Charlie Kirk

Charlie J. Kirk is an American commentator and the founder of .
==Early life==
Kirk was born in a prosperous family in Illinois. His father, Robert W. Kirk, held the position of project architect manager for in New York. He ventured into political engagement following Barack Obama's presidency. In 2010, he aligned himself with the and volunteered for the US Senate campaign of Illinois Republican Mark Kirk, despite not sharing any familial relation. By 2012, he authored his initial piece for , expressing dissatisfaction with what he perceived as "liberal bias" in high school economics textbooks. Although he was marketed as "Trump's representative on campus," Kirk ultimately discontinued his studies at community college, with an unverified claim that he was denied admission to West Point, for which he attributed as the reason, although without any substantiating evidence.
==Turning Point USA==
Turning Point USA is a nonprofit organization financed by the Koch brothers with the aim of rebranding traditional conservatism to be more appealing to millennials. They achieve this by sharing memes and image macros. These images predominantly feature uplifting quotes from prominent conservative figures like , Ben Shapiro, Tomato Larynx, and Chairman Kirk himself. They also include quotes from socialists like and , taken out of context to fit their narrative. Their go-to template often involves a top panel featuring a liberal quote, for instance, "Capitalism is bad" by Bernie Sanders, and a bottom panel with TPUSA's response, typically accompanied by a picture of Charlie Kirk or a stock photo model with lensless glasses, mimicking a trendy look. They also employ hashtags like #BigGovSucks, #SocialismSucks, #iHeartCapitalism, and #iHeartFossilFuels to promote their messages.
Bill Montgomery, a co-founder of TPUSA and Kirk's mentor, passed away in July 2020 from COVID-19, despite downplaying the severity of the virus for several months. In 2021, during the pandemic, Kirk mobilized his followers against COVID vaccine mandates and propagated false information about vaccine effectiveness and "medical raids."
===Turning Point UK===
Turning Point UK, a branch inspired by Turning Point USA, founded by Kirk in 2018, is currently overseen by George Farmer, the son of a prominent Conservative Party supporter. They espouse right-wing ideologies reminiscent of those associated with Donald Trump and strongly advocate for a hard Brexit. The organization's team includes prominent figures such as Kirk himself, Candace Owens, Tom Harwood, Darren Grimes, Oliver Anisfield, George Farmer, and Joe Mappin. Unfortunately, when Turning Point attempted to establish itself across the Atlantic, it encountered a challenging start, with a rapid influx of parody accounts that attributed ideas to the organization.
==Controversies==
===Feud with Nick Fuentes===
In October 2019, Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump, Jr. visited UCLA to promote Don Jr.'s controversial book, titled "Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us." They anticipated confronting easily provoked, left-leaning individuals and were met with heckling from a surprising source—supporters of Donald Trump. More precisely, these hecklers were fans of the far-right YouTuber Nick Fuentes, often referred to as "groypers," a term associated with a distorted version of Pepe the Frog. Fuentes, known for his white nationalist and Holocaust denial beliefs, has criticized TPUSA, Dan Crenshaw, Ben Shapiro, and other right-wing figures and organizations, claiming they do not adhere to his far-right ideology, although they make efforts in that direction.
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Turning Point Action was among the sponsors of the pre-riot gathering leading up to the unsuccessful coup attempt in 2021.
==References==
Category:Commentary YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2018