MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Before he was killed on Wednesday, Charlie Kirk was among the most influential voices in young conservatism. He played a pivotal role in President Trump's return to the White House. NPR's Shannon Bond has more on Kirk's life and legacy.
SHANNON BOND, BYLINE: Charlie Kirk was just 18, barely old enough to vote, when he launched the campus activist group Turning Point USA. Here's how he remembered it in a speech last year.
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CHARLIE KIRK: I had the crazy and wild idea as I was driving home from Rockford, Illinois. I - a lot of things went into this, and I said, that's it. I want to try to start a youth organization to try and save Western civilization.
BOND: More than a decade later, Kirk said he'd met that goal.
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KIRK: We are now the largest organization in the conservative movement, hosting President Trump twice in one week. And it's just - only in America is a story like that possible. So - and only thanks to the blessing of the Lord, and it came out of the grassroots of this country as a response to the secular godless totalitarianism that we see reigning over our country.
BOND: From an early focus on libertarian themes like free markets and limited government, Kirk leaned into the MAGA movement, drawing up a watch list of professors he claimed were biased against conservatives and appealing to the religious right. Nicole Hemmer is a political historian at Vanderbilt University. She says Kirk was a bridge from the Tea Party era to the MAGA era and stood out from others in conservative media.
NICOLE HEMMER: His primary role is as an organizer. He was someone who immediately went to college campuses as a teenager and saw his role as, how do we get these students to identify as conservatives, and how do we get them engaged in politics?
BOND: Kirk used his megaphone to amplify far-right voices and conspiracy theories. He made false claims about COVID, described the passage of the Civil Rights Act as a mistake and promoted disproven allegations of election fraud. Here he is after Trump's loss in November 2020.
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KIRK: How do we explain the 100% ballot drop in Michigan, where just every ballot that was dropped was just for Joe Biden. Why is no one asking about Dominion Voting Systems?
BOND: Today, Turning Point USA counts more than 800 college chapters and an audience of millions who tune in to its podcasts, livestreams and live events. That includes debates with college students which Kirk became famous for.
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KIRK: Hello everyone. I am Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, and I am surrounded by 20 woke college kids.
BOND: Kirk's group of Turning Point nonprofits has expanded into voter turnout and organizing at churches. They report an annual revenue of roughly a hundred million dollars. But it's Kirk's close alignment with the Trump family, through his friendship with Donald Trump Jr., that launched him into the political stratosphere. Last year, Turning Point Action helped with the Trump campaign's voter turnout operations in key swing states, including Arizona and Wisconsin. Trump himself headlined several Turning Point rallies with Kirk.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I want to thank you all, and I want to thank Charlie Kirk for everything he's done at Turning Point Action for making this event possible. What a great turnout.
BOND: After Trump's victory, Kirk told NPR the campaign's outreach to young voters boosted Trump.
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KIRK: The goal was, of course, to lose by less. But in the last couple weeks, we were whispering to each other that there might be something bigger than we can even quantify that will materialize, and it turns out our gut was right.
BOND: When the race was called for Trump, Kirk choked up during his election night livestream.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: We got to hear some words here from you, Charlie. You put all this together, my man. Let's hear it.
KIRK: It's just - I am just humbled by God. God is great. It's all God.
BOND: His cohost encouraged him to put on a red MAGA hat, saying it would soon be in the Smithsonian.
Shannon Bond, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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