"Kirk grew up as the son of an architect in the Chicago suburbs, which is where he started Turning Point USA, now based in Arizona. He attended a community college in the suburbs but dropped out, and he applied to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point but was not accepted, according to the BBC. "Kirk often referred tongue-in-cheek to his lack of a college degree when engaging in debates with students and academics on esoteric topics such as post-modernism," the BBC notes."
"He founded Turning Point USA with backing from Tea Party activist William Montgomery. The organization, focused on reaching high school and college students, "was not an immediate success," the Associated Press reports. "But Kirk's zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers." Turning Point initially emphasized fiscal issues, such as low taxes and limited government, but in recent years it has taken on culture-war issues, opposing LGBTQ+ equality and abortion rights."
""Kirk's evangelical Christian religion and family - he married a former Miss Arizona, with whom he had two children - were front and centre in his politics, and he was seen as both the future of conservative activism and a highly polarising figure,""
Charlie Kirk died at 33 after being shot during an appearance at Utah Valley University in Orem. He founded Turning Point USA in 2012 at age 18 and built the group into a powerful conservative youth organization. He grew up in the Chicago suburbs as the son of an architect, attended community college, dropped out, and was denied admission to West Point. Turning Point began emphasizing fiscal issues like low taxes and limited government, then shifted toward culture-war battles opposing LGBTQ+ equality and abortion rights. Kirk's evangelical Christian faith and family life were central to his politics, and he rose in prominence during the Donald Trump era.
Read at Advocate.com
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