The conservative activist was speaking into a microphone at Utah Valley University, sitting beneath a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong,” when he was fatally shot.
It underscored the power Kirk had amassed in such a short time. At just 31 years old, he was already a political force with a direct line to the White House and a $100 million-a-year movement behind him. Trump had credited him with mobilizing the youth vote that propelled his 2024 victory, frequently hosting him at both Mar-a-Lago and the Oval Office.
Born in 1993 to a counselor mother and an architect father in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Kirk grew up in a conservative household with dreams of joining the military. As a teenager, he was an Eagle Scout who set his sights on West Point, the US military academy that trains officers.
In a 2015 speech to the Conservative Forum of Silicon Valley, he said getting into the Army was his ‘No. 1 dream in life’, but implied he was rejected for being a white man.
But that rejection became a sliding-doors moment that launched his political career. Instead of joining the Army, Kirk began dabbling in politics—volunteering for Illinois Republican Mark Kirk’s (no relation) Senate campaign while still in high school.
From there, the speaking engagements started rolling in, and that’s how Kirk met his future mentor and cofounder, Bill Montgomery, who convinced him to dropout of college and go all-in on activism. Together, they co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012, when Kirk was just 18.
And as the non-profit’s popularity has surged, so too has Kirk’s. In his mid-20s, he became the youngest speaker at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and just two years later made Forbes’ “30 under 30” list.
By 30, he had become a household name in conservative circles, impossible to ignore despite stoking frequent backlash. He was both celebrated and criticized for accusations of spreading conspiracy theories on COVID-19, climate change, and the 2020 election, as well as anti-trans rhetoric.
