Charlie Kirk (activist)

Charlie Kirk (born 1993)[1] is an American conservative activist and radio talk show host.[4] He founded Turning Point USA with William T. Montgomery in 2012 and serves as its executive director.[5][6] He was listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in Law & Policy.[7] His Twitter account had the fifth most engagements/interactions in 2019.[8]

Charlie Kirk
Kirk in 2020
Born1993[1]
Arlington Heights, Illinois, U.S.
OccupationPolitical activist, writer
Years active2012–present
OrganizationTurning Point USA
TitleFounder and Executive Director
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Erika Frantzve (engaged 2020)

Early life and education

Kirk was born in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois, and raised in nearby Prospect Heights, Illinois. In his junior year in 2010, Kirk volunteered for the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Illinois Republican Mark Kirk (no relation).[9] When he was a senior at Wheeling High School in 2012, Kirk wrote an essay for Breitbart News alleging liberal bias in high school textbooks which led to an appearance on Fox Business.[10]

External video
Charlie Kirk ~ The Conservative Forum ~ 9-8-2015 on YouTube (Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley) (at 2:10–3:20)

In 2015, Kirk told The Atlantic that he was taking part-time online classes at The King's College,[11] and Newsmax reported that he was taking classes at Harper College,[12] a community college near Chicago, but in 2015 dropped out to pursue conservative activism.[13]

Activism

In 2012, when he was a high school senior, Kirk wrote an essay for Breitbart News claiming to document liberal bias in high school textbooks that led to an appearance on the Fox Business Network. At a subsequent speaking engagement at Benedictine University's "Youth Empowerment Day," Kirk met Bill Montgomery, a retiree more than 50 years his senior, who was then a Tea Party-backed legislative candidate.[11][14] Montgomery encouraged Kirk to get engaged in political activism full-time. He subsequently founded Turning Point USA, a "grass-roots organization to rival liberal groups such as MoveOn.org." At the 2012 Republican National Convention, Kirk met Foster Friess, a prominent Republican donor, and persuaded him to finance the organization.[15][11]

Kirk addressed the 2016 Republican National Convention. In an interview with Wired magazine during the convention, Kirk said that while he "was not the world's biggest Donald Trump fan," he would vote for him, and that Trump's candidacy made Turning Point's mission more difficult.[16] Kirk flipped to supporting Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention and spent the remainder of the campaign assisting with travel and media arrangements for Donald Trump Jr.[17]

In October 2016, Kirk participated in a Fox News event along with Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Lara Trump that had a pro-Donald Trump tone.[18]

Kirk co-wrote, with Brent Hamachek, the 2016 book Time for a Turning Point: Setting a Course Toward Free Markets and Limited Government for Future Generations (Simon & Schuster).[19]

Kirk wrote the 2018 book Campus Battlefield: How Conservatives Can WIN the Battle on Campus and Why It Matters. In a review for The Weekly Standard, Adam Rubenstein described the book as a "hot mess", "nothing more than a marketing pitch for TPUSA" and said the "thin" book was "stuffed with reprintings of his tweets and quotes from others."[20] In 2018, the conservative website NewsMax ranked Kirk as the seventh most influential Republican under the age of 30.[21]

In December 2018, Kirk falsely claimed that protesters in the French yellow vests movement chanted "We want Trump." These claims were later repeated by President Trump. The cited videos were from a far-right protest in London.[22]

In July 2019, Kirk became chairman of Students for Trump, which had been acquired by Turning Point Action, and launched a campaign to recruit one million students for the 2020 Trump reelection campaign.[23]

In 2019, Kirk joined a partnership with Liberty University and created the "Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty," a Christian conservative think-tank.[24]

Kirk spread false information and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 on social media platforms, such as Twitter, in 2020.[10] Kirk sharply criticized Democrats' criticism of President Donald Trump's withdrawal of World Health Organization (WHO) funding and referred to COVID-19 as the "China virus", which was retweeted by President Trump.[10] Furthermore, Kirk alleged that the WHO covered up information about the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] He was briefly banned from Twitter after falsely claiming that hydroxychloroquine has proved to be "100% effective in treating the virus"; and that Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan, threatened doctors who tried to use the medication.[10] This falsehood was retweeted by Rudolph Giuliani whose account was then suspended by Twitter as well.[10] Kirk also described the public health measure of social distancing prohibitions in churches as a "Democratic plot against Christianity" and made the unfounded assertion that authorities in Wuhan, China, were burning patients.[10] Kirk has said that he refuses to abide by mask requirements, falsely claiming that "the science around masks is very questionable."[25][26]

In defending the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, Kirk falsely stated that the Obama administration responded slowly to the H1N1 swine flu pandemic.[27][28]

Kirk promotes the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, and has described universities as "islands of totalitarianism."[29][30][31]

Kirk has spread false claims about voter fraud[32][33] and the COVID-19 pandemic.[25] According to The New York Times, Kirk's rhetoric "[walks] the line between mainstream conservative opinion and outright disinformation."[34] According to Forbes, Kirk is known for his "his repudiation of liberal college education and embrace of pro-Trump conspiracy theories."[25]

In the report of ProPublica's 2020 investigation into the finances of Turning Point USA, which claimed that the organization made "misleading financial claims," that the audits were not done by an independent auditor, and that the leaders enriched themselves while advocating for President Trump, ProPublica noted that Kirk's salary from TPUSA had increased from $27,000 to nearly $300,000 and that he had bought a $855,000 condo in Longboat Key, Florida.[35]

At an August 2020 meeting of the Council for National Policy, Kirk said: "Democrats have done a really foolish thing by shutting down all these campuses... It's gonna remove ballot harvesting opportunities and all their voter fraud that they usually do on college campuses - so they're actually removing half a million votes off the table. So please keep the campuses closed - it's a great thing. Whatever!"[36]

After Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, Kirk promoted unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the election.[37][38] The day before the Washington protest that led to the storming of the United States Capitol, Kirk wrote on Twitter that Turning Point Action and Students for Trump were sending more than 80 "buses of patriots to D.C. to fight for this president".[39][40][41] A spokesman for Turning Point said that the groups ended up sending seven buses, not 80, with 350 students.[39][42] Afterward, Kirk said the violent acts at the Capitol were not an insurrection and did not represent mainstream Trump supporters.[43][44]

Awards, achievements and honors

In May 2019, Kirk was awarded an honorary doctorate from Liberty University.[45]

In 2018, Kirk was named in Forbes 30 Under 30 for Law & Policy.[7]

Media

In October 2020, Kirk signed on to do a daily three-hour talk radio show with the Salem Media Group's weekday lineup.[4]

Personal life

Kirk is an evangelical Christian.[46][47] He is engaged to Erika Frantzve, a current doctorate student at Liberty University.[48]

References
  1. New York Times, April 2020: "The tweets by Mr. Kirk, 26, who runs Turning Point USA [...]";[2] New York Times, October 2020: "Charlie Kirk, the 27-year-old founder [...]"[3]
  2. Rosenberg, Matthew; Rogers, Katie (April 19, 2020). "For Charlie Kirk, Conservative Activist, the Virus Is a Cudgel". The New York Times. Retrieved January 6, 2021. Mr. Kirk, 26
  3. Plott, Elaina (October 27, 2020). "Win or Lose, It's Donald Trump's Republican Party". The New York Times. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  4. "SRN Adds The Charlie Kirk Show to Weekday Lineup". www.businesswire.com. 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  5. Spies, Mike; Pearson, Jake (July 21, 2020). "At This Trump-Favored Charity, Financial Reporting Is Questionable and Insiders Are Cashing In". ProPublica. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  6. O’Harrow Jr., Robert (October 14, 2020). "Videos show closed-door sessions of leading conservative activists: 'Be not afraid of the accusations that you're a voter suppressor'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 15, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  7. "Charlie Kirk, 24". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  8. Cohn, Alicia (2019-02-19). "Trump, Harris, Ocasio-Cortez, Charlie Kirk among Twitter's most-engaged users". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  9. "Perfect storm launches 19-year-old Wheeling native into political punditry". Daily Herald. April 29, 2013. Archived from the original on January 29, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  10. Rosenberg, Matthew; Rogers, Katie (April 20, 2020). "For Charlie Kirk, Conservative Activist, the Virus Is a Cudgel". New York Times. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  11. Nelson, Rebecca; Journal, National (March 25, 2015). "The 21-Year-Old Becoming a Major Player in Conservative Politics". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  12. Hoffman, Bill (May 15, 2015). "Young Conservative Dynamo Motivates Students to Lead GOP". Newsmax. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  13. "A Profile of Charlie Kirk". The Dartmouth Review. The Dartmouth Review. November 1, 2019. Archived from the original on January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  14. Peterson, Anne. "Charlie Kirk And Candace Owens' Campus Tour Is All About The Owns". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  15. "This Boy Wonder Is Building the Conservative MoveOn.org in an Illinois Garage". Bloomberg News. May 7, 2015.
  16. "At the Republican Convention, Millennials Search for Signs of the Future". Wired. July 20, 2016. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  17. Rosenberg, Matthew; Rogers, Katie (April 19, 2020). "For Charlie Kirk, Conservative Activist, the Virus Is a Cudgel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 12, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  18. Vasquez, Michael (May 7, 2017). "Inside a Stealth Plan for Political Influence". The Chronicle of Higher Education. ISSN 0009-5982. Archived from the original on September 16, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  19. Kirk, Charlie; Hamachek, Brent (2016). Time for a turning point : setting a course towards free markets and limited government for future generations. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-68261-247-7. OCLC 952648187.
  20. "Charlie Kirk's Campus Battlefield Is a Hot Mess". The Weekly Standard. October 10, 2018. Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  21. "Newsmax's 30 Most Influential Republicans Under 30". Newsmax. January 30, 2018. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  22. "No, French protesters are not chanting, 'We want Trump'". AFP Fact Check. December 4, 2018. Archived from the original on December 8, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  23. Singman, Brooke. "Charlie Kirk launches GOTV campaign to enlist 1 million 'Students for Trump' in 2020". Fox News. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  24. Seltzer, Rick. "'Pray for Our President': A Liberty University think tank pushed the boundaries on political advertising and messaging this year". Inside Higher Education. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  25. Solender, Andrew. "Trump Gives Conservative Youth Activist Charlie Kirk 'Patriotic Education' Post During Last-Minute Hiring Blitz". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  26. Ecarma, Caleb. "Thousands of Young Conservatives May Hold Blowout Conference in Florida, COVID Be Damned". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  27. Fichera, Angelo (March 31, 2020). "Flawed Comparison on Coronavirus, H1N1 Emergency Timelines". FactCheck.org. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  28. Qiu, Linda; Bouchard, Mikayla (March 5, 2020). "Tracking Trump's Claims on the Threat From Coronavirus". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  29. Braune, Joan (2019). "Who's Afraid of the Frankfurt School? 'Cultural Marxism' as an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory" (PDF). Journal of Social Justice. 9.
  30. Mayer, Jane. "Allegations of Racial Bias and Illegal Campaign Activity at a Conservative Nonprofit That Seeks to Transform College Campuses". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  31. "Cambridge Union allowed far right-linked Turning Point to invite three members of their own debate opposition". Varsity Online. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  32. "REFILE-Iowa official slams viral claim of suspicious voter registration activity as false". Reuters. February 4, 2020. Archived from the original on February 5, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  33. "PolitiFact - Report about potential Iowa voter fraud is false". Politifact. 2020. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  34. Rosenberg, Matthew; Rogers, Katie (2020-04-19). "For Charlie Kirk, Conservative Activist, the Virus Is a Cudgel". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2020-05-12. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  35. Spies, Mike; Pearson, Jake. "At This Trump-Favored Charity, Financial Reporting Is Questionable and Insiders Are Cashing In". ProPublica. Archived from the original on 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  36. O'Harrow, Robert (2020-10-14). "Videos show closed-door sessions of leading conservative activists: 'Be not afraid of the accusations that you're a voter suppressor'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  37. Budryk, Zack (2020-12-15). "Geraldo Rivera, Charlie Kirk clash over voter fraud: 'That is so dishonest'". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  38. Collman, Ashley. "Fox News star Geraldo Rivera called out die-hard Trump fan Charlie Kirk for continuing to push voter-fraud theories after the Electoral College confirmed Biden's victory". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  39. Qiu, Linda (2020-09-16). "No, there is not evidence that Ginni Thomas paid for buses to bring people to the Capitol siege". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  40. Mikael Thalen (2021-01-10). "Charlie Kirk deletes tweet saying he sent '80+ buses full of patriots' to D.C." Daily Dot. Retrieved 2021-01-16. The deleted tweet, uncovered by the Daily Dot on Saturday, was posted just two days before Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
  41. Kirk, Charlie (2021-01-05). ""This historic event will likely be one of the largest and most consequential in American history The team at @TrumpStudents & Turning Point Action are honored to help make this happen, sending 80+ buses full of patriots to DC to fight for this president"". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  42. Parker, Joseph Tanfani, Michael Berens, Ned (2021-01-12). "How Trump's pied pipers rallied a faithful mob to the Capitol". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  43. Halon, Yael (2021-01-10). "Kirk: Despite what the media claims, Trump supporters are 'repulsed' by Capitol riots". Fox News. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  44. "Charlie Kirk says Capitol attack was not insurrection after deleting "80+ buses" tweet". Newsweek. 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  45. Liberty University News Service. "Vice President Mike Pence challenges 2019 grads to 'go forth for Liberty'". www.liberty.edu. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  46. "Charlie Kirk's Twitter account locked for spreading misinformation about mail-in votes". The Independent. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  47. "I'm an evangelical fighting for the Catholic school system > Opinion". Newsweek. 10 May 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  48. Severns, Maggie. "In final years at Liberty, Falwell spent millions on pro-Trump causes". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
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