Charlie Kirk, president and CEO of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on September 10, 2025. He was 31 years old.
Turning Point USA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to convincing high school and college kids to join the Republican Party. Charlie Kirk traveled across the country, speaking at college campuses and debating Republican principles with students in the audience. These events were extremely popular. Charlie Kirk was murdered by an assassin’s rifle at one of these events.
Since his murder, I’ve learned a lot about Charlie. I didn’t mean to or even want to. Social media has been awash with Charlie Kirk information since the day he was killed. If you regularly peruse social media, it’s almost impossible not to learn about him.
Charlie Kirk’s thoughts on military service
Even though Charlie Kirk never served in the military, he had strong opinions about those of us who did. He said the following on stage, speaking to a large crowd of people:
“So the military now exists as basically a social welfare program with missiles. The way they recruit the military now ‘look at all the perks and benefits.’ It’s disgusting, honestly. If you’re really going in there because you think you’ll get a better home loan, you’re going in for the wrong reasons. And by the way, I’ve never served. God bless all of you that served because you served for the right reasons.”
(Click here if you’d like to watch a video of Charlie Kirk saying this comment.)
Charlie Kirk was wrong
Charlie was wrong when he implied that stressing the perks and benefits of military service was something new. Military recruiters have been doing this since the United States abolished the draft in January 1973.
I enlisted in the Air Force in 1984. Before enlisting, I had countless conversations with the local Air Force recruiter. They were constantly talking about all the swell benefits I would get if I joined the Air Force. This message was constant.
I joined the Air Force because I didn’t see any other way forward. Attending a four-year college was out of the question for me. Back then, learning a skill I could use to make a living meant enlisting in the military. Looking back, there may have been other ways to learn a valuable skill, but I didn’t know about them.
In my peer group, you either went to a four-year college or you joined the military.
The Air Force was the only branch of the service I ever seriously considered. I loved airplanes. When I was a kid, I built countless plastic models of various military aircraft. I grew up less than 10 miles from Air Force Plant 42, located in Palmdale, California.
As a kid, I regularly saw the SR-71 flying overhead. I also lived somewhat close to Edwards Air Force Base. I say somewhat because nobody lives close to Edwards.
Charlie Kirk was a world-class grifter
Something I learned about Charlie that I never knew before was that he never graduated from college. He attended a community college, but dropped out after one semester.
I assumed he had an academic background.
The idea that he could generate millions of dollars by traveling the country in a private jet, speaking at college campuses, and telling college students what to think is an extremely powerful grift. How many people could get away with doing something like that?
It’s that same grifter mindset that allowed him to openly criticize the motivations of people who joined the military. He was in no position to look at someone’s military service and pass judgment on whether they did it for the “right” reasons.
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