"We lost a brother": How the White House is mourning Charlie Kirk
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Charlie Kirk, wearing a "Never Surrender" Trump T-shirt, talks with someone outside the Republican National Convention last year in Milwaukee. Photo: Vincent Alban/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Donald Trump's White House is mourning conservative activist Charlie Kirk's slaying as a death in the family.
The big picture: Kirk, 31, wasn't just a trusted outside adviser to President Trump. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles prized his counsel and help, as did Cabinet members and other senior administration officials.
- The Turning Point USA organization that Kirk founded was key to the MAGA movement's efforts to attract young voters, a clear success in Trump's 2024 campaign. Trump particularly relied on Turning Point to turn out voters in key swing states.
Zoom in: Kirk's organization also acted as a farm team for the Trump administration, supplying a large number of young political staffers who populate agencies across the federal government. Kirk vetted many administration staffers for loyalty and competence.
- "If you look around any agency, Charlie's legacy is everywhere. We lost a brother," said one senior administration official.
- "He helped shape Cabinet picks. He helped vet staff. He had everyone's phone number in the White House and the number of every Republican member of Congress."
- "So many of us started as young conservative activists in one way or another, and Charlie was the great conservative activist of our era," another administration source said.
- "He was also endlessly generous with his time, connections, advice — he helped make countless careers in a tough business and did it with joy. So many owe him so much."
Kirk's "Prove Me Wrong" debates on college campuses — like the one he was leading at Utah Valley University when he was killed — inspired young conservatives and made Kirk a foil for many young progressives.
- White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich said Kirk "was younger than most all his friends, but someone who we all aspired to be more like."
- He called Kirk "the ultimate happy warrior who had life and politics figured out, navigating both with grace and conviction."
- "Charlie Kirk has gone from being a young man who inspired young people, to a titan whose inspiration will travel through eternity."
MAGA has many factions. But within the movement, Kirk was one of the rare characters at the top who seemed to have no enemies.
- "He could walk into any office in the White House or administration and legitimately call anyone in there a friend," said another White House official.
Trump announced Thursday that he would posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- Hours after the shooting, the president issued a video vowing to "find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity."
- Flags are flying at half staff over the White House, the Capitol and all other federal buildings, under an executive order Trump signed Wednesday.
- Vice President Vance, Budowich and others in the administration flew to Salt Lake City on Thursday and planned to return Kirk's body to Phoenix, where he lived with his family.
