Charlie Kirk, Weimar Germany, Ford’s Theatre, and Why I Fear for the Future of the American Right

This essay is written in honor of Charlie Kirk (1993-2025).

May his memory be a blessing.

     On September 10th 2025, Charlie Kirk, renowned conservative commentator and founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated at Utah Valley University on one of his stops on his America Comeback Tour. Many are wondering what this bodes for America's political future, however we must consider the short-term implications before considering the long-term ones, and yes, a little bit of history.

     Turning Point USA was founded sometime in 2012 by Charlie Kirk right after he graduated high school. As the organization grew, TPUSA became a variety of things to many people, especially students on campus. For some, TPUSA, especially at some campuses, was the only conservative student organization present, and often became a ‘catch-all’ short hand for any student who may have been conservative or hadn't complied with a given campus's status quo. However, for students who were active participants of TPUSA chapters on campus, like many of my friends, these student organizations were true safe spaces where they could be themselves and be with like minded people. Similar to how Hillel is for Jewish students on campuses. For many conservative university students(yes, we exist), TPUSA chapters are invaluable for finding community, like-minded friends, and having a space where they don't need to have a fake liberal facade. For many young conservatives across the nation, Charlie Kirk and TPUSA were God-sends especially since for most of these students, their universities had long since become orwellian hellscapes with only a single prevailing political viewpoint, and TPUSA was the beacon of light in the sea of confusion and conformity. In addition to the significance of TPUSA, Charlie Kirk as an individual was unique. There are many a conservative commentators, Ben Shapiro, Brett Cooper, Jordan Peterson and Michael Knowles to name a few, however Charlie Kirk was unique in the way he engaged with the opposition. From the very early days of TPUSA, Kirk would go to various college/university campuses, set up a table and chair and allowed literally anyone to come up and debate him and have a civil conversation. This is huge. For many university campuses, having been turned into Leftist Orwellian hellscapes, they no longer acted as a forum of critical thinking, but merely as an institution of conformity. Charlie Kirk was trying to restore the forum of critical thinking universities have lost decades ago. Many critics of Kirk often characterized him as being a radical conservative, as much as most of these arguments are unfounded, the mere act of being opening up a space for debate and dialogue makes him a moderate, not a radical. Traditional moderates seek out to find a common ground with the opposition, opening a space for debate allows for this, that’s what Kirk did, radicals do not do this. Charlie Kirk merely wanted to chat and was shot for it. 

    Considering the above, to say that Charlie Kirk’s assassination was traumatic would be an understatement. For many conservative youth, they grew up watching Charlie Kirk from at least middle school. Charlie Kirk had an immeasurable presence amongst conservative youth in the United States and because of his debating behavior modeled to many that one could remain strong in their values and still be willing to engage with an opposition civilly. Charlie Kirk was a moderating and anchoring force in the American Right, in part due to the values of civil dialogue he was espousing and the organization TPUSA he founded. Charlie Kirk’s death will reverberate through history for many decades. Interestingly, once you pull away the politics, the grief, and the pain, the political and historical analysis is deeply troubling.

     Consider this about American politics in 2025 in light of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The extreme left has been thoroughly rotted out with extremist infiltration (October 8 Film), the pro-palestine encampments on university campuses and groups like “queers for palestine” are clear indicators of this. The Center Left is frankly confused and feel as if their more extreme ‘friends’ are pushing them into the right, and frankly they may not be wrong (Dean Withers). Centerists, whatever few are left, are quickly choosing sides or simply disillusioned all together. Finally, the conservative right is battered and injured. The last time a political spectrum looked this similar was in 1920, in Germany. By 1920, the German Extreme Left was infiltrated by Soviet agents and Communist parties poised to divide Germany politically. The Center Left of Germany was frankly a hot mess and exhausted, trying to attempt the delicate process of building a democracy under the largest power vacuum in Germany’s History was no easy feat and by 1930, the Center Left will functionally go extinct. The German Right had lost its anchoring force, the Kaiser, who had abdicated the throne in 1918. The German Right of the 1920s, primarily formed of monarchists and other anti-communists, was confused, and were quickly thrusted into resisting the extreme left in the wake of the abdication of the Kaiser. As anyone aware of the history of this time period will realize, the German Right will come to back extreme right factions within Germany, in an effort to counter the extreme left. Even more peculiarly, we may not necessarily need to look abroad to find a series of circumstances similar to our current moment in history. Not long after the end of the American Civil War, American President Abraham Lincoln was shot by Confederate Sympathizer John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. Abraham Lincoln was both a moderating and anchoring force for the early Republican Party. In the late 1850s until his inauguration in 1861, Lincoln was a moderate in the American Abolitionist Movement. By 1863, Lincoln had cemented the abolition of slavery in the Emancipation Proclamation, and later the 13th Amendment. However, when it came to Reconstruction, Lincoln’s policies were generous, only requiring 10% of a Confederate State’s population to pledge allegiance to the United States to be readmitted. Extremists in the Republican Party were not enthusiastic about Lincoln’s policies, and there was a genuine desire to ‘punish the South’. With Lincoln’s Assasination, the moderating force removed, it didn’t take long for harsher reconstruction policies to take hold, and these similarities is why I fear for the American Right.

Figure 1.1 Top - a visualization of the American Political Spectrum by 2025. Bottom - a visualization of the German Political Spectrum by 1920.

The conservative youth of America have lost their anchoring force, Charlie Kirk, just as the Monarchists of 1920s Germany lost the Kaiser, and just as Civil War-era Republicans and Abolitionists lost Lincoln. If one takes a minute to think on this matter, many a conservative youth may not be initially inclined to stay moderate. A traumatized population who had one of their strongest leaders killed in what was clearly political violence, will definitely not want much to do with the Left, if anything, they may become more extreme. The jump in viewer counts of certain more extreme right commentators (socialcount.org) seem to indicate this. The above historical analysis of both Weimar Germany and Post Civil War America also seem to back this unfortunately dark pattern. Yet, as hard as it may seem to believe, there is still hope for the Moderate Right to survive in America, and I believe it rests on TPUSA’s Shoulders. 

     In conservative commentator Isabel Brown’s words,

         

         “No one… will ever be able to fill Charlie’s shoes. No One! But I can’t think of anything that will fill his heart and make him prouder than the generation he inspired to pick up the torch and carry it forward in whatever way we could. … This is truly the Turning Point of our time.” – Isabel Brown

          In this quote is a truth and a mission. The truth is a simple one, Charlie’s presence and frankly his role as an anchoring force within conservative American youth is one that can’t be replicated and won’t be. Charlie will be missed… 

       However, unlike Lincoln or the exiled German Emperor, Charlie Kirk is survived by TPUSA, his organization that has many followers, and competent leadership. Erika Kirk, widow to Charlie Kirk and now CEO of TPUSA, has publicly stated that TPUSA is going quote “Full Steam Ahead” and are “busier than ever(Charlie Kirk Show)”, also consider that 38,000+ new TPUSA chapters were requesting formation and approval in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination (Fox News). This bodes well for TPUSA, in turn also means that the Moderate Right has a fighting chance at survival in the United States, my prayers are with Erika Kirk and the TPUSA team to right the ship that is TPUSA as it tries to rebuild. What TPUSA does in the next couple weeks will determine the fate of the American Right for the next couple years and the fate of conservative youth in America. This leads me to the last bit from Isabel Brown’s quote, the mission. 

      In light of Charlie Kirk’s death, it's our turn to speak up. Even if you’re on the opposite side of the political spectrum to Kirk, I urge you, now more than ever we need to continue the mission that Charlie started, restoring the forum of critical thinking and civil debate on university campuses. Sure no one will ever fill the void that Charlie once occupied in the political space, but he inspired many to use their voice on college campuses. We owe it to the next generation to let them be born into a better world than we were, that they be able to get an education at a forum of critical thinking and not an Orwellian dystopia. You, dear reader, have a voice, use it. Charlie Kirk used his voice to inspire others to use theirs. How you use your voice, is your prerogative. Whether it's writing a blog, publishing open letters, taking to social media, starting a podcast, or even setting up a table and chair, just as Charlie once did, your voice could be the first domino that could lead to a great impact. Charlie Kirk’s death was a deep low in what has been a dark hour for American youth, now make it your finest hour!

E.L.