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Charlie Kirk

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Never give up, never surrender, and always go for the win.

Charles James Kirk (October 14, 1993 – September 10, 2025) was an American right-wing political activist, author, and media personality. He co-founded the conservative organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA) in 2012 and served as its executive director. In 2025, he was shot dead while speaking at a public event.

Quotes

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Kirk holding a microphone and seated by a sign reading "PROVE ME WRONG"
"Prove me wrong".

2019

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  • I believe marriage is one man one woman
    Also gay people should be welcome in the conservative movement
    As Christians we are called to love everyone
    I will always stand against people who wish to establish their own personal values as a reason to kick others out of our movement
    • 22 November 2019 tweet that includes a video clip of Kirk debating at length about the issue

2020

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  • Never give up, never surrender, and always go for the win.
    • The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future, Broadside Books (2020).
  • I am here tonight to tell you, to warn you, that this election is a decision between preserving America as we know it and eliminating everything that we love.
    • Remarks at the 2020 Republican National Convention [1]

2021

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  • America is the only country where even those who hate it refuse to leave.

2022

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  • Change my mind.
    • Tag line of public challenges to debate which Kirk would post on college campuses.[3]

2023

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2024

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  • "Oh, MLK's a great guy." Actually MLK was awful. OK? He's not a good person. He said one good thing he actually didn't believe.
  • I have a very, very radical view on this, but I can defend it, and I’ve thought about it. We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s.
  • I'm sorry, if I see a Black pilot, I'm going to be like, "Boy, I hope he's qualified."
  • What we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have a reasonable disagreement, where violence is not an option.
    • Turning Point USA event [4]
  • You don't have to stay poor. You don't have to accept being worse off than your parents. You don't have to feel aimless and unhappy. You don't have to support leaders who lied to you and took advantage of you for your vote. America's future is a series of choices.
    • Remarks at the 2024 Republican National Convention [5]
  • Democrats have given hundreds of billions of dollars to illegals and foreign nations, while Gen Z has to pinch pennies just so that they can never own a home, never marry, and work until they die, childless.
    • Remarks at the 2024 Republican National Convention.[6]
  • And it says, by the way, Ms. Rachel, — might want to crack open that Bible of yours — in a lesser referenced part of the same part of Scripture, is in Leviticus 18, is that "Thou shall lay with another man, shall be stoned to death." Just sayin'. So, Ms. Rachel, you quote Leviticus 19, "Love your neighbor as yourself". The chapter before affirms God's perfect law when it comes to sexual matter.
  • I do have a daughter .. that's awfully graphic .. calm down... the answer is yes, the baby would be delivered. But let me tell you why: no, hold on, let me ask you a question.
  • Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There's ugly speech. There's gross speech. There's evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment. Keep America free.

2025

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  • To all the young people of America and Gen Z, I want you to know President Trump is going to deliver for you. So that you could be able to own a home, have big families, believe in this country
    • Remarks during the 2025 presidential inauguration day events. [7]
  • When I hear the slogan, "make America great again", I'm also hearing, "return America to its British roots".
    • Opening remarks at a debate in the Oxford Student Union. [8]
  • Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You're not in charge.
  • Islam is the sword the left is using to slit the throat of America.
    • Post on X, September 8, 2025
    • Stein, Chris (2025-09-11) . "Charlie Kirk in his own words: ‘prowling Blacks’ and ‘the great replacement strategy’". The Guardian. ISSN 1756-3224.
  • Q: Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last ten years?
    Kirk: Too many.
    Q: It's five. Now five is a lot, right? I'm going to give you credit. Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last ten years?
    Kirk: Counting or not counting gang violence?

Quotes about Kirk

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  • Franklin Graham recently reminded us of something I’ve always admired about Charlie Kirk: he stood firmly on biblical truth, but he did it with compassion. He debated boldly, yet never with malice. He modeled what it looks like to stand on God’s Word while still loving those who disagreed. That’s what struck me most about Charlie’s ministry. When culture calls biblical truth hate speech, Christians must remember that speaking God’s Word is the highest form of love.
  • One thing that frustrates me most is how often Charlie’s critics ripped his words out of context. Take his comment on the Civil Rights Act. Critics spun it as racist, when his point was about federal government overreach — not opposing equal rights. Or his remarks on the Second Amendment, where he said liberty comes with a cost. Opponents twisted that into indifference about human life, even though he also called those deaths tragic. Even Scripture itself has been twisted this way for centuries. Satan quoted Psalm 91 out of context when tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:6). Why should we expect the world to treat modern truth-tellers any differently? That’s the real playbook: rip words from their setting, slap a label of “hate,” and dismiss the speaker entirely.
  • The world says truth is hate. But in reality, the absence of truth is the cruelest hate of all. Paul reminds us that love rejoices in truth (1 Corinthians 13:6), and that we must “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). To stay silent while people remain in sin is not love — it’s indifference. Even this week, a Reuters report on a law professor suspended over posts about Kirk shows how fiercely culture now polices speech around controversial public figures. That should wake us up. If even Scripture is branded as hate, then we must be prepared to face the same hostility.
    Standing firm in a world turned upside down. The culture may label us “haters,” but the truth is this: standing on God’s Word is the most loving thing we can do. Charlie Kirk lived this out boldly. And Franklin Graham’s defense of him reminds us that true Christianity is not about silencing sin or watering down truth. It’s about proclaiming Christ with courage and compassion. Like Charlie, we are called to hold fast to biblical truth — no matter the cost.
  • Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA and a prominent figure in the American conservative movement, was fatally shot during a live event at Utah Valley University on 10 September. His death has reignited scrutiny over his controversial political stances, particularly his outspoken opposition to LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion.
    Kirk, aged 31, built his reputation as a staunch supporter of right-wing ideologies, often courting controversy with inflammatory remarks. His views on LGBTQ issues were among the most divisive. He frequently described progressive stances on gender and sexuality as “sexual anarchy” and condemned LGBTQ-inclusive education, arguing that it eroded cultural identity.
    In multiple broadcasts and public appearances, Kirk used anti-transgender slurs and celebrated being able to do so on platforms like Rumble. He labelled transgender individuals as “groomers” and advocated for banning gender-affirming care, even suggesting that providers should face “Nuremberg-style trials”.
    His rhetoric aligned with broader efforts in right-wing media to roll back LGBTQ+ protections, including celebrating Supreme Court rulings that allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ+ customers on religious grounds.
  • Kirk’s comments extended to dangerous misinformation. Just moments before his fatal shooting, he responded to a question about trans mass shooters by saying “Too many,” despite data showing the vast majority of such incidents are committed by cisgender men.
    His influence was not limited to media. Kirk played a key role in shaping conservative youth discourse through Turning Point USA, a platform that has been criticised for hosting events and promoting narratives hostile to LGBTQ+ communities. Despite this, he was invited as the first guest on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s podcast earlier this year, a move that drew backlash given Kirk’s history of incendiary remarks.
    While tributes from political allies, including President Donald Trump, praised Kirk as “legendary,” critics argue that his legacy is marred by a pattern of bigotry and harmful rhetoric.
  • MAGA activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead while speaking at a university campus in Utah on Wednesday, was well known for his outspoken opinions on a number of hot-button political issues. The 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, a key ally of President Donald Trump, was shot in the neck by a sniper’s bullet at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem and was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A police manhunt for the gunman is ongoing.
    A Chicago-born son of an architect, Kirk co-founded Turning Point when he was just 18 years old alongside businessman Bill Montgomery with the aim of promoting conservative values in America’s universities and colleges.
  • He rose to prominence during the first Trump administration through his podcast, cable news appearances and campus speaking tours.
    His views were often viewed as controversial. As an anti-abortion Christian, he routinely debated progressive liberals, Muslims, and the LGBT+ community, resulting in allegations of misogyny, Islamophobia, and homophobia.During the Covid pandemic, he denounced mask mandates. He referred to vaccine requirements as “medical apartheid” and also promoted Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” against him by a vast Democratic conspiracy.
    Kirk frequently adopted Trumpian talking points, blaming DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) hiring practices for flooding in Texas earlier this year, calling New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani “a parasite” and attempting to steer the national conversation away from Jeffrey Epstein by announcing he was “done” with the subject.
  • The Turning Point founder was addressing the subject of gun violence when he was fatally shot in Utah. Kirk was known to be a gun owner himself and regularly spoke out on the issue, including on behalf of the National Rifle Association in the aftermath of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018.
    At a Turning Point event in Salt Lake City in April 2023, he said, “It’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.”
  • Kirk adopted a traditional Christian conservative stance in his approach to many contemporary issues, telling an audience at a Trump election rally in Georgia last fall that Democrats “stand for everything God hates” and adding: “This is a Christian state. I’d like to see it stay that way.”
    He also lashed out at the gay community, denouncing what he called the “LGBTQ agenda,” expressing opposition to same-sex marriage and suggesting that the Bible verse Leviticus 20:13, which endorses the execution of homosexuals, serves as “God’s perfect law when it comes to sexual matters.”
    “I don’t agree with your lifestyle,” Kirk told a gay Wisconsin college student last September. “I don’t think you should introduce yourself just based on your sexuality because that’s not who you are.”
    He also argued against gender-affirming care for transgender people and insisted there are only two genders, sporting a T-shirt at one Arizona rally last year that read: “xy = man.”
    More recently, he discussed the burning of Pride flags, writing on X (Twitter): “We should work to overturn every conviction for those arrested, fined, or otherwise harassed for the ‘hate crime’ of doing donuts over Pride flags painted on public streets.
  • Generally though Kirk was loyal to Trump, whom he saw as key to establishing the conservative Christian America he wanted to help realize, one in which abortion is heavily restricted to cases of medical emergency in which the mother’s life cannot be saved by any other means, women enter higher education to find husbands and “woke” ideologies play no part in public life.
    Donald Trump Jr., a friend with whom he visited Greenland in January, said the MAGA movement will deeply miss Charlie Kirk as one of its most influential young voices.
  • You don't have to say nice things about Charlie Kirk just because he’s dead. You can condemn political violence in all its forms – and you should. You can wish his family well. You can express your sincere condolences to all families of all victims of all political violence. You can even overlook, if you believe it’s worth it, the fact that he spent nearly all of his young adult life selling for profit the hatred of racial and sexual minorities, liberalism and the Democrats generally. You can choose to do these things in full confidence that you have lived up to your obligation as a decent human being. But otherwise, you don’t have to say nice things in order to prove to someone – whoever that is – that you are not glad he’s dead. You don’t have to prove anything.
  • It would be appropriate to suggest that Kirk could be a victim of the kind of politics that he sold, just as it was appropriate to suggest that the Marlboro Men were victims of the kind of products that they sold. (All five men died of smoking-related diseases). Kirk embraced political violence as a “remedy.” He bussed his followers to the J6 insurrection. He once said: “We need to have a Nuremberg-style trial for every gender-affirming clinic doctor.” It is in no way an endorsement of political violence to suggest that Kirk saw the consequences of his choices, just as it was not an endorsement of, say, lung cancer to suggest that the Marlboro Men saw the consequences of theirs.
    In 2023, Kirk famously said annual gun deaths are a “rational” price for our society to pay in exchange for its liberties. “We should not have a utopian view [of gun violence],” he said. “We will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won’t have a single gun death. That is nonsense. That’s drivel. But I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth it to have the cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”
    So it’s not only appropriate to suggest that Charlie Kirk died by the sword that he lived by, it’s deeply moral, as it affirms the belief that no one but the individual can be held responsible for the choices of that individual. (The shooter, it should go without saying, will be held responsible for his.) I would even say it’s deeply conservative to say so.
  • This week, the Associated Press said Charlie Kirk was “assassinated” Wednesday on a college campus in Utah, where he was evidently shot through the neck. That characterization, however, is not neutral. It conveys the president’s preferred view of his death, as an example of America becoming a “killing field” that requires the remedies of a strongman, like murdering the homeless, per Trump's fave TV show. But Kirk was not assassinated. He was murdered.
    Yes, he was a prominent figure. Yes, he was very important to the Republican Party. But he wasn't running for high office, he wasn't leading a mass movement and he was not democratically elected. If anything, he had a high perch, because billionaires gave it to him. Melissa Hortman was assassinated, however. She was a Democratic legislator and the former speaker of the state House who led the enactment of sweeping progressive reforms in Minnesota. In June, she was assassinated by an anti-vaccine terrorist named Vance Boelter. Boelter killed three others, including Hortman’s husband. But he was not assassinated. Neither were the other two, though two of the three were also lawmakers. They were murdered. Hortman was a former speaker. For that reason, her murder rises to the level of assassination.
    This is not just semantics. By elevating Kirk's murder to the level of an assassination, he's turned into a moral figure who appears to transcend politics, such that we are forced to either praise him – or at least say nice things about him – or remain silent for fear of being seen as endorsing political violence.
    That is, of course, one of the goals of authoritarian politics – to censor, silence and suppress the opposition by any means. Kirk was key to that. He presented himself and his organization as champions of free speech on college campuses while also keeping lists, complete with pictures, of professors and students who said and wrote things he didn't like in order to encourage people to monitor and harass them.
  • Literally, not a single Democrat is celebrating the Kirk assassination. It's complete wishcasting on the right. They're radicalizing their followers based on an inaccurate view of their opponents that fits with a victimization narrative. Meanwhile, the most prominent people on their side start indulging in conspiracy theories and gleefully sharing memes after [Nancy] Pelosi's husband is attacked … The hypocrisy is overwhelming. They get off on the idea of “civil war” and collapse and invent the reality they want to see. They imagine Democrats are like themselves when they're not. Under these conditions, the president and his goon squad are almost certainly going to try targeting all of “the left,” as Kirk defined it. The regime is already arresting people for the “crime” of their race, with the Supreme Court’s blessing. If they can criminalize your identity, they can criminalize your speech – or at least force you into silence for insufficiently praising a “free speech champion” like Charlie Kirk.
  • If it feels like you’re being forced to honor and respect a demagogue and liar under penalty of … some bad thing, well, you’re not wrong. As Radley Balko said Monday, “we're witnessing the most aggressive, fanatical crackdown on free speech in my lifetime. The speed and breadth of government censorship and private sector and nonprofit capitulation has been astonishing, as has the lack of urgency [or] silence from people who've long claimed to care about this stuff.” How is this happening? Consider the case of Stephen King. Yes, that Stephen King. Last week, on Twitter, the novelist quoted-tweeted remarks by Fox host Jesse Watters. “Charlie Kirk was not a ‘controversial’ or ‘polarizing’ man,” Watters said. “Charlie was a PATRIOT. THIS is a turning point and we all need to turn in the right direction. Rest in peace, my friend.”
    It should be said first of all that this is a lie. Kirk was nothing but controversial and polarizing. That was his entire shtick. And that’s why Stephen King said: “He advocated for stoning gays to death. Just sayin’.”
  • That Kirk did not explicitly advocate for the stoning of gays to death, in the strictest sense and syntax of those words, is therefore a distinction without a difference – unless, like Kirk, you’re a liar. In that case, the distinction between saying what you’re saying and not saying what you’re saying is important. If that collapses, so does your deception. As long as the distinction between what is said and what is intended to be understood is in place, it’s possible to bully people into silence.
    That’s what happened to Stephen King and others. They spoke the truth about Kirk – not the strict letter of it but the true spirit of it – but did not have the courage to stand by the truth after being accused of slander. And in the process of apologizing, they ended up affirming the lie, making it grow bigger, such that a USA Today story about King’s apology says that he “repeatedly apologized for a false accusation.” (After all, it must have been false if Stephen King apologized for it.)
  • The five-hour memorial service for conservative activist/influencer/organizer Charlie Kirk that packed tens of thousands Sunday into a Phoenix-area stadium was a melding of religion and politics unlike any seen before. Or perhaps it was proof, if any more were needed, that the line that used to separate them may no longer exist, particularly on the right.
    Practically missing were the healing rituals the nation has come to know in these times when it is rocked by the all-too-common kind of tragedy that occurred when Kirk was killed Sept. 10 on a college campus in Utah.
    With the exception of a moving and powerful declaration by his widow, Erika Kirk, that her Christian faith calls her to forgive her husband’s killer, there were almost no appeals for transcending the political divide or putting hate aside. Or recognition that the spasm of political violence of recent years has been the work of — and inflicted upon — both of the nation’s ideological tribes, arising in an era in which deranged individuals find in the fetid corners of online culture justification for horrendous acts.
    All of this formed an emblem of where the country finds itself in the Trump era.
    “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them,” the president, who was the final speaker, said of Kirk. “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them.”
  • The boisterous partisan rhetoric during the funeral of Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota), who died in a plane crash before the 2002 elections, provoked a backlash that became known as the “Wellstone effect” and was a factor in the subsequent defeat of his replacement on the ballot, former vice president Walter Mondale. There were political overtones to the 2018 memorial service for Sen. John McCain (R), whose war heroism Trump had disparaged and whose service also took place in Arizona. But eulogist Joe Biden, then a former vice president, lamented: “All we do today is attack the oppositions of both parties, their motives, not the substance of their argument.”
    Since then, that divide has only deepened. As the memorial for Kirk so vividly demonstrated, the growing imperative for the movement that Trump started and Kirk helped elevate is not to bridge, but to conquer.
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