Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point taps his widow as its next leader. Questions about its future remain

PHOENIX AP Turning Point USA the organization Charlie Kirk founded to mobilize young Christian conservatives has seen a massive surge in interest and assistance since the activist s assassination last week As conservatives mourn Kirk s death the group appears poised to remain a MAGA juggernaut as it plots its future without Kirk at the helm The group s board publicized Thursday that Kirk s widow Erika Kirk had been unanimously elected as its next leader and will serve as CEO and board chair This was what Charlie hoped for and wished and he revealed so numerous times Tyler Bowyer the group s chief operating officer stated on social media Erika is one with Charlie and Charlie is one with Erika Turning Point became a multimillion-dollar operation under Charlie Kirk s leadership and was credited with helping to return President Donald Trump to office Since Kirk s killing his podcast and social media have attracted millions of new followers There has been an outpouring of interest in expanding Turning Point s footprint on college and high school campuses the group s spokesperson says and future large-scale events are continuing as planned It will grow stated Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet who is also a producer of The Charlie Kirk Show podcast What we re seeing is that Charlie s legacy will be much greater broader and bigger than we even realized in life Trump explained reporters in the Oval Office this week that through this horrible act Turning Point could be maybe bigger than it could have ever been had he been there And I will say this He d be very happy if he saw what was going on Trump mentioned Inquiries about new Turning Point chapters have soared Both Turning Point and Kirk s other ventures have received unprecedented interest since he was killed Kirk s podcast is now the top show on Apple his social media accounts have gained millions of followers and his clips have garnered millions of views Turning Point has also received over inquiries to start new campus chapters Kolvet mentioned Thursday The group presently has chapters on college campuses and in high schools across the nation Aubree Hudson president of the Turning Point chapter at Brigham Young University that helped organize the Utah Valley University event where Kirk was assassinated announced hundreds of students have reached out about getting involved That s the beautiful part of this tragedy that his movement Turning Point is exploding she reported She predicted conservatives who have been afraid to share their views at school will start speaking up How it looks like without Charlie Kirk I think we re all gonna try to figure that out she explained It s gonna be a curve but I don t think it s gonna slow us down in any way A fundraising behemoth Turning Point USA is not just a campus advocacy group promoting conservative causes It and its affiliated group Turning Point Action played a crucial role in the polling helping to turn out voters who don t typically cast ballots in swing states including Arizona Michigan and Wisconsin It is also a fundraising behemoth The group s two primary nonprofit arms collectively took in nearly million in according to forms filed with the IRS A separate nonprofit wing called the Turning Point Endowment has another million in the bank Kirk s widow and the mother of their two children Erika Kirk has vowed to continue the group s mission She announced during an emotional broadcast from her husband s studio that a planned campus tour this fall would go on as would the podcast and one of the group s marquee events America Fest planned for December She disclosed during her remarks that the movement my husband built will not die I promise I ll make Turning Point USA the biggest thing that this nation has ever seen she disclosed Erika Kirk procedures into a new role Since its founding Charlie Kirk has been the operation s population face and crucial to its influence He was a MAGA celebrity with a loyal following who grew the operation in large part through the force of his own personality and rhetorical skill as he traveled the country speaking and hosting events Erika Kirk has a following in her own right The entrepreneur and podcaster often appeared with her husband at Turning Point events The former Miss Arizona USA has also worked as a model actress and casting director according to a biography on her website She founded a Christian clothing line Proclaim and a ministry that teaches about the Bible Alex Kolodin a Republican state legislator in Arizona who is closely aligned with the group mentioned he s confident Kirk s widow will hold the movement together She s not going to let anybody break apart her husband s legacy Kolodin disclosed He reported Turning Point wouldn t be what it is this day without Kirk s genius but mentioned that Kirk had inspired a generation of young conservatives who are social-media savvy and know how to engage their generation Kolodin predicted particular of them will rise to the moment and ensure Kirk s death doesn t leave a void in the online spaces where young people congregate It wouldn t surprise me if the next big thing in that direction was a couple of guys that nobody ever heard of Kolodin commented That s indeed a reason that I m optimistic for the future of it Also playing a leading role in carrying Kirk s torch is Vice President JD Vance a friend who transported Kirk s casket from Utah back to Arizona aboard Air Force Two On Monday Vance guest hosted Kirk s radio show spending two hours interviewing senior administration administrators and sharing stories about the impact of a man he credited for his current position He called on Kirk s followers to get involved saying we have to make sure that the next generation of young people feels confident and courageous to speak their mind and to speak the truth Others brush off the idea that anyone could take Kirk s mantle There s a lot of discussion about who will replace Charlie Kirk The answer is that nobody will conservative podcaster Matt Walsh wrote on X before Thursday s announcement There won t be a new Charlie any more than there was a new Rush Limbaugh These men are irreplaceable One of a kind All we can do is continue the fight in our own way Which we will But there will never be another Charlie Kirk