How Charlie Kirk changed Gen Z’s politics
His focus on young voters in support of Trump inevitably shifted how young people were considered and included in the conversation
There’s been a massive effort to understand why Gen Z shifted right in the 2024 election. Part of that movement was thanks to Charlie Kirk and his work to engage young people — on and offline.
Whether it was his college tours or the campus debate videos he brought to the forefront of social media, he changed the way young people think about, consume, and engage in political discourse.
Over the past few years, I’ve watched as freedom of speech has become a priority issue for young people, particularly on the right. The emphasis on that issue alone helped President Donald Trump make inroads with young voters in 2024, with Kirk as its biggest cheerleader. Just a few years ago, being a conservative on campus was not welcomed on many liberal college campuses. That has changed.
Even on campuses he never visited, Kirk, via his massive social media profile and the resonance of his videos online, was at the center of bringing MAGA to the mainstream. Scroll TikTok or Instagram with a right-leaning college student for five minutes, and you’re likely to see one of those debate-style videos pop into their feed. Since the news broke of the attack on his life yesterday afternoon, I’ve heard from many young leaders — both liberal and conservative — who are distraught and shook up. The reality is that Kirk changed the game for Gen Z political involvement. Even for those who disagreed with his politics, his focus on young voters inevitably shifted how young people were considered and included in the conversation.
Like many of you, I’ve followed Kirk for years. Whether you aligned with his policy viewpoints or not, his influence on the conversation is undeniable. And, for young people, he was the face of the next generation for leadership in the conservative party.
Kirk’s assassination is the latest in a string of political violence, including the political assassination in Minnesota that took the life of former MN House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and left MN state Sen. John Hoffman wounded. One of the most common fears I hear from young people across the country and the political spectrum is that political division has gone too far. Yesterday’s shooting also coincided with a tragic school shooting in Colorado. The grave irony of all of these forces coinciding — gun violence, political violence, and campus violence — cannot be ignored.
In all my conversations with young people, one thing is clear: they are scared.
After yesterday’s tragedy, I reached out to many in The Up and Up community, as well as young leaders right of center. Here’s some of what they shared.
“He was the leader of the Republican Party and the conservative movement right now especially for young people. He’s probably more famous than Trump for college students,” said Lucy Cox, a college student in California.
“He had divisive politics, but he never went about it in a divisive way,” she said. “He’s been a part of my college experience for as long as I’ve been here. He felt like somebody I knew. His personality was so pervasive. It feels very odd that I’m never going to watch a new Charlie Kirk video again,” she said.
“From the first time I saw him, it was on the ‘Whatever’ podcast, I’ve watched that for a long long long time. Just immediately, the way he carried himself and respected the people he was talking to regardless of who they were, their walk of life, how they treated him. Immediately I just thought, ‘Man, there’s just something different about him.’ He was willing to engage, it was the care, he didn’t want to just shut somebody down,” said Jesse Wilson, who’s 30 and from Missouri. “He was like these are my points, and this is what I’m about, and it seemed like there was a willingness to engage and meet people where they’re at. I found it really heartwarming. And we need it. That’s what’s going to make a difference.”
“Charlie had a reach most political influencers couldn’t even imagine. I didn’t agree with him on a number of things, but there’s no mistaking that he held the ear of an entire generation. When someone like that is taken from the world, the impact multiplies,” said Ebo Entsuah, 31, and from Florida.
“Charlie changed my life. The first time I ever went to DC was because of him. He invited me to join TPUSA at CPAC so I bought a flight and skipped class. When we finally met in person he grinned and said, ‘Are you Republican Sass?’ (My Twitter at the time) and gave me a big thumbs-up. I owe so much of my career to him. Most of my closest friends came into my life through him or at his events. Because of Charlie I met my husband. We worked with him back when TPUSA was still run out of a garage. Charlie’s early support helped ACC grow when no one else took us seriously. He welcomed me with open arms to speak at one of his conferences to 300+ young people when ACC was barely weeks old,” said Danielle Butcher Franz, CEO of The American Conservation Coalition. “I keep looking around me and thinking about how none of it would be here if I hadn’t met Charlie.”
“I would be naive to not admit that my career trajectory and path would not have been possible without Charlie Kirk. He forged a path in making a career with steadfast opinions, engaging with a generation that had never been so open minded and free, slanting their politics the exact opposite of his own,” a 26-year-old young woman told me. “He made politics accessible. He made conservatism accessible. But damn he made CIVICS accessible. He dared us to engage. To take the bait. To react.”
“He was controversial because he was good at what he was doing. Good and articulating his beliefs with such conviction to dare the other side to express. He died engaging with the other side. In good or bad faith is ones own to decide, but he was engaging. In a time where the polarization is never more clear. So I will continue to dare to engage with those I agree and those I disagree. But it’s heart breaking. It feels like we’ve lost any common belonging,” she said.
“There has not been an event in modern political history that has impacted me this much. Maybe it hits too close to home.”
Over the summer, I wrote about Gen Z’s sinking American pride. Of all generations, according to Gallup data, Gen Z’s American pride is the lowest, at just 41%. At the time, I wrote that this is not just about the constant chaos which has become so normalized for our generation. It’s more than that. It’s a complete disillusionment with U.S. politics for a generation that has grown up amid hyperpolarization and a scathing political climate. What happened yesterday adds a whole layer.
Beyond the shooting, there is the way in which this unfolded online. There’s a legitimate conversation to be had about people’s reactions to Kirk’s death and an unwillingness to condemn violence.
As a 19-year-old college student told me: “This reveals a big problem that I see with a lot of members in Gen Z: that they tend to see things in black and white and fail to realize that several things can be true at once.”
There’s also the need for a discussion about the speed at which the incredibly graphic video of violence circulated — and the fact that it is now seared into the minds of the many, many young people who watched it.
We live in a country where gun violence is pervasive. When we zoom out and look toward the future, there are inevitable consequences of this carnage.
Since The Up and Up started holding listening sessions in the fall of 2022, young people have shared that civil discourse and political violence are two of their primary concerns. One of the most telling trends are the responses to a duo of our most frequently asked questions: “What is your biggest fear for the country, and what is your biggest hope for the country?” Consistently, the fear has something to do with violence and division, while the hope is unity.
I think we all could learn from the shared statement issued by the Young Democrats and Young Republicans of Connecticut before President Trump announced Kirk’s death, in which they came together to “reject all forms of political violence” in a way we rarely, if ever, see elected officials do.
Understanding how young Americans are thinking is crucial to our democracy and as The Up and Up grows and scales, I hope you will continue to support our work.