Charlie Kirk (conservative activist)

Charlie Kirk
Kirk at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2017
Born	(1993-10-14) October 14, 1993 (age 23)
Residence	Illinois
Nationality	American
Occupation	Political operative
Years active	2012-present
Organization	Turning Point USA
Notable work	Time for a Turning Point (with Brent Hamachek)
Home town	Wheeling, Illinois
Website	www.tpusa.com

Charlie Kirk (born October 14, 1993) is the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, an advocacy group for young conservatives. A frequent guest on Fox News, Fox Business, and CNBC, he led the "millennial assault" during Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Kirk was raised in Wheeling, Illinois. Although not active in politics, his parents were conservative, and his father, Robert W. Kirk, was the project architect manager for Trump Tower in New York. In 7th grade, he was a volunteer for then-representative Mark Kirk (to whom he is not related), and in high school he worked on Kirk's Senate campaign. He also founded SOS Liberty, a student awareness organization he described as an "international distress call for help" related to "Washington’s massive debts and deficits." An Eagle Scout and an athlete, he reportedly said that his dream was to attend the US Military Academy but he entered "head first" into politics when he was rejected from West Point. Kirk was accepted to Baylor University, but chose not to attend. He later enrolled in Harper College, a community college in Palatine, Illinois .

In 2012 Kirk wrote an essay for Breitbart titled "Liberal Bias Starts in High School Economics Textbooks." Then a high school senior, he gained national attention for the essay, leading to an appearance on Fox News. At a speaking engagement at Benedictine University's "Youth Empowerment Day," Kirk met Bill Montgomery, a retiree 50 years his senior, who was then a Tea Party-backed legislative candidate. Montgomery encouraged Kirk to skip Baylor and focus instead on a political career. He enrolled at a comprehensive community college, and subsequently founded Turning Point USA, a "grass-roots organization to rival liberal groups such as MoveOn.org." At the 2012 Republican National Convention, Kirk met Foster Friess, a prominent Republican donor, and persuaded him to finance the organization. Kirk continued to live with his parents until 2015.