WASHINGTON — Erika Kirk has been named CEO of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization founded and led by her husband, Charlie Kirk, until his assassination last week.
In addition to serving as CEO, Erika will also chair the group’s board of directors, according to an announcement Thursday. The board said Charlie Kirk had expressed that he wanted his wife to take over in the event of his death. The vote was unanimous.
She alluded to that possibility in the days after the shooting, promising to “make Turning Point USA the biggest thing that this nation has ever seen.”
Erika Kirk is scheduled to appear alongside President Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans at a memorial service Sunday for her husband in Arizona, where the Kirk family lived.
Charlie Kirk, who was shot during a speaking event at a university in Utah, rose quickly in Republican politics after co-founding Turning Point USA in 2012. In the days after his death, Trump and other senior Republicans praised his efforts in boosting Republican turnout among younger voters in the 2024 presidential election.
Turning Point built a network of chapters on college campuses across the country and developed a strong presence on social media, led by Charlie Kirk, who made frequent appearances in viral video clips.
“No one understood or had the heart of the youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump said on Truth Social last week.
Kirk was also known for his on-campus appearances, where he would challenge students to debate under the banner “Prove me wrong.” He was fatally shot at one of these events, hit by a single bullet as he took an audience member’s question.
In public remarks after his death, Erika Kirk vowed to continue her husband’s legacy, saying Turning Point “will become stronger, bolder, louder, and greater than ever.”
“My husband’s mission will not end, not even for a moment.”
She pledged to continue Turning Point’s tour of college campuses, its AmericaFest conference, and the radio and podcast show “that he was so proud of.”
“And in a world filled with chaos, doubt, and uncertainty, my husband’s voice will remain, and it will ring out louder and more clearly than ever, and his wisdom will endure,” she added.
The Kirks had two young children.
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