‘American original’ Charlie Kirk remembered by friends, colleagues after assassination

Friends and colleagues of late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk honored his humble beginning, fierce faith and extraordinary life on the primetime special “Charlie Kirk: An American Original.”

The program wove their anecdotes with flashbacks of Kirk’s own words, including his recounting of what happened after his dream of going to West Point fell through at age 18.

“I remember that summer of 2012, I had no money, no connections and no idea what I was doing,” Kirk said in a 2018 interview. “But I had relentless energy and a vision, and I was willing to take a risk. Only in America is that possible.”

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Kirk, a married father of two, was assassinated on Sept. 10 while speaking to students at Utah Valley University. 

He credited his own feeling of “isolation” in high school for what inspired him to start a conservative nonprofit to connect like-minded students, and he went viral for debating students on their campuses around the country. 

“When Charlie started out with this, this was never about attention or getting on TV or having a show,” OutKick host Tomi Lahren said. “What he wanted most, was he just wanted to spread the message.”

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Fox News host Will Cain praised Kirk’s influence in educating college students, arguing he was, in theory, “one of the most influential professors” in the nation.

“If we took a survey right now of 17-, 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds on college campuses and asked them who were the most influential people in their own education, I would probably put Charlie Kirk against any one of their professors,” Cain said. 

Kirk’s impact reached voters of all ages, with late businessman and GOP donor Foster Friess describing what Turning Point USA meant to him. 

“What Turning Point means to me is, these young people love America, where people on the Left, I don’t think they really think about all this investment — that soldiers had died, and sailors had died, and all these people that made our country what it is.”

Kirk’s friends found different ways of commending his intelligence, and agreed on what was “central” to his life.

“Charlie lived the ethos of His will be done,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham said. “’If my actions and my words aren’t pleasing ultimately to my Creator, I’m not successful.’” 

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Evangelical leader Pastor Jack Hibbs called Kirk “one of the greatest examples” of a human and an American, but “most of all” a Christian.

OutKick host Riley Gaines said people like Kirk “revolutionized” her, making her realize the “value in being a patriot” and a Christian. 

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“He made me understand the freedoms that we are so blessed to have here in America,” Gaines said. 

Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz, who witnessed Kirk’s assassination, shared a heartfelt message for Kirk’s widow Erika and their two young children, noting what he found “admirable” about him.

“When they get older, and they can only watch their dad on video, they’re gonna look at that time at UVU as the place that took their dad’s life, but I want his wife and I want his kids to know that the first question that he got was about his religion,” Chaffetz said. 

“And he was so eloquent in saying, ‘Look, I don’t expect everybody to agree with me. We’re all on our own journey of faith.” 

“He loved young people, he wanted to help young people, and he didn’t deserve this,” President Donald Trump told “Fox & Friends” after Kirk’s assassination. “He was truly a good person.”

In 2018, Kirk described Turning Point USA not as a think tank, but a “battle tank” that will fight the “culture war.”

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“Our generation is going to have a very big decision, whether we are going to go down the path of socialism or we embrace the foundational principles of free market capitalism and smaller government,” Kirk had warned. “I know that I am going to be fighting with every ounce that I have to save the greatest country ever to exist.”

Fox Nation subscribers can stream “Charlie Kirk: An American Original” on Sept. 14.