Charlie Kirk left an impact on the conservative movement that continues to be felt across the country.
This Thursday will mark one year since he was taken from us, and it is still difficult to believe he is gone. Charlie was only 31 years old. There was every reason to believe he had decades ahead of him to continue the work he had started, which makes it all the more remarkable to look back at the impact he made while he was with us.
Charlie reached young Americans at a time when many of them felt like there was no place for their views on college campuses or in the broader culture. He showed them they did not have to be afraid to say what they believed. Through Turning Point USA, he gave many of those young people a way to get involved and become part of something larger than themselves.
That work did not disappear when Charlie died. Over the past year, we have watched the movement he started continue without him. Young conservatives are still getting involved and refusing to be intimidated into silence. I think that says a great deal about what Charlie built and the people he inspired along the way.
As we remember his life, we also cannot separate it from the terrible way it ended. Charlie believed deeply in making his case and debating people who disagreed with him. His murder was the complete opposite of that. Political disagreement is inevitable in a free country. Political violence can never be allowed to become an acceptable response to it.
Charlie should still be here. He should still be doing the work he loved and watching the movement he started continue to grow.
One year later, he is deeply missed, but he has certainly not been forgotten.
May Charlie continue to rest in peace.
