At just 31, conservative activist Charlie Kirk possessed an extensive and influential profile that helped plug many youths into the Make America Great Again movement.
As a joint founder of the right-wing advocacy organization Turning Point USA, he encouraged the building of conservative social clubs and activist groups on university campuses across the country.
As a media performer, he built a successful podcasting and social media platform in addition to being a pundit on legacy conservative media outlets such as Fox News.
While a manhunt for his killer remains ongoing, his death in Utah has stunned the United States, and the world at large, deepening fears of increased political violence following the killing of a Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota earlier this year and two attempts on Donald Trump’s life in 2024.
Kirk had broad reach on social media reach and through his podcast, and was credited with aiding Trump’s return to the White House.
Right-wing culture warrior
At the beginning of his career, Kirk advocated for free markets and small government — staples of conservative politics in the United States. In his early 20s, Kirk worked as an aide to the president’s son Donald Jr. during the 2016 presidential campaign.
In recent years, he was a leading right-wing culture warrior, championing key MAGA policy stances: opposing LGBTQ+ rights and restrictions on firearms, and strongly backing Trump’s anti-immigration agenda.
Opponents rebuffed his unfounded claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, his attacks on public health measures during the coronavirus pandemic and his publicly casting opponents of the right as dangerous.
While his media activities built his personal brand, Turning Point extended Kirk’s influence with its concert-style events connecting political speakers, country musicians and conservative evangelical religious figures to young audiences. Turning Point calls itself the “Largest Conservative Movement” in the United States, and claims more than 800 chapters at colleges and universities nationwide.
Mainstreaming conservativism for young people
Bart Cammaerts, a professor of politics and communication at the London School of Economics told DW that influencers such as Kirk have been effective with their campaigns against perceived political correctness in society.
“‘Cultural warriors’ or ‘moral entrepreneurs ‘, however you want to kind of put it in terms of the label of influencers, also lay the ground for policies,” Cammaerts said.
Kirk’s personal brand of MAGA values — combative activism, Christian faith and economic conservativism — endeared him to right-wing audiences dismissive of “wokeism.”
The impact of conservative influencers like him has been credited with swinging key demographics just enough toward Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Young men swung hard to Trump after supporting the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, in 2020.
It was a demographic loss that the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, could not afford.
‘A powerful tool’
Parties around the world, including the far-right AfD in Germany, have embraced podcasting and the internet for partisan political communication.
“All sides have seen the potential of these podcasts,” Cammaerts said.
Cammaerts points to hugely popular “The Rest is Politics” pod, anchored by former Labour Party political strategist Alastair Campbell and ex-Tory MP Rory Stewart.
Yini Zhang, an assistant professor of political communication at the University of Buffalo in the northeastern United States, said personality-based media players were leveraging podcasts and social media to grow audiences.
“Social media is a powerful tool for individuals with strong communication styles and opinions to build large followings and accumulate influence,” Zhang told DW via email. “Pairing social media with podcasts is also an effective strategy… used by political commentators and activists across the spectrum.”
Edited by: M Gagnon
