Those who knew Charlie Kirk best say he was not defined exclusively by the fearlessly stated takes on politics, culture and gender that made him famous.
He also was a father, husband — and remarkable, loyal friend to those who knew and closely worked with him.
“Charlie Kirk absolutely would have been president one day. He was struck down because he was so powerful, and he was, quite frankly, culturally unstoppable,” said Benny Johnson, a longtime friend and founder of Turning Point USA Productions, to The Post.
“So they resorted to the most cowardly and evil of tactics, which is to strike down a loving father, an honorable and upstanding husband and a generational leader. And it will backfire on them,” he said of Kirk’s haters.
Kirk, whom President Trump compared to a son and has repeatedly credited with helping him win a second White House term, was particularly admired among young conservatives, many of whom pulled the lever for Trump after becoming fans.
The president said his youngest child, Barron, was “very hurt” when he learned what happened to Kirk at Utah Valley University. Barron, 19, once personally asked his father to help him meet Kirk.
“Barron came to me, and he said, ‘Dad, I’d like to meet somebody that you know … Charlie Kirk,’” Trump recalled. “I said, ‘What?’ I thought he was gonna say, ‘I want to meet, like, King Charles’ or something.”
Johnson said Kirk’s charisma and drive was legendary.
“Charlie Kirk is the kind of boss, and the kind of friend and professional media ally, who on your darkest day will look you straight in the eye and say, ‘Get up and go 50 times harder right now,’ ” he said.
Kirk loved his country, his family and Jesus, having said in the past that his faith was what he wished to be most remembered by.
“Seeing Charlie up close and working with him, you see the hand of God in his life,” Johnson said.
Kirk was also an avid fan of his hometown Chicago Cubs and the Oregon Ducks, the University of Oregon football team, at whose games he’d routinely be spotted cheering from the sidelines.
Since the shooting, people who knew him have shared private correspondence they’ve had with Kirk over the years, shedding more light on the man behind at-times provocative points of view.
Ashley St. Clair, the purported baby mamma to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, revealed on X a text exchange she had with Kirk, adding that despite their sparring over the years, he “still always reached out and gave me advice — even when I was bitter and didn’t deserve it and fought him.”
She implored followers to be the “happy warrior” Kirk wanted everyone to be.
“Don’t be bitter. Smile more and keep producing,” he told her in the screenshotted exchange. “Remember what I told you, the more you repeat their nonsense the more people get aware of it.
“Smile, it drives them nuts.”
Past videos of his famous college campus debates — the kind Kirk was engaged in at Utah Valley University when he was shot — have also re-emerged that highlight his respect for those who disagreed with him, and his willingness to listen.
One clip shows a college student who approaches the mic and reveals he’s a “gay conservative.” The man then asks Kirk what he’d say to people such as himself who struggle with being underrepresented in right-leaning circles.
Kirk responds first by welcoming the young man to the conservative movement and suggests he doesn’t introduce himself based on his sexual preference “because that’s not who you are.
“You are a complete human being,” Kirk says.
The student featured in the video, Chris, shared the clip on X in a tribute to Kirk, writing, “This clip is what changed my mind and made me realize everyone on the left was wrong about Charlie Kirk. May he rest in peace.”
Another viral clip shows Kirk — sporting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hat — seated at a table engaged in conversation with college students when a young woman approaches him.
“What does your hat say?” she asks.
“ICE,” Kirk replies.
“And what does that stand for?” the young woman inquires.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” he says, with the student grabbing the hat off his head before he can finish his sentence.
Security quickly swoops in, audibly saying, “Hey, hey, hey!” and grabbing the woman before Kirk says tells them, “Hey, don’t touch her” and smiles at the camera before putting his hat back on.
“Let’s have a conversation,” he calls out to her as she walks away, before reminding the small crowd of students around him about the importance of such debates.
“When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group,” he said.
This ethos would prove tragically true a short time later.
“Charlie was killed because someone disagreed with him politically,” Johnson said.
“It’s exactly what Charlie Kirk was fighting, and it’s somewhat ironic he was talking about left wing violence when he was struck down.”
Authorities say 22-year-old Tyler Robinson became embroiled in lefty radical ideology before assassinating Kirk at a campus event Wednesday.
Just three weeks before his death, Kirk said in a now-viral Instagram post marking his daughter’s birthday, “Happy birthday to our incredible daughter.
“Teaching her to know God, alongside @mrserikakirk, is the greatest privilege. Having a family will change your life in the best ways, so get married and have kids. You won’t regret it.”
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