The Pentagon is reportedly looking to recruit Charlie Kirk’s young fans into the military.
The Defense Department is considering a new military recruitment campaign centered around the 31-year-old slain conservative activist, NBC News reported Thursday, citing two officials familiar with the planning.
The officials said the proposal involved framing the recruitment campaign as a national call to service. Pentagon leaders have discussed slogans such as “Charlie has awakened a generation of warriors,” they added.
The Defense Department is also looking into using Kirk’s conservative youth organization Turning Point USA as military recruitment centers, according to the outlet. This could mean the organization’s events would feature military recruiters or s, one official said.
It remains unclear when the proposal would be implemented, if at all. NBC reported that some Pentagon leaders were resistant to the idea, warning their colleagues that the campaign could be viewed as the military capitalizing on the assassination of the popular MAGA firebrand.
The two officials told the outlet that the ideas were floated as the Pentagon’s Military Service Recruitment Task Force, led by Defense Undersecretary Anthony Tata, warned of a possible drop in future recruits.
Sought for comment, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the Daily Beast: “The media is so desperate to attack this administration’s success that they are now inventing lies about our recruitment efforts.”
“Leadership matters, and under the strong leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth men and women are coming out in droves to serve this great nation,” he said.
Turning Point USA did not immediately return a request for comment.
In July, Parnell admitted that the percentage of youth who saw a military career as viable had dropped to somewhere between 7 and 11 percent, from 25 to 27 percent after 9/11.
“Obviously, at this department, we recognize that number is probably unsustainable,” he said at the time. “And while we have great recruiting numbers now, it might not always be the case.”
Turning Point, on the other hand, has seen a recruitment boom since its founder was shot dead while speaking to students at Utah Valley University last week.
The organization said it received over 54,000 applications from students across the country in the wake of Kirk’s death.
“This is just the beginning,” it said.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, has been named CEO following his death.
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