Kirk often spoke about the Founders, claiming that they had envisioned the United States as a Christian nation.Photograph from USA TODAY Network / Reuters
It wasn’t until the killing of the conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, in September of last year, that many of us came to understand the sway he held over millions of young Americans. The Turning Point movement he founded in 2012 had galvanized right-wing students nationwide, who followed Kirk’s famous debates and public appearances thanks to his savvy use of social media. After his death, as fractures began to appear among Kirk’s friends and followers, I started reporting from inside the youth movement. I was interested in learning how these suddenly leaderless young people saw their future without Charlie, as they call him.
Turning Point became known for its presence on college campuses; I decided to spend time with the less familiar high-school chapters, which Kirk called Club America. Earlier this year, I travelled to Palm Beach County to speak to a diverse group of teen leaders whose lives and views represent a wide swath of American youth. According to Turning Point, there are now thirty-six hundred of these groups nationally. Yet, despite their seemingly rapid growth at the grassroots, there were fissures emerging, including over conspiratorial claims about Kirk’s murder and a shift away from the overwhelming support Kirk’s followers had once offered President Donald Trump. (Many told me that they had broken ranks with Trump because of the war in Iran and the ongoing questions around Kirk’s murder.)
In the course of the months I followed these teens, as internal tensions grew within Kirk’s organization, some members I spoke with lost the enthusiasm they’d had for Club America in the period after his death. Others remained committed, many of whom possessed a sophisticated knowledge of domestic policy and U.S. history. Their skepticism of government was fuelled by the disruptions of COVID and by perceptions of liberal hypocrisy and the left’s disregard for the member’s opinions. Their stories startled me. They pointed toward a vision, cast by Kirk, of a Christian America.
Photograph by Chip Somodevilla / Getty
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