I met Charlie Kirk only once. In September 2024, he brought the “You’re Being Brainwashed” tour to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Being a naïve college sophomore, I took the opportunity to debate with him. Though I was already conservative, I believed that Turning Point was doing more harm than good for the right and specifically thought its outreach to young people was not working. We had a respectful conversation, and I was proven thoroughly wrong a few months later when my generation swung to the Republican Party in the general election. This was certainly due, at least in part, to what Kirk had built.
In just over a decade, Charlie Kirk launched a movement, establishing Turning Point USA as a force to be reckoned with and a presence on thousands of high school and college campuses. The response to his assassination proves that he was not just another influencer, podcast host, or provocateur. Instead, he was one of the most important living political activists of any ideology or background, and his legacy will be carried on by the millions he persuaded.
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