For Charlie Kirk’s followers, grief, shock and questions about the future : NPR

Ari Shapiro, host:

For many young conservatives, Charlie Kirk was more than a simple online politician or personality. He was the face of their movement, an overview of the way the life of their generation could look like by kissing a harder vision of the world. The fact that this program was an anathema for its many progressive criticisms was the sweetener at the top. Today, Kirk supporters are in shock and sorrow on his assassination on the campus of the University of Utah Valley on Wednesday. While they are trying to give meaning to the kirk murder, many also ask for what is the next step for the movement it has started. The NPR political journalist, Elena Moore, covers this. Hey, Elena.

Elena Moore, byline: Hey, Ari.

Shapiro: You have been following Charlie Kirk for years. He had this huge network of followers. What do you mean today?

Moore: Many of his supporters are suffering right now. You know, Kirk was a controversial political figure abounded by many on the left, but it was extremely celebrated by the Maga movement, in particular the young organizers and activists who have become major there. Remember, you know, he had millions of followers and had become a great media personality. But he was also the head of a massive political organization network and even helped, you know, some people decide to present themselves. This includes the member for Florida Anna Paulina Luna. She is 36 years old and in many ways, she started because of Kirk. When she met him, she was on the right track to start the school of medicine and ended up abandoning this plan to work for her group, Turning Point USA. I spoke to her this morning and she was very shaken.

Anna Paulina Luna: I saw a lot of online videos – after having to watch my friend bleed – people celebrating her death. This should be condemned and withdrawn from Polished society.

Moore: And she told me that she really owed her political career to Kirk, and it is a common theme that I have heard of many of her disciples today, that he inspired them.

Shapiro: What made him so hardy for young conservatives?

Moore: Well, he entered the national conversation at a time when there were not many voices like his. He started Turning Point USA in 2012 when he was only 18 years old. And Ari, I mean, thinks at that time. Former president Obama was extremely popular with young people, and Kirk gave people a place to really revel in what was then considered a political counter-culture to that. You know, things, I must say, however, look different now. Kirk has become a close ally – you know, he has become a close ally of President Trump and played a key role by helping to move many young voters to the president.

Shapiro: And what is the size of this organization that he started – turnover – in republican policy today?

Moore: Oh, it has become a massive organization. They say they have more than 800 chapters on university campuses. The group also launched a lot of connected non -profit organizations and has declared an annual turnover of around $ 100 million. And for Kirk fans, it is really difficult to overestimate its influence in the development of a new generation of conservative leaders. They are Hayden Padgett, 33, president of the young Republican National Federation.

Hayden Padgett: The impact that Charlie built was not aimed at finding politicians and putting them in office today. It was a question of literally finding millions of young people who otherwise would never have heard conservative ideas and to believe them, then to fight for them.

Shapiro: And Elena, what was the message that Kirk pushed who helped him win such a great suite and an influence?

Moore: Well, he talked a lot about freedom of expression, of course, free markets and limited government. But it was also a brand of conservative fire. And as for the climb of Trump, you know, many Kirk ideas have become and are now much more common. And since Kirk came for the first time on the stage years ago, you know, the vote of young people seems different. Last fall, Trump made serious gains with voters under the age of 30. The day after the elections, I actually spoke with Kirk, and I asked him to describe Trump’s link with young people. I asked him, you know, was it economic concerns, social problems? Here’s what he told me.

(Soundbit of archived registration)

Charlie Kirk: They do not consider him as economic or social. There is one above. They just want to live in the same country as their parents. I do not know if it is a social problem or an economic problem. It’s right – they want a good life, and they feel that he is moving away. They have the impression that madness is slipping into their institutions.

Moore: And Ari, this message, I heard a lot about him at events, and it is really the one that the party, I think, adopted more widely.

Shapiro: And then now that he has gone, what happens to the void he leaves behind? The role he played one that can be fulfilled by someone else?

Moore: The young Republicans with whom I have spoken so far say that no singular leader can fill Kirk shoes, so to speak. But the young organizers and the content creators who have been inspired by him seem to begin this conversation. Brilyn Hollyhand is one of these people. He is 19 years old and chaired the Youth Advisory Council of the Republican Party. He published a video on social networks this morning calling for Kirk’s memory to inspire his generation to get involved now.

Shapiro: It is the political journalist NPR Elena Moore. THANKS.

Moore: Thank you, Ari.

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