PHOENIX — Turning Point USA, the organization Charlie Kirk founded to mobilize young, Christian conservatives, saw a massive surge in interest and support since the activist’s assassination last week.
As conservatives mourn Kirk’s death, the group appears poised to remain a political juggernaut as it plots its future without Kirk at the helm.
The group’s board announced Thursday that Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, was unanimously elected as its next leader and will serve as CEO and board chair.
“This was what Charlie hoped for and wanted and he said so numerous times,” Tyler Bowyer, the group’s chief operating officer, said on social media. “Erika is one with Charlie and Charlie is one with Erika.”
Turning Point became a multimillion-dollar operation under Charlie Kirk’s leadership, and was credited with helping to return President Donald Trump to office.
Since Kirk’s killing, his podcast and social media attracted millions of new followers. There was an outpouring of interest in expanding Turning Point’s footprint on college and high school campuses, the group’s spokesperson says, and future large-scale events are continuing as planned.
“It will grow,” said Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet, who is also a producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast. “What we’re seeing is that Charlie’s legacy will be much greater, broader, and bigger than we even realized in life.”
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office this week that through “this horrible act,” Turning Point “could be maybe bigger than it could have ever been had he been there.”
Inquiries about new Turning Point chapters soar
Both Turning Point and Kirk’s other ventures received unprecedented interest since he was killed.
Kirk’s podcast is now the top show on Apple, his social media accounts gained millions of followers and his clips garnered millions of views.
Turning Point also received more than 60,000 inquiries to start new campus chapters, Kolvet said Thursday. The group currently has 3,500 chapters on college campuses and in high schools across the nation.
Aubree Hudson, president of the Turning Point chapter at Brigham Young University that helped organize the Utah Valley University event at which Kirk was assassinated, said hundreds of students reached out about getting involved.
“That’s the beautiful part of this tragedy, that his movement, Turning Point, is exploding,” she said.
She predicted conservatives who were afraid to share their views at school will start speaking up.
“How it looks like without Charlie Kirk, I think we’re all gonna try to figure that out,” she said. “It’s gonna be a curve, but I don’t think it’s gonna slow us down in any way.”
A fundraising behemoth
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Turning Point USA is not just a campus advocacy group promoting conservative causes. It and its affiliated group, Turning Point Action, played a crucial role in the 2024 election, helping to turn out voters who don’t typically cast ballots in swing states including Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin.
It is also a fundraising behemoth.
The group’s two primary nonprofit arms collectively took in nearly $100 million in 2024, according to forms filed with the IRS. A separate nonprofit wing called the Turning Point Endowment has another $60.9 million in the bank.
Erika Kirk, Kirk’s widow and the mother of their two children, vowed to continue the group’s mission. She said during an emotional broadcast from her husband’s studio that a planned campus tour this fall would go on, as would the podcast and one of the group’s marquee events, “America Fest,” planned for December.
She said, “the movement my husband built will not die.”
“I promise I’ll make Turning Point USA the biggest thing that this nation has ever seen,” she said.
Erika Kirk steps into a new role
Since its founding, Charlie Kirk was the operation’s public face and crucial to its influence. He was a MAGA celebrity with a loyal following, who grew the operation in large part, through the force of his own personality and rhetorical skill as he traveled the country, speaking and hosting events.
Erika Kirk has a following in her own right. The entrepreneur and podcaster often appeared with her husband at Turning Point events. The former 2012 Miss Arizona USA also worked as a model, actress and casting director, according to a biography on her website. She founded a Christian clothing line, Proclaim, and a ministry that teaches about the Bible.
Alex Kolodin, a Republican state legislator in Arizona who is closely aligned with the group, said he’s confident Kirk’s widow will hold the movement together.
“She’s not going to let anybody break apart her husband’s legacy,” Kolodin said.
He said Turning Point wouldn’t be what it is today without Kirk’s “genius” but Kirk inspired a generation of young conservatives who are social-media savvy and know how to engage their generation. Kolodin predicted some of them will rise to the moment and ensure Kirk’s death doesn’t leave a void in the online spaces where young people congregate.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if the next big thing in that direction was a couple of guys that nobody ever heard of,” Kolodin said. “That’s actually a reason that I’m optimistic for the future of it.”
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