Follow The Post’s live coverage of the Charlie Kirk shooting for the latest news and updates
Charlie Kirk is the rising star MAGA conservative influencer who was shot dead at a town hall at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
Kirk, 31, the CEO of Turning Point USA, rose to prominence on YouTube and X and became famous for his unapologetic and often boldly stated conservative opinions.
Kirk’s upbringing
Kirk, who shares two young children with his wife Erika Frantzve, grew up in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. His mother is a mental health counselor, and his father is an architect.
As a young boy, the go-getter was a member of the Boy Scouts and later became an Eagle Scout.
In his senior year of high school, Kirk wrote an essay for Breitbart News alleging liberal bias in high school textbooks, which led to an appearance on Fox Business, the New York Times reported.
Kirk attended Harper College near Chicago but dropped out before getting a degree — opting instead for a career in politics.
Stay up to date on the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk
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From dropout to conservative influencer
In 2012, at the age of 18, he founded Turning Point USA, which developed into one of the most influential conservative political action groups in the nation.
Kirk has written several books, including “Time for a Turning Point,” “Campus Battlefield,” “The MAGA Doctrine,” “The College Scam,” and “Right Wing Revolution.”
In February 2025, Kirk joined the Trinity Broadcasting Network to host a weekday talk show called “Charlie Kirk Today.”
Professional debater
The father of two boasts millions of followers and billions of views for videos in which he would engage in fiery debates with students on college campuses.
“Charlie Kirk Hands Out Huge L’s at University of California San Diego” and “Charlie Kirk VS the Washington State Woke Mob” are the titles of the two most recent videos uploaded to his YouTube page, which has 3.83 million subscribers.
Provocative viewpoints
In the days before the shooting, Kirk posted on social media about the death of Iryna Zarutska and has a history of sharing brash takes online.
“Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America,” Kirk wrote on X Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Kirk was hosting an event for his American Comeback Tour when he was shot.
Former Congressman Jason Chaffetz witnessed the attack and told Fox News Kirk was speaking about transgender mass shooters shortly before the bullet struck his neck.
