A Turning Point

In May 2012, Republican activist Bill Montgomery recognized the potential in a high school student named Charlie Kirk. A month later, the day after his high school graduation, Montgomery had convinced Charlie to run headfirst into full-time activism.

At 18 years old, Charlie founded Turning Point USA with the mission 'to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government'.

The political Left had captured the formative years of America's children through government schools, followed by universities stacked with progressive academics. Liberals were granted full access to indoctrinate the minds of America's youth for the first 20 years of their lives. Those who managed to survive with political views not prescribed by the Left were labeled extremists or mocked as 'the uneducated'.

Charlie Kirk sought to change that - a true turning point in the landscape of American politics, where conservative values were reintroduced to America's children.

He did just that. Charlie didn't stop charging into the next challenge until his life was suddenly cut short this week by hate and rage in the form of an assassin's bullet.

I think this makes it more gutting. He WAS modeling civil, effective persuasion. The attack was on that. What he did took preparation, open-mindedness, a belief many abandoned that young people can handle these conversations, and no small amount of bravery. I do it a handful of… https://t.co/gaTVWqEDqk
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) September 11, 2025

Charlie Kirk did not pursue the hearts and minds of young Americans by establishing his own indoctrination camps. Instead, he went into the academic strongholds of the Left and did the simplest, most brilliant thing he could do. He spoke to them. He asked them questions, and maybe most importantly, he listened and let them ask him questions.

For those liberals who say that Charlie Kirk was hateful to transgender people, explain yourselves. Most of you have literally never heard him, and are just parroting what main stream media talking heads have told you about him.

THIS is how Charlie debated and interacted with… pic.twitter.com/HEaEgFYv3c
— ☘️𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 Ƒʉͫcͧкͭιͪηͣ 𝕄𝕔𝔾𝕖𝕖‎ (@LuckyMcGee) September 11, 2025

I was not Charlie's target audience. The minds Charlie Kirk endeavored to influence would call me 'old', and I can live with that. For that reason, I won't claim to you that he exercised great influence over my political thought.

At least, not until this week.

Looking back, I recall multiple occasions when my teen sons would say, 'Dad, did you see this?' before thrusting a phone into my face. There was Charlie Kirk, staring back at me. Another random video of a conversation between Kirk and a stranger, where Charlie's logic thwarted his challenger's ideology.

He influenced them.

On Wednesday, I learned of the tragedy unfolding in Utah as I rushed to wrap up my work early and speed to my sons' golf match. I'm sure you all know the feeling of pushing yourself to execute your normal day-to-day obligations while feeling that heavy weight that something much bigger is going on in the wider world. It was like that.

Upon arriving at the course, my sons and their friends met me with 'Did you hear about Charlie Kirk?' The news was fresh, and we were still holding out hope and praying for a miracle that would not come as the match began.

I skipped between holes, driving the golf cart to watch one son for a bit and then back to watch the other. I drove up to my oldest son on the fifth hole. 'He died.' I nodded, 'I know'. These kids are always connected. Clearly, golf had taken a back seat for the day.

It was much of the same when I caught up to my youngest son on number seven. Referring to his opponent from another school, 'He didn't do very well on that hole. He just found out about Charlie Kirk.' My boy was shaken up. He had checked social media to look for an update and saw a video I wish he hadn't seen. I know he has to live with that image from now on and wrestle with the kind of hatred that led to it.

My experience as a parent is not unique.

My son is 18.
He loved listening to Charlie Kirk.
He was heartbroken to hear of Charlie’s death.

But there was one thing I have to share that I know Charlie would love …

One of my son’s closest friends is a Leftist who has said some crazy stuff in general. My conservative son…
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) September 11, 2025

Kirk helped awaken and activate my 24-year-old son and many of his friends and if the Left thinks that movement dies with Charlie I can confidently say they are sorely mistaken.
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) September 10, 2025

One of our @clayandbuck listeners wrote in about his young son who is devastated by Charlie Kirk’s murder & doesn’t want to leave his room. I did my best to speak to his young men. Lots of young men and women are hurting today. You may not even realize it: pic.twitter.com/95PlMsGIXf
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 11, 2025

Charlie Kirk influenced young people, especially young men, in ways that many of us may not have understood.

This is so touching. A young boy pays condolences to Charlie Kirk’s family and proceeds to do a Bible study lesson. These are the kind of young men we should be raising. May God bless him. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/IHfK9MwIDW
— Lucy (@TheLucyShow1) September 11, 2025

I believe we are at a new turning point.

While the attempts to assassinate President Trump were jarring, I can't say many of us were surprised. In fact, I was surprised it took them so long to try. Trump is a firebrand, and the Left hates him in a way most of us have never seen. It was only a matter of time, and presidential assassination attempts, while rare, are not unheard of.

This was different.

Charlie Kirk was a man who embraced the idea of civil debate to change minds. He was doing it the right way - the way everyone claims it should be done.

The modern Left is largely incapable of such debate at this point in our history. The free exchange of ideas is dangerous when your ideas don't hold up to simple logic. Their sole political strategy is to demonize their opponents as Nazis, racists, and bigots. If you make your opposition evil enough, you have no obligation to engage them intellectually.

They are not adequately equipped to engage in debate about the ideology they support. They look silly when they try, and their ideas are clearly foolish to those who observe the exchange. Charlie Kirk exposed this every day and proved that young people, maybe more than adults, are still swayed by the better argument.

This generation has grown up watching these exchanges. They've seen evil people try to assassinate a president, and one side lament the result and mock the target. And now young men across the nation have witnessed a man they knew, gunned down in cold blood, for winning arguments.

They're also witnessing the despicable aftermath of people celebrating death, blaming the victim, and slandering Charlie's memory.

The Left is finishing the work Charlie began in the minds of these young people, and they will live to regret it.