Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Congressional caucuses Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other Charles James Kirk (born October 14, 1993)[2][3] is an American conservative political activist, author and media personality.

He briefly attended Harper College before dropping out to pursue political activism full-time, influenced by Tea Party member Bill Montgomery.

In 2012, Kirk founded TPUSA, a conservative student organization that quickly grew with backing from donors like Foster Friess.

[5] In 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).

[4] He also wrote an essay for Breitbart News alleging liberal bias in high school textbooks, which led to an appearance on Fox Business.

[7] 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.

[12] 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.

Arizona education firm StrongMind initially partnered with TPUSA 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)."

[30][32] According to Kirk, the Mount Vernon Project is a movement to "recruit leaders to serve on the RNC (Republican National Committee) and at the state level who wish to better represent the grassroots voice.

[34][35] 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.

[36][37] Prior to the 2024 presidential election Charlie Kirk visited around 25 college campuses labeled as the "You're being brainwashed" tour, trying to stir up more gen-Z voter turnout by where he would engage/debate with students on many different relevant topics.

[43] 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.

[44][45] In December 2018, Kirk falsely claimed that protesters in the French yellow vests movement chanted "We want Trump."

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".

[60] Kirk told the New York Times “I take the Caldwellian view, from his book ‘The Age of Entitlement,’ that we went through a new founding in the ’60s and that the Civil Rights Act has actually superseded the U.S. Constitution as its reference point.

[62] 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.

He was briefly banned from Twitter after falsely claiming that hydroxychloroquine had proved to be "100% effective in treating the virus";[7] He alleged Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan, threatened doctors who tried to use the medication.

[7][75] 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.

[18] On Fox News' Tucker Carlson show, Kirk called student mandatory requirements for taking the COVID-19 vaccine "medical apartheid".

[80] Charlie Kirk was considered a "big name" social influencer in Rudy Giuliani's communications plan to overturn the 2020 election.

[81] On January 5, 2021, the day before the Washington, D.C. 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".

"[86] Publix heiress Julie Fancelli gave Charlie Kirk's organizations $1.25 million to fund the buses to the January 6 event.

[88][89] Appearing before the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, Charlie Kirk pleaded the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

"[90] 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.

[93][94][95] 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.

[102] 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.

[106] Students and alumni raised objections about the organization's aggressive political tone, which they considered to be inconsistent with the university's mission.

[110] 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).

[123] In May 2021, Kirk married Erika Frantzve (born 1988), a podcaster and businesswoman who won the Miss Arizona USA pageant competition in 2012.