Young Conservatives Are Asking What's Next For the Movement Charlie Kirk Started
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For many young conservatives, Charlie Kirk was more than just another political activist or online personality.
He was the face of their movement -- a glimpse at how life for their generation could look by embracing a more hard-right, MAGA worldview. Charlie Kirk's followers are in shock and grief over his assassination.
As they try to make sense of his killing, many are also asking what's next for the movement he started.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Kai McNamee and Mia Venkat.
It was edited by John Ketchum and Courtney Dorning. .
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The first time Charlie Kirk showed up at the conservative political action conference, or CPAC, he made a big impression. |
| 0:07.2 | It was probably over 10 years ago, and he was so young and had about 25 kids with him. |
| 0:15.7 | This is CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp. |
| 0:18.0 | He was intent on forming a new group and forming a movement, and he did just that, |
| 0:22.4 | and did it with a lot of grace and got the attention of so many people. That group founded in |
| 0:29.7 | 2012 was called Turning Point USA. In a little more than a decade, it grew to more than 800 |
| 0:35.5 | college chapters. And that will be part of Charlie Kirk's |
| 0:39.2 | legacy. He was shot and killed on Wednesday afternoon. President Trump remembered his friend and ally |
| 0:45.2 | in remarks Wednesday from the Oval Office. To my great fellow Americans, I am filled with grief and |
| 0:50.7 | anger at the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a college campus in Utah. |
| 0:57.3 | Kirk's organizing galvanized young conservatives, making him the face of the youth MAGA movement. |
| 1:03.2 | Here's how he described Turning Point USA at an event last year. |
| 1:06.1 | I had the crazy and wild idea as I was driving home from Rockford, Illinois. |
| 1:11.7 | I said, that's it. |
| 1:13.3 | I want to try to start a youth organization to try and save Western civilization. |
| 1:18.2 | Kirk was also a magnet for controversy. |
| 1:20.5 | His opponents criticized him for some of the positions he took, like his position on abortion. |
| 1:25.4 | So you're comparing abortion to the Holocaust. |
| 1:27.4 | Absolutely I am. In fact, it's worse. His stance on abortion. So you're comparing abortion to the Holocaust. Absolutely, I am. |
| 1:28.6 | In fact, it's worse. |
| 1:30.0 | His stance on guns. |
| 1:31.6 | I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.