In the hours and days after Charlie Kirk’s killing, it can be surprising how broad people (especially young people) share sadness and shock to news sources, Instagram stories or Tiktok Rivestreams.
Not only are they declared conservative or loyal Trump voters, but they are seemingly non-political people: older classmates or hometown friends who have never posted much about current affairs-until now. For liberals or people in their 30s, this seems unexpected.
But these reactions are just a sign of Kirk’s influence and how his actions and political style lingered after his death.
Kirk is a generational figure who redefined how politics, political media and Gen Z culture work for his followers, allies and political opposition.
To understand the effects of lasting – why he resonates with Gen Z – breaking down his appeal elements might help:
1) He redefined conservatism and created a new generation of leaders and groups
For conservative Gen Z, at least, Kirk has a mythical status: he is essentially a man (the founder of a few 18-year-old radical group) to a conservative before 31.
He made himself essential to the Republican Party. Last year, President Donald Trump has not provided young voter support to Republicans since the 2000s. Kirk is largely believed to help achieve this through his nonprofit, especially through disengagement or passive young people.
Kirk ragtag group Try to establish a foothold on any university campus. In their first year, it had about 9,200 Facebook followers, 15 campus branches and 40 bloggers.
By the 2020s, the turning point had essentially become a “GOP youth faction”, a large national network of more than 800 university chapters, millions of social media followers, and nearly $100 million Fundraising fundraising, which received Fundraising in 2024, which also supported other right youth-mandated organizations.
Before the arrival of turning to campus, “You are organized with college Republicans and young Republicans, and they don’t completely affect anyway, anyway this Weird new organization,” Joe Mitchell, a 28-year-old former Iowa representative who directed me, told me, “People actually want to attend their events and you don’t have to beg people to come. ”
Kirk advised Mitchell’s own nonprofit, Run Z Gen Z Gen of Fancials, and aimed to get young conservatives elected to local and state offices. Kirk provided the same guidance and start-up pads for an entire generation of young conservative activists, he said.
But the turning point also changed the view of conservatism on university campuses – turning it into mainstream cultural and social identities, rather than just a set of political beliefs.
“Every popular speaker on the Conservative Tour will be held at a turning point.”
– Joe Mitchell, founder of Run Z Gen
“He completely changed the game’s perspective from a cultural perspective, and people wanted to be part of what people wanted, which had a huge impact on the way conservative movements over the past few years,” Mitchell told me. “It’s culturally cool, there’s a good atmosphere around conservatives because people are full of energy. … And it’s not like boring old white people. … You go to these turning point events, and [you would see] this [pro-gay and lesbian] Cabin Republicans and Black Conservatives and Jewish Alliance. ”
Combining these annual summits of young black leaders, young women leaders and young Jewish leadership, plus the annual meeting of Tentpole Turning Points, young conservatives suddenly have massive gathering spaces on campuses and events across the country, complete with sleek festival-style productions and A-level political celebrities.
“Don Jr is gone, Tucker Carlson is moving forward, the president is moving forward – every hot spokesperson on the Conservative Tour will be at the turning point.”
Janfaza said this new coolness has not remained in the political arena: it is integrated into mainstream culture, which is society generally shifting the right feeling.
“Republicans have always been good at political coding culture [in the 2020s] “That’s Charlie. He’s unique in this relationship, where he has these relationships, and people respect what he’s doing among cultural epochists,” she said.
2) Kirk understands and is exploited – New focus on the economy
Kirk’s mastery of social media is another skill he has. He changed the way political debate and discussion spread, while building a personal brand that surpassed supporters and entered the mainstream.
It is not out of reach to say that his followers and his rivals have formed parasitic connections with celebrities, artists and even podcasts. He is easily identified, whether in videos that promote or share his views, or by his political opponents or critics at the counter and rebuttals, his voice is everywhere. He is well known for being within the political (and apolitical) scope, imitating on TV shows South Park.
“I have seen a lot of people saying after assassination that people keep saying they feel like they know him, even if they never did,” Janfaza told me she had her own conversation with young people this week. “It’s rare. You’ll feel like there are celebrities, athletes or people like that, people who are public figures. But in order to have a politician who can attract this attraction and this type of participation – this is really hard to achieve in this political era.”
This is largely due to his use and rapidly adapting to the ever-changing political and social media ecosystem, taking short, Quippy podcast clips, like the confrontations he hosted when he was assassinated, and longer style debates, and having longer debates.1 awaken teenager with 20 Trump supporters“The style that is popular now.
“a lot of [his] Most viral videos are face to face events, debate videos – these are things that happen in person, and that’s so popular. ” Janfaza said.
This feeling of interpersonal relationships strengthens the intimacy between his audience and him, which changes the way other conservatives and liberal influencers start sharing their content.
“He surpassed Jesse Watters, Tucker Carlsons and Ben Shapiros, who was the top guy,” Mitchell said. “He reached a lot of different types of demographics and age groups, and he just played a lot of different aspects.”
Mitchell told me that it’s not just Kirk that has podcasts, youth organizations or faith-based programs. He also built a network of other young conservative influencers, such as Candace Owens, Benny Johnson and Alex Clark, a young conservative media universe that can both saturate the young conservative media diet and provide some ideal examples of activists and speakers that young conservatives want to be.
3) He has captured the opposing culture of freshmen on campus and among young people
Finally, Kirk also taps into the traits of Gen Z – a generation that is more progressive and Republican than the recent young people.
The core is the rejection of the institution. As mainstream Americans progressed more and more in the 2010s, some young people rejected the status quo and distrust established institutions and voices created an opposition to the anti-culture among new young people. This has led to a more open debate, censorship and skepticism that Z often has for the past five years.
“I’ve been hearing letters from young people since this happened, and again, people may not agree with everything he said, but they respect the fact that when young people prioritize free speech than they have seen before,” Janfaza told me.
She said part of the frustration of young people with the status quo, including college administrators, politicians or other activists, is the feeling of “they are afraid to touch certain subjects.”
Kirk talks about anything and everything “this is something so impressive about what he does, it really means in a sense, and he’s very aware that people want to have these conversations, controversial conversations.”
Kirk says controversial or sometimes paranoid things don’t make the young man-even some of his opponents. His brand and his practice of belief in freedom of speech is about inviting debates, providing opportunities to disagree with someone or to raise their arguments.
This debate brand emerged when Generation Z was reluctant to define it as a neat ideological or partisan category.
“Young people don’t want to be packed on one side or the other; their beliefs are nuanced, from this perspective, they can get something, and from this perspective, they want to hear and challenge their position,” Janfaza said. “Kirke created a possible place. And it will be lost a lot.”
