Follow our latest updates on the shooting of Charlie Kirk.
As one of the most influential right-wing activists in the United States, Charlie Kirk shaped much of the hard-right youth movement on key political issues.
Mr. Kirk founded Turning Point USA, a political organization designed to rally young conservatives. He was answering questions about transgender politics and mass shootings from students at Utah Valley University on Wednesday when he was shot and killed. Authorities have not yet identified a suspect and said the investigation was ongoing.
Here are some of the issues Mr. Kirk focused on and where he stood:
Gender Identity
Mr. Kirk appealed to conservative Christians who feared the growing acceptance of the L.G.B.T.Q. community in the United States. He was critical of gay and transgender rights and the separation of church and state.
He encouraged students and parents to report professors whom they suspected of embracing what some on the right refer to as gender ideology.
In 2021, he founded TPUSA Faith, which “exists to unite the church around primary doctrine and to eliminate wokeism from the American pulpit,” according to its website.
Gun Control
Mr. Kirk was a strong supporter of gun rights.
At a 2023 event by TPUSA Faith, a division of Turning Point USA, he defended the Second Amendment as a critical means to “defend yourself against a tyrannical government.” He said it would be impossible to avoid gun deaths in a society with an armed citizenry, but he believed the benefits of gun rights outweighed the costs.
“I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” he said.
Mr. Kirk said the way to reduce gun violence was simple: Put guns into the hands of more Americans.
“If our money and our sporting events and our airplanes have armed guards, why don’t our children?” he asked.
Race
Mr. Kirk believed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a destructive force in American politics, calling its passage a “mistake” that he said has been turned into “an anti-white weapon.”
He also blamed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the law and was highly critical of the slain civil rights leader, calling him an “awful” person. Mr. Kirk said he desired a colorblind society but blamed the veneration of Dr. King for what he saw as America’s fixation on race.
Mr. Kirk was also a staunch opponent of affirmative action and was highly critical of the Supreme Court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, calling her a “diversity hire” who wasn’t qualified to serve on the highest court.
His repudiation of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, known as D.E.I., stretched to comments many denounced as racist. In 2024, he said, “If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified.’”
In 2021, while delivering a speech in Mankato, Minn., Mr. Kirk called George Floyd — the Black man whose murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020 provoked a broad racial justice movement — a “scumbag” who wasn’t worthy of the attention.
Antisemitism
Mr. Kirk was repeatedly accused of antisemitism, including by fellow conservatives.
He was a proponent of “replacement theory,” a once-fringe conspiracy theory positing that Jews are trying to replace white Americans with nonwhite immigrants. That ideology motivated the gunman who killed 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.
Mr. Kirk also accused Jewish philanthropists of fomenting anti-whiteness by supporting liberal antiracism causes like the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The philosophical foundation of anti-whiteness has been largely financed by Jewish donors in the country,” he said on his show in 2023.
Not long after, he accused Jews of controlling “not just the colleges — it’s the nonprofits, it’s the movies, it’s Hollywood, it’s all of it.”
Allies of Mr. Kirk often sought to defend him against accusations of antisemitism by citing his support for Israel. Mr. Kirk defended Israel’s actions in Gaza. After his death, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel mourned him as “a lionhearted friend of Israel” who “stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization.”
Islam
Mr. Kirk called Islam a danger to the United States, railing against what he saw as the religion’s “conquest values” that “seek to take over land and territory.”
“America has freedom of religion, of course, but we should be frank,” he said in April. “Large dedicated Islamic areas are a threat to America.”
Leading up to the mayoral primary in New York City, he paired a mention of Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim and won the Democratic nomination, with references to Al Qaeda and 9/11, seeking to connect him with that terrorist attack. The social post drew accusations of Islamophobia.
“America’s largest city was attacked by radical Islam 24 years ago, and now a similar form of that pernicious force is poised to capture city hall,” Mr. Kirk said of Mr. Mamdani on X in June.
The Sept. 11 attacks were a formative experience for Mr. Mamdani, who was a child at the time and, along with many New Yorkers, was profiled as an “other” because of his religion, he said in an interview with The New York Times. At the same time, he said it was important to honor the memories of those that were killed and added that he would be thinking of the victims and their families on Thursday, the 24th anniversary of 9/11.
Free Speech
Mr. Kirk was a self-declared supporter of free speech and Turning Point USA was known for its free speech advocacy.
The group was known for placing giant rubber beach balls on campuses and invited students to write comments on the balls in a symbolic way of exercising their free speech rights. Mr. Kirk also invited students to debate him, supporting “reasonable disagreements.”
In several instances, Mr. Kirk has used the First Amendment to sue universities that tried to block his presence. Critics have argued that Mr. Kirk’s promotion of free speech was tinged with hypocrisy, pointing to Turning Point USA’s “Professor Watchlist,” in which students were asked to list professors with leftist positions.
Climate Change
Mr. Kirk frequently dismissed concerns about climate change, even as polling showed that young conservative voters prioritize the issue. He said incorrectly that there was no scientific consensus on global warming.
He also rejected the idea that climate change posed an existential threat to humanity, describing it as “complete gibberish, nonsense and balderdash” in December 2024 to members of Turning Point UK, the British offshoot of Turning Point USA.
Last month, Mr. Kirk’s podcast featured Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who has called global warming “not incredibly important.”
Stephanie Saul, Clyde McGrady, Audra D. S. Burch and Dana Goldstein contributed reporting.
Ashley Ahn covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
Maxine Joselow covers climate change and the environment for The Times from Washington.
The post Where Charlie Kirk Stood on Key Political Issues appeared first on New York Times.
