Kirk became a fixture on conservative media and a forceful voice on a myriad of issues, including promoting Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen and urging Republicans in the Arizona Legislature to send so-called fake electors to Washington, D.C., to be counted on Jan. 6, 2021. His organization also bused supporters to go to Washington before a rally that turned it into a riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Kirk spun his success in conservative media into his own wildly successful podcast, “The Charlie Kirk Show.” According to the Turning Point site, the show was listened to, watched and streamed by an audience of more than 1 million people every day.
More on the assassination of Charlie KirkWhat we know about Charlie Kirk’s assassinationCharlie Kirk shooting witnesses describe few security measures at event‘People are scared to death’: Members of Congress fear for their safety after Charlie Kirk assassinationTrump says he will award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumouslyHe also wrote a number of bestselling books, including “The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas that Will Win the Future,” “The College Scam: How America’s Universities Are Bankrupting and Brainwashing Away the Future of America’s Youth” and “Rightwing Revolution: How to Beat the Woke and Se the West.”
Kirk was a close friend of Vice President JD Vance. He campaigned alongside him in the closing days of Vance's competitive Ohio Senate primary in 2022 and advocated for Trump to name him as his running mate last year.
He also played an important role for Trump during the 2024 campaign. Kirk's group hosted several events that were effectively Trump rallies, sing financial resources for the Trump campaign and attracting people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tucker Carlson, Tulsi Gabbard and other influential MAGA allies.
Kirk spoke on the first night of the Republican National Convention in July 2024, which took place just days after Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.