Just before the end of a conference in Chicago on Wednesday, September 10, phones started vibrating with breaking news. By the time this blogger got back to the hotel room a few minutes away, the first instinct was to turn on the TV and find out what had happened to Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk.
The reports came quickly: Kirk had been shot in the neck and rushed to the hospital. Moments later, President Trump confirmed through a post that Kirk had passed away from an assassin’s bullet.
PC: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The immediate thought was clear—this would dominate the news cycle for days. Social media was filled with reactions, commentators scrambled for airtime, and speculation ran wild. From this blogger’s experience, it was best to wait, watch, and see what other stories would emerge from this tragedy.
Before getting to the “story within the story,” though, a word on the assassination itself.
As someone who also uses media to share stories and opinions, I understand the power of words. They can confront injustice or be wielded against the author. That is where disagreement should remain—through voices, not violence. To silence someone with a weapon instead of with an argument is simply wrong. Whatever one thought of Kirk’s views, he had the right to speak them. And many others had the right to respond in turn.
For a stretch of months, I even tuned in to his show during the morning drive, just to hear what a prominent voice in the “Make America Great Again” movement was saying. It was more often than rare that this blogger would verbally say that he was wrong in what he said, or thought that he was so myopic to think certain things, that I figured he was just talking to his audience, and not to someone like me.
With all that, and the various commercials he would put out talking up his right-of-center sponsors, he had resources, reach, and influence—and he was taken down by an assassin’s bullet, perhaps because of it.
PC: Government of California, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Shock may dominate the headlines now, but as days go by, the spotlight will turn to succession. Kirk’s death raises an inevitable question: what happens now to TPUSA and the media platform he built?
The first issue is leadership. It is unlikely that Kirk had left behind a detailed plan for what would happen if he passed. Both the TPUSA organization and his talk show now face the question of who will step in.
Names are already surfacing. Ben Shapiro was quick to declare—in a Facebook post—that he would “pick up the blood-stained microphone” where Kirk left it. Soon after, Kirk’s wife made clear she would continue to champion the causes he fought for. And President Trump, deeply involved from the start, ordered flags flown at half-staff and dispatched Vice President JD Vance to return Kirk’s body to Arizona for burial. The funeral is expected to draw Trump and others in his administration.
These gestures underscore the weight of Kirk’s political and media empire. Someone will inherit it—and the choice will shape what TPUSA looks like in the post-Kirk era.
There is precedent. When Rush Limbaugh, the voice of conservative talk radio, passed away, the question of succession loomed. His microphone was eventually taken up by Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, though Limbaugh’s show was owned by a corporate network.
TPUSA, by contrast, is a nonprofit. Its board of directors, not a corporate entity, will decide its next leader. Until his death, Kirk was CEO. The board includes:
- Justin Streiff, Chief Operating Officer
- Marina Minas, Chief Marketing Officer
- Justin Olson, Chief Financial Officer
- Dr. Hutz Herzberg, Chief Education Officer
- Lauren Toncich, Vice President of Events
That group now faces the task of choosing a successor who can not only manage the organization but also project its message effectively in the media. Whoever steps forward will not simply replace Kirk; they will set the direction for the movement he amplified.
History suggests that when a singular media figure exits, the platform is never the same. Breitbart became something different after Andrew Breitbart’s death. The Huffington Post recalibrated without Arianna Huffington. Rush Limbaugh’s voice still echoes louder than his successors. Charlie Kirk’s passing now poses the same challenge for TPUSA: can an organization built on his energy adapt to new leadership, or will it remain frozen as a reflection of its founder?
That is why succession, even now with preparations for the final resting for Mr. Kirk happening, will be something to follow.