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Am I wrong in thinking this guy isn't/wasn't a very influential person, outside of Twitter and the people that stay on there 24/7? If so, why even target the po
by vik0 1y ago
Am I wrong in thinking this guy isn't/wasn't a very influential person, outside of Twitter and the people that stay on there 24/7? If so, why even target the poor guy? What change was the person who shot him hoping to elicit? Either way, I hope he makes it, even though it looks like it was a fatal blow
- phendrenad2 1y agoI think his clips were consistently viral on platforms like Tiktok, YouTube shorts, Instagram reels, etc., both by those who agreed with him and those who were doing reaction videos against him.
- peder 1y ago[flagged]
- hypeatei 1y agoHe ran a very large conservative organization that operates on college campuses across the country. He's definitely an influential figure.
- ceejayoz 1y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turning_Point_USA > TPUSA has been described as the fastest growing organization of campus chapters in America, and according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, is the dominant force in campus conservatism. They've been quite influential, and those campus efforts likely contributed to the Gen Z turnout that helped win in 2024.
- aj7 1y ago[flagged]
- sbmthakur 1y agoI was doing Masters in the US from 2021-23 and do recall getting their emails to my University email.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- rektomatic 1y ago> likely contributed to the Gen Z turnout that helped win in 2024 This is way over-estimated. There's a number of talking heads on the right that Gen Z listens to. For every Charlie Kirk, there's five others.
- ceejayoz 1y agoI'm not sure how, but you've misread "likely contributed to" as "is solely responsible for".
- garbthetill 1y agoIm not american, but consume american media because you guys are the world leaders. But charlie had the number 1 youth conservative movement in the country , he is pretty influential
- vik0 1y agoI'm not American either
- whackernews 1y agoNeither am I!
- aj7 1y ago[flagged]
- osrec 1y ago[flagged]
- brewdad 1y ago[flagged]
- goodluckchuck 1y agoThings are truly twisted when conservatives are being called socialists.
- shadowgovt 1y agoTwitter has an estimated monthly active users in excess of the population of the United States by nearly a factor of two. Even if we assume those numbers are inflated, that's quite a bit of influence if someone is influential only on Twitter.
- tripplyons 1y agoHe was just made fun of on the new season on South Park, if you consider that to be influential.
- louthy 1y agoAs a non-American, non-Twitter user, this was how I heard about him.
- aerostable_slug 1y agoI thought he took it in good sport. They didn't exactly hold back on him. Given that and the fact that we're in the middle of a new South Park season, a show known for its last-minute incorporation of real-world news into storylines, it will be interesting to see how the show handles this tragic development.
- baby_souffle 1y agoThey have moved to a 2-week cadence for the season. Next episode should be a week from today which does give them plenty of time to incorporate this development.
- mschuster91 1y ago[flagged]
- FergusArgyll 1y ago[flagged]
- mschuster91 1y agoMy position is that guns should be strictly regulated and traffic as well to achieve zero traffic deaths ("Vision Zero"). Alternatively, the US could look into what gun culture difference they have to Switzerland, because the Swiss have amongst the most liberal gun laws of Europe but are pretty average amongst European countries when it comes to gun violence. Kirk's position was to have guns as unregulated as possible, so I pretty much DGAF when the consequences of his position come home to roost.
- FergusArgyll 1y ago[flagged]
- mschuster91 1y agoHelsinki in Finland proves Vision Zero be possible [1] and a number of European countries have gun policies [2] that basically restrict carrying guns to hunters, people in proven danger of life, police officers and special security guards, in addition to gun sports who can own, but can't carry outside of dedicated venues. Objectively, my position is both serious and not just realistic, but actually lived reality here in Europe. You are free to visit our continent whenever you want, I can only recommend it. [1] https://www.dw.com/en/no-traffic-deaths-in-helsinki-finland-thanks-to-smart-city-planning/a-73616778 https://www.dw.com/en/no-traffic-deaths-in-helsinki-finland-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_of_gun_laws_by_nation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_of_gun_laws_by_nation
- 1y ago
- daedrdev 1y agoHe hand picked many of the Trump admin cabinet. He absolutely wielded power
- animitronix 1y ago[flagged]
- simianwords 1y agoAlmost all politicians have tweeted about him now. There’s no way he’s not influential.
- ramoz 1y agoHe drew a massive college crowd and was shot at that event. That's your answer.
- pphysch 1y agoBenjamin Netayahu and Trump tweeted support for Kirk within half an hour of the shooting.
- orionsbelt 1y agoTwitter and the terminally online need to touch grass and overemphasize things that the real world doesn’t care about, but, to an approximation, it is the vanguard and real world talking points, political trends, etc, are all downstream from there. So yes, someone very influential with the Twitter crowd is influential.
- AaronAPU 1y agoHe was literally influential for touching grass on college campuses across the country, peacefully engaging in open discussions with people who disagreed with him.
- skissane 1y ago> Am I wrong in thinking this guy isn't/wasn't a very influential person, outside of Twitter and the people that stay on there 24/7? I’d heard of him-I’ve lived my whole life in Australia, and although I have a Twitter/X account, I almost never use it, and that’s not a new thing, I dabbled with it but never committed. Do most Australians know who he was? I don’t have any hard data, but my “No” to that is very confident. But I remember briefly discussing him (in person) with one of my old friends from high school, who is deep into right-wing politics (he’s a member of Australia’s One Nation party, which a lot of people would label “far right”, yet mainstream enough to have a small number of seats in Parliament)
- ACow_Adonis 1y agoAs a comparatively politically aware Australian, I had absolutely no idea who he is/was, but then I don't have any Twitter or general social media presence or consumption.
- skissane 1y agoMy (limited) knowledge of him was mainly from reading the traditional US media, not from social media… I swear I’d read some article about him in the NY Times or the Atlantic or something like that. My brain files him next to Ben Shapiro
- mandeepj 1y ago> I had absolutely no idea who he is/was Me too! I follow politics, elections, and world affairs very closely, but I am embarrassed to admit - I had no idea who he was. Although I had heard about 'Turning Point USA'.
- skissane 1y agoMy wife had no idea who he was when I said his name… but when she saw a photo, she remembered him from videos which appeared on her Facebook feed in which he argues about abortion and transgender issues. She is Facebook friends with a lot of right-wing Americans, she doesn’t share their politics, but they connected due to a shared interest in Farmville
- Braxton1980 1y ago[flagged]
- hellojesus 1y agoLying about election fraud is a pretty silly justification for assassination.
- elcritch 1y agoSaying he lied about election fraud assumes he knew it was fake and said it anyways. Charlie Kirk may have been incorrect but he generally seemed to believe his positions.
- anthem2025 1y ago[dead]
- subpixel 1y agoThat is weak sauce. He was a skilled political operator. To suggest he believed what is provably false suggests he was a fool.
- hellojesus 1y agoThe point is it doesn't matter. Nobody should be murdered for spreading a lie.
- Braxton1980 1y ago[flagged]
- subpixel 1y agoTwo things can be true at the same time. Spreading lies does matter - it matters a lot. And it's not an excuse for murder.
- 1y ago
- slowhadoken 1y agoHe’s a martyr now.
- quantified 1y agoOver the next short while, he might be. Let's see.
- fallinghawks 1y ago[flagged]
- slowhadoken 1y agoIt doesn’t matter. He was a white Christian conservative guy that went to colleges and talked to people. Now he’s dead.
- throwaway250624 1y ago[flagged]
- peterangular 1y ago[flagged]
- slowhadoken 1y agoHe is now.
- paxys 1y agoHis assassination is making the front page across the world. I'd call that influental.
- thephyber 1y agoArguably this is because of the reactions of Republicans, gaslighting us about CK’s actual beliefs, turning the temperature up (blaming Democrats, “this is war”, calling Democrats terrorists, likening it to the Reichstag Fire, and a Republican Congressman declaring that anyone making light of it should be cancelled permanently from social media / government / society). I would argue CK was somewhat influential among getting lots of young Christians to vote for Trump, who clearly doesn’t live Christian beliefs, but the shooting is being catastrophized for political value.
- kfrzcode 1y agoYes, you're wrong. He was very influential and a leader of the youthful conservative movement in our country. TPUSA is extremely popular. This was an abhorrent, horrifyingly public assassination of a very popular figure -- one who has been honestly quite milquetoast in terms of conservative ideology compared to other well-known figures. He wasn't even running for political office, he simply encouraged political participation, open debate, and the free exchange of ideas in a public forum. He grew TPUSA into a bastion of grassroots revitalization in community-first politics. Truly truly sickening.
- autoexec 1y ago> one who has been honestly quite milquetoast in terms of conservative ideology compared to other well-known figures. That says a lot more about those "other well-known figures" than it does about him and his already extreme ideology
- kennyloginz 1y agoDude, if you followed his teachings you wouldn’t feel this way… "I can't stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made up. new age term, and it does a lot of damage.” - Charlie Kirk
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- exodust 1y agoDude, that quote is out of context. He said he prefers "sympathy" to "empathy" and went on to call out those who push selective empathy when it suits their political agenda. He was right. In my country Australia, there's a backlash on self-destructive "empathy" decisions in criminal courts. Violent repeat offenders are granted bail or short sentences for violent crime, why? Because the judge empathises with their traumatised upbringing, for example when they come from a war-torn country. This pattern of "justice" has spiked crime rates including violent home invasions and stabbings.
- nicce 1y agoAt the moment he was shot, he was answering for questions about transgender shootings. If the timing was calculated, it could be a political message or very strong personal hatred in this context.
- kennyloginz 1y ago[flagged]
- qingcharles 1y agoAnd his answer was bigoted. I'm paraphrasing, but I believe someone asked "do you know how many mass shooters are trans?" and he said "too many." Didn't like the guy, but he was just a guy expressing a horrible opinion. Violence was not the answer.
- al_borland 1y ago“Too many” sounds like a valid answer for any question about the number of mass shooters. Remove “trans” from the question and it’s still a valid answer. Substitute in any other demographic, and it’s still a valid answer (assuming someone from that demographic has been a shooter). Even one mass shooting is too many. It sounds like more of a loaded question than a problematic answer.
- kashunstva 1y ago> It sounds like more of a loaded question than a problematic answer. I honestly don’t know what the actual factual answer to the question is. 1? 2? But the question warranted an answer, even if it was “I don’t know.” Given that the answer to many questions about mass shooting, specific or otherwise, is “too many,” the answer he gave offered no factual data. Maybe he was prepared to offer something more fact-based and nuanced. But to me the answer he gave comes off as dismissive, lacking in additional data, and possibly ideologically-motivated. I imagine the question was posed because many in the community adjacent to Kirk are looking for an excuse to see trans people further isolated and stripped of their rights. Forcing the debate - if we can call it that - into the world of facts doesn’t seem problematic to me.
- dylan604 1y agoYes, I'd say you are wrong. If you look at a lot of the clips of the right wing folks giving some of their most right wing comments, the stage they are on will have the Turning Point logos on them. So if not him specifically, his organization is very influential.
- rented_mule 1y ago> What change was the person who shot him hoping to elicit? I think a difficulty in searching for such answers is assuming that it was a well reasoned decision. I'm not sure how often attempting to take a life is a purely rational decision, devoid of intense emotional motivations (hatred, self-preservation, fear, revenge, etc.). And that's all assuming the assailant was of somewhat sound mind. I think one of the dangers of more and more extreme divisions in society is that those divisions cloud our mental processes, threaten our emotional health, and take away opportunities for meaningful civil discourse. All of which can lead to more heinous acts that we struggle to make sense of. One of the scariest parts for me is that this can all be too self reinforcing ("Their side did this bad thing to our side, let's get them back!!!" repeat/escalate...). How do we break the cycle?
- jackmottatx 1y ago[dead]
- runjake 1y ago> Am I wrong in thinking this guy isn't/wasn't a very influential person, outside of Twitter and the people that stay on there 24/7? Yes, you're wrong there (no offense). He's quite popular beyond X (formerly Twitter), particularly amongst the young (~20s) conservative movements. For example, he has almost 4 million subscribers on YouTube and similar on TikTok. I'd say X isn't even his most popular platform. He's much more popular on video platforms, due to his open campus debates. I attended one of Charlie's debates this past year and they pretty much let anyone walk up to the mic. It wasn't scripted or censored, that I saw.
- PaulDavisThe1st 1y agoHe was also very good at superficially solid rebuttals and responses that were hard to counter without providing a short course on the history and context of the issue at hand. I never thought of him as a "good" debater and I vehemently disagree with his public views, but he was very effective in the media and event situations he operated in.
- runjake 1y agoAgreed and well said. I also disagreed with a lot of his views. But, at the same time when I started watching his content, I realized his detractors overstretched the truth about a lot of what he said. Not all of it, but a lot of it.
- Teever 1y agoI think that there's great insight in your observation. To me what's been going on is a shakedown run of the new mediums and how they exploit cognitive defects and lack of exposure in audiences. In a total Marshall McLuhan "The Medium is the Message" kind of way some people like Shapiro, Trump, and Kirk just naturally groove in certain mediums and are able to play them like Ray Charles plays the piano. And because society doesn't have any sort of natural exposure to this they're able to gain massive audiences and use that influence for nefarious purposes. I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is though. On the one had I think that there is going to be a natural feedback mechanism that puts keeps their population in check (which is basically what we just saw today) but that isn't the most desireable outcome.
- tzs 1y ago[flagged]
- Molitor5901 1y ago[flagged]
- nickthegreek 1y agoname the media.
- cpursley 1y agoPretty prevalent theme on reddit.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- seydor 1y agoeven if he s not that famous outside US, he might be targeted to send a message
- supportengineer 1y ago>> Twitter and the people that stay on there 24/7 That is a lot of people
- disgruntledphd2 1y agoNot really, but they tend to be influential.
- pjc50 1y agoAs a practical question: it would be useful to have a transcript of his final speech, on a page without any graphic images of his death.
- 1gn15 1y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Charlie_Kirk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Charlie_Kirk
- JacobThreeThree 1y ago>why even target the poor guy There are plenty of dangerous mentally ill people out there who don't use any type of logic or reason as a basis for their decision-making.
- pjc50 1y agoInteresting to see someone whose decision making is so disordered that they manage to carry out a shot from 200 meters and then disappear. That looks more like a carefully planned crime than madness.
- swader999 1y agoThat they didn't account for drop and hit the neck shows that they weren't in fact very competent.
- queenkjuul 1y ago[flagged]
- swader999 1y ago[flagged]
- edm0nd 1y ago200 meters isn't that far of a shot if you are familiar with shooting or a hunter. I regularly take down deer at 200-300 yards. The shooter is also in custody already and captured thankfully.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- cmiles74 1y agoMy dude, the article in the Washington Post starts out with… “Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, died Wednesday after being shot at an event at Utah Valley University, President Donald Trump said.” He influenced the US President, that seems pretty influential to me. Anecdotally, my kid in high school surprised me by knowing quite a lot about them.
- brewdad 1y ago[flagged]
- croes 1y agoWhat do you think how Trump and his administration will react. What if that is purpose?
- umvi 1y agoI saw his videos occasionally on youtube/facebook. I didn't really agree with his stances on immigration most of the time, though I thought some of his other arguments on other topics were thought provoking at least, and I also thought it was cool that he always had an open mic for anyone that wanted to debate him. Seemed like he had an encyclopedic memory when it came to things like SCOTUS cases or historical events.
- ourmandave 1y agoCharlie didn't debate so much as followed a script and steered you towards his gotcha questions to create content for his show. He recently went to Cambridge Univ and debated a student who actual knew his routine. It didn't go well for him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn0_2iACV-A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn0_2iACV-A
- toomim 1y agoInstead of linking to a one-sided reframing of the debate, here's the actual debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mvIktYig9Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mvIktYig9Y It seems to be a healthy debate for both sides.
- ourmandave 1y agoThat's a link to Charlie's own post of the debate. It seems to be a healthy debate to someone who doesn't know Charlie's logical fallacies and scripted style.
- CompoundEyes 1y agoSouthpark made fun of him in a recent episode. Heard the name assumed he was a yet another alt right influencer podcaster.
- judah 1y agoConservative, but definitely not alt-right. Kirk was a strong supporter of Jews and Israel, which put him at odds with the antisemitic alt-right. Kirk regularly spoke out against antisemitism on both the left and right. So much so, in fact, Israeli Prime Minister tweeted[0] his condolences, praising Kirk as a strong, positive force for Jewish and Christian values. [0]: https://x.com/netanyahu/status/1965888327938158764 https://x.com/netanyahu/status/1965888327938158764
- twixfel 1y ago[flagged]
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- antonvs 1y agoHe gave an invited speech at the Republican National Convention on its first night, and is credited with helping Trump get elected. “Very influential” might even be an understatement. The problem is that that kind of influence often goes under the radar for people outside the circles in question, because influence is no longer mediated as centrally as it used to be, it’s more targeted and siloed. That’s a big part of how the current political situation in the US arose.
- 4ndrewl 1y agoI'd never heard of him and now I hear flags across the US will be at-half mast. He's was a billionaire-sponsored influencer if I understand it correctly?
- queenkjuul 1y agoCorrect
- pokstad 1y agoI think he was more influential to the younger generation. I saw Gavin Newsom interview Kirk, and Newsom opened by saying his son followed Kirk to a certain extent.
- goodluckchuck 1y agoYeah, he was a minor / outlying figure in the same sense that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was.
- tombert 1y agoI first heard about him in around 2016, shortly after Trump was elected the first time. I'm pretty chronically online, but I was never very active on Twitter and I was still pretty aware of him. I've always found him pretty insufferable, though not as bad as Nick Feuntes or Steven Crowder.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Aeolun 1y agoYou probably target the ones you have a chance of getting at? Trying to do this to Trump would theoretically be preferable to the shooter, but a great deal harder.
- dragonwriter 1y ago> Am I wrong in thinking this guy isn't/wasn't a very influential person, outside of Twitter and the people that stay on there 24/7? Yes, you are wrong, he was the leader of the most powerful campus conservative movement group in the country, was an extremely prominent figure in right-wing media, to the point where he is a central figure in pop culture images of the right, and a central target for being too soft of organizing figures for even farthe-right groups. > What change was the person who shot him hoping to elicit? Motives for assassinations (attempted or actual) of politicial figures are often incoherent. Political assassins aren’t always (or even often) strategic actors with a clear, rationally designed programs.
- mhh__ 1y agoIn naive political terms he wasn't all that important but I think two points in response to that: 1. He was influential in a influential circle of people who roughly speaking drive what gets discussed and shown to a wider audience. In a favourite-band's favourite-band sense. His jubilee video just recently got 31 million views on youtube and probably a billion more on tiktok and reels. 2. If he wasn't killed by some nut who thought the flying spaghetti monster told him to do it then this is a really clear example of online politics and discourse jumping violently into the physical world. That's a real vibe shift if I have it right that it's basically the first assassination of that kind. It wouldn't shock me at all if the driving topic here was actually gaza rather than domestic politics.
- chasd00 1y ago> If so, why even target the poor guy? Crazy people murder all the time, hell he probably did it for a girl. See the movie Taxi Driver.
- tho234234234 1y ago[flagged]
- crispinb 1y ago> What change was the person who shot him hoping to elicit? This would be a relevant question in many nations, but it's a bit beside the point in the US. Violence is a deeply respected and loved core of the culture for its own sake. It's an end, not means. Nearly all the US's entertainment, culture and myths are built around a reverence for violence. Even political violence has been pretty much the norm through most of the US's history. Celebrated cases aside, there's been something of a lull since the mid 1970s, but if as now likely it increases again, this will be a boring old reversion to the US's norm.
- pm90 1y agoWhy do so many school shootings happen in the US? Often its simply that people who should never have access to lethal firearms are able to get them easily.
- loughnane 1y agoThe Economist did a briefing on him in July which explains his increasingly large influence pretty well. https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/07/18/charlie-kirk-pied-piper-of-the-american-right https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/07/18/charlie-k...
- cryptonector 1y ago> What change was the person who shot him hoping to elicit? We don't know yet, but we can infer these possible changes "the person who shot him [was] hoping to elicit": - stop an effective communicator from further moving the needle of public opinion in his side's favor - intimidate other effective communicators with similar views - intimidate other future possible effective communicators with similar views - cause more violence (some people love chaos and violence)
- mynameyeff 1y agoCharlie Kirk never really presented him this way but he was the founder & head of one of the largest think-tanks that is up there with Heritage Foundation. TPUSA was responsible for translating conservative values to Gen-Z/YA who were an all-but-forgotten demographic by mainstream GOP.
- thephyber 1y agoHe was a cofounder, along with Bill Montgomery, an octogenarian Tea Party Republican. Kirk was the young face who brought lots of energy, but he was well funded by old Republicans (incl. Foster Friess).
- thephyber 1y agoHe was the public face of Turning Point USA, a political organization that focused on getting more youth in the USA to turn conservative / Republican, to vote, and to adopt a more conservative culture. By “public face”, I mean he was 17 when he cofounded it with an octogenarian and a billionaire funder. I think he and the org were active on Twitter, but they were MUCH more active on YouTube, and short form video (Instagram, TikTok). It’s not even clear we know who the shooter is (still conflicting reports about whether the suspect has been arrested, let alone a confirmed identity). Too soon to know what the motive is.
- roncesvalles 1y agoI think you're out-of-touch. It felt like he was the single most popular non-politician non-podcaster political commentator on social media for Americans under 30, and I'm not even in the target demographic that he's popular with.
- astura 1y ago>non-podcaster He had a podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-charlie-kirk-show/id1460600818 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-charlie-kirk-show/...
- roncesvalles 1y agoWell who doesn't? I mean he didn't become famous because of his podcast.
- anigbrowl 1y agoYou are wrong. As well as organizing a large conservative movement on college campuses, he organized a large chunk of financing for the January 6 2021 riots in DC, north of $1m. This report outlines the financial infrastructure, you'd have to delve into the investigative commission documents for testimony about how he raised the money, I can't remember the name of his wealthy benefactor offhand. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/10/18/donald-trump-election-interference-case-new-evidence/75714784007/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/... Also an enthusiastic proponent of military force (against other Americans) https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/charlie-kirk-calls-full-military-212306543.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/charlie-kirk-calls-full-...
- AnimalMuppet 1y agoParanoid time: Target him because he's notable for being willing to actually talk to the other side. Without people like him, all we have is people on both sides yelling at each other as hard as they can. Why would someone target him? If they want more division. Maybe even if they want a civil war. Who would want that? Maybe someone in government who wants disorder as an excuse to impose order by force. Maybe someone in Russia who wants a world order not let by America.
- Rover222 1y agoLike most of us, you're living in your own media bubble.
- nativespecies 1y agoHe's being martyred on purpose. I wonder what people both sides-ing it on HN would do in the 1940s....