservative movement . 9 November 2021 . Fox News.
  53. Turton . William . 12 January 2024 . How Charlie Kirk Plans to Discredit Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Act . 13 January 2024 . Wired.
  54. Web site: Skinner . Anna . 15 January 2024 . Charlie Kirk Flips on Martin Luther King Jr., Attacks Growing 'Myth' . 19 January 2024 . Newsweek.
  55. News: Haberman . Maggie . Gold . Michael . Goldmacher . Shane . 2024-03-12 . Trump Courts Black Voters Even as He Traffics in Stereotypes . 2024-03-29 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  56. News: Freeman . Mike . A story about sports, Black History Month, a racist comment, and the greatest of pilots . 2024-03-29 . USA Today . en-US.
  57. News: Ingram . David . 2024-01-28 . How right-wing influencers turned airplanes and airports into culture war battlegrounds . 2024-03-29 . NBC News . en.
  58. Web site: 2023-03-22 . Former BLM activist: DEI is a fancy way to say anti-White . 2024-03-29 . Fox News . en-US.
  59. Web site: Ferderer . Jackson . Charlie Kirk's appearance isn't worth your time . 30 June 2021 . dailyevergreen.com . Daily Evergreen.
  60. Web site: Bellanger . Boris . April 16, 2021 . In viral Turning Point USA video, Candace Owens and Charlie Kirk falsely claim there is no evidence of global warming and scientists don't know the cause . 30 June 2021 . climatefeedback.org . Climate Feedback.
  61. Web site: Republican National Convention, Day 1 Afternoon Session . 2022-04-16 . c-span.org.
  62. Lapowsky . Issie . July 20, 2016 . At the Republican Convention, Millennials Search for Signs of the Future . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171021060017/https://www.wired.com/2016/07/republican-convention-millennials-search-signs-future/ . October 21, 2017 . January 31, 2018 . Wired.
  63. News: Rosenberg . Matthew . Rogers . Katie . April 19, 2020 . For Charlie Kirk, Conservative Activist, the Virus Is a Cudgel . May 5, 2021 . The New York Times.
  64. News: Vasquez . Michael . May 7, 2017 . Inside a Stealth Plan for Political Influence . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170916125911/http://www.chronicle.com/article/Inside-a-Stealth-Plan-for/240008 . September 16, 2017 . September 6, 2017 . . en-US . 0009-5982.
  65. Web site: Singman . Brooke . July 2019 . Charlie Kirk launches GOTV campaign to enlist 1 million 'Students for Trump' in 2020 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190719173123/https://www.foxnews.com/politics/charlie-kirk-launches-gotv-campaign-to-enlist-students-for-trump-on-campus . July 19, 2019 . July 19, 2019 . Fox News.
  66. News: O'Harrow . Robert . October 14, 2020 . Videos show closed-door sessions of leading conservative activists: 'Be not afraid of the accusations that you're a voter suppressor' . October 22, 2020 . The Washington Post.
  67. News: Porter . Tom . March 29, 2020 . Twitter deleted a tweet by Rudy Giuliani for spreading coronavirus misinformation . May 5, 2021 . Business Insider.
  68. Web site: Solender . Andrew . Trump Gives Conservative Youth Activist Charlie Kirk 'Patriotic Education' Post During Last-Minute Hiring Blitz . 2020-12-21 . Forbes . en.
  69. Ecarma . Caleb . December 18, 2020 . Thousands of Young Conservatives May Hold Blowout Conference in Florida, COVID Be Damned . 2020-12-21 . Vanity Fair . en-us.
  70. Levin . Bess . July 8, 2021 . 'Apartheid-Style, Open-Air Hostage Situation': Conservatives Lose Their Minds Over Biden's Vaccination Push . 12 July 2021 . Vanity Fair.
  71. Web site: Budryk . Zack . 2020-12-15 . Geraldo Rivera, Charlie Kirk clash over voter fraud: 'That is so dishonest' . 2020-12-18 . TheHill . en.
  72. Web site: Collman . Ashley . Fox News star Geraldo Rivera called out die-hard Trump fan Charlie Kirk for continuing to push voter-fraud theories after the Electoral College confirmed Biden's victory . 15 December 2020 . 2020-12-18 . Business Insider.
  73. Web site: Armiak . David . November 6, 2020 . Operatives tied to Council for National Policy Organizing Protests Alleging Voter Fraud . 13 September 2021 . exposedbycmd.org . The Center for Media and Democracy.
  74. Web site: Strategic Communications Plan Giuliani Presidential Legal Defense Team . 24 December 2022 . justsecurity.org . House January 6 Committee.
  75. 1346271038011625472 . charliekirk11 . This historic event will likely be one of the largest and most consequential in American history The team at @TrumpStudents & Turning Point Action are honored to help make this happen, sending 80+ buses full of patriots to DC to fight for this president . Charlie . Kirk . 2021-01-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210105014339/https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1346271038011625472 . 2021-01-05 .
  76. News: Qiu . Linda . 2020-09-16 . No, there is not evidence that Ginni Thomas paid for buses to bring people to the Capitol siege. . 2021-01-12 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  77. News: Tanfani . Joseph . Berens . Michael . Parker . Ned . 2021-01-12 . How Trump's pied pipers rallied a faithful mob to the Capitol . 2021-01-12 . Reuters . en.
  78. News: Cerabino . Frank . Cerabino: Pence missed chance in West Palm last month to alert U.S. to its domestic terror problem . 8 July 2021 . . 11 January 2021 .
  79. News: Stanley-Becker . Isaac . Reinhard . Beth . Publix heiress was willing to spend $3 million on Jan. 6 rally, documents show . 24 December 2022 . Washington Post.
  80. Web site: Halon . Yael . 2021-01-10 . Kirk: Despite what the media claims, Trump supporters are 'repulsed' by Capitol riots . 2021-01-12 . Fox News . en-US.
  81. Web site: Ewan . Palmer . 2021-01-12 . Charlie Kirk says Capitol attack was not insurrection after deleting "80+ buses" tweet . 2021-01-12 . Newsweek . en.
  82. Web site: 22 December 2022 . Hansen . Ronald J. . Kelli Ward, Charlie Kirk had little to say to Jan. 6 investigators about 2020 election efforts . 24 December 2022 . azcentral.com . AZ Central.
  83. News: Petrizzo . Zachary . December 28, 2022 . Jan. 6 Organizer Turns on Right-Wing Youth Org in Capitol Riot Blame-Fest . 28 December 2022 . The Daily Beast . Daily Beast.
  84. News: Wong . Julia Carrie . Julia Carrie Wong . 2021-08-24 . Masks off: how US school boards became 'perfect battlegrounds' for vicious culture wars . 2023-07-12 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  85. News: O'Dell . Liam . October 9, 2021 . Charlie Kirk roasted for saying Democrats want Americans to live in 'sexual anarchy' . November 6, 2021 . Indy100.
  86. News: Rumpf . Sarah . October 8, 2021 . Charlie Kirk Warns That Democrats Want You to 'Live in Sexual Anarchy' and Twitter Wants to Know Why He Can't Comb His Hair . November 6, 2021 . Mediaite.
  87. Web site: Kirk . Charlie . October 14, 2021 . On Sexual Anarchy . 21 October 2021 . americanmind.org . Claremont Institute.
  88. Bort . Ryan . 2022-02-14 . Liberals and Conservatives Unite to Dunk on Charlie Kirk for Calling Super Bowl Halftime Show 'Sexual Anarchy' . 2022-03-06 . Rolling Stone . en-US.
  89. Web site: Peltz . Madeline . June 5, 2022 . Turning Point USA conference for young women leaders suggests their role is to get married and have babies . 2022-06-08 . Media Matters for America . en.
  90. Web site: . 2024-04-03 . Pro-Trump Activist Says Birth Control 'Screws Up Female Brains' . 2024-04-03 . TimesNow . en.
  91. News: Frenkel . Sheera . Thompson . Stuart A. . 2022-03-23 . How Russia and Right-Wing Americans Converged on War in Ukraine . 2022-03-23 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  92. Wade . Peter . 2022-02-24 . Charlie Kirk Barely Out-Duels Ted Cruz for Worst CPAC Ukraine Take . 2022-03-06 . Rolling Stone . en-US.
  93. Web site: Seltzer . Rick . 'Pray for Our President': A Liberty University think tank pushed the boundaries on political advertising and messaging this year. . 10 December 2020 . Inside Higher Education.
  94. Web site: Parke . Caleb . December 2, 2019 . Kirk, Falwell Jr. launch Liberty University think tank to fight attacks on Judeo-Christian values . January 8, 2021 . Fox News.
  95. News: Graham . Ruth . March 26, 2021 . Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk Leaves Liberty University Think Tank . April 2, 2021 . The New York Times.
  96. Web site: Troutman . Hattie . January 20, 2020 . What is the Falkirk Center? Liberty University joins Charlie Kirk to create a new kind of think tank to promote faith and liberty on college campuses . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201105010309/https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2020/01/what-is-the-falkirk-center-liberty-university-joins-charlie-kirk-to-create-a-new-kind-of-think-tank-to-promote-faith-and-liberty-on-college-campuses/ . November 5, 2020 . 31 October 2020 . liberty.edu . Liberty University Champion.
  97. News: Severns . Maggie . December 14, 2020 . In final years at Liberty, Falwell spent millions on pro-Trump causes . December 14, 2020 . POLITICO . en.
  98. Web site: Howard . Caroline . November 14, 2017 . 30 Under 30 Class Of 2018: The Young Stars, Visionaries And Creative Disruptors . April 5, 2021 . Forbes.
  99. Web site: Jeremy . Bogaisky . Christopher . Denhart . Derek . Draplin . Avik . Roy . 30 under 30 Law and Policy . April 5, 2021 . Forbes.
  100. Web site: Liberty University News Service . Vice President Mike Pence challenges 2019 grads to 'go forth for Liberty' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191207063406/http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=332894 . December 7, 2019 . July 20, 2019 . liberty.edu.
  101. Web site: Solender . Andrew . Trump Gives Conservative Youth Activist Charlie Kirk 'Patriotic Education' Post During Last-Minute Hiring Blitz . 2023-07-19 . Forbes . en.
  102. Book: Kirk . Charlie . Time for a turning point : setting a course towards free markets and limited government for future generations . Hamachek . Brent . Simon and Schuster . 2016 . 978-1-68261-247-7 . New York . 952648187.
  103. Web site: Donald Trump Jr. - The foreword is the best part, obviously... because I wrote it. The rest is really good too. Check out Campus Battlefield by my buddy Charlie Kirk . 2022-04-14 . facebook.com . en.
  104. News: Adam . Rubenstein . October 10, 2018 . Charlie Kirk's Campus Battlefield Is a Hot Mess . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20181010183846/https://www.weeklystandard.com/adam-rubenstein/charlie-kirks-book-campus-battlefield-is-a-joke . October 10, 2018 . October 10, 2018 . The Weekly Standard . en.
  105. News: Debenedetti . Gabriel . April 17, 2020 . Three Views of Donald Trump . 29 June 2021 . The New York Times.
  106. Web site: Donoghue . Steve . March 7, 2020 . The MAGA Doctrine by Charlie Kirk . April 20, 2022 . Open Letters Review.
  107. News: Ruelas . Richard . Charlie Kirk, Turning Point founder, to headline fundraiser for Arizona State University center . 2023-11-05 . The Arizona Republic . en-US.
  108. Kirk, Charlie. Right Wing Revolution: How to Beat the Woke and Save the West. Google Books, Jun 18, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  109. Web site: Winn . Ross . May 21, 2018 . Top 100 US Podcasts (Apple Podcasts Top Charts) . 15 November 2021 . podcastinsights.com . Podcast Insights.
  110. Web site: Beaumont . Thomas . November 17, 2021 . How a right-wing provocateur is using race to reach Gen Z . 18 November 2021 . .
  111. News: Thompson . Stuart A. . February 9, 2023 . Steve Bannon's Podcast Is Top Misinformation Spreader, Study Says . The New York TImes.
  112. Dickinson . Tim . 2022-12-09 . Latest 'Twitter Files' Allege Blacklisting of Conservatives . 2022-12-14 . Rolling Stone . en-US.
  113. News: Hewitt . Hugh . I defended Twitter to other conservatives. I was wrong. . 2022-12-14 . Washington Post . Opinion . en-US . 0190-8286.
  114. News: Crump . James . 19 October 2020 . Charlie Kirk's Twitter account locked for spreading misinformation about mail-in votes . 2020-11-13 . The Independent.
  115. Web site: July 27, 2021 . Who Is Charlie Kirk Married To? Inside Conservative Activist's Wedding Details and Wife . March 19, 2022 . HollywoodMask.
  116. Ch2W1Fcpnv7 . charliekirk1776 . Welcome to the world baby girl. We love you so much.❤️ Erika did so so well, praise God! . Charlie . Kirk . 2022-08-29 . 2022-11-28 . en.
  117. Web site: Slodysko . Brian . 2023-10-10 . How Trump's MAGA movement helped a 29-year-old activist become a millionaire . 2023-10-10 . . en.

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