Turning Point USA expands following Charlie Kirk assassination as youth support for Trump declines

Memorial services and campus divisions

Turning Point USA marked the one-year anniversary of the assassination of co-founder Charlie Kirk on 10 September 2026 with a memorial service at Utah Valley University in Orem. The university cancelled classes for the day, allowing the organization to rent the UCCU Center for an event that included prayers and the unveiling of a statue depicting Kirk seated in a chair. Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox issued a proclamation declaring 10 September as Charlie Kirk Day. Outside the venue, members of the student group Students for a Democratic Society protested the decision to hold the memorial at the site of the shooting. Kirk was fatally shot in the neck on 10 September 2025 while speaking on campus, an attack for which Tyler Robinson faces murder charges.

“Today we honor the memory of Charlie by choosing a way of doing politics worthy of our country, one in which we stand firmly for what we believe in and reject violence.”

Organizational growth alongside internal splintering

Following Kirk's death, his widow Erika Kirk assumed leadership of Turning Point USA as chief executive officer. The organization reported expanding to more than 3,500 high school chapters, a 180% increase, and more than 1,500 college chapters, up over 60%. Despite that institutional expansion, the broader conservative movement faced public disputes between prominent commentators who previously shared platforms. At the organization's national conference three months after the killing, Ben Shapiro criticized Tucker Carlson for hosting white supremacist figures, while Carlson accused Shapiro of abandoning Kirk's debate ethos. Other conservative figures, including Candace Owens, circulated unproven conspiracy theories attributing the assassination to foreign governments.

High school chapters3,500

College chapters1,500

High school chapters

3500 chapters

College chapters

1500 chapters

Data from the article text

Shifting support among younger voters

The anniversary coincided with measurable shifts in political alignment among young conservative demographics. Approval of Donald Trump among men aged 18 to 29 fell from 43% in February 2025 to 32% in August 2026, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. In the 2024 presidential election, Trump had secured 46% of the young male vote, up seven percentage points from 2020 according to Pew Research Center data. Economic pressures remain a primary issue for this demographic, with a Harvard Youth Poll from March and April finding that 50% of adults aged 18 to 29 said inflation affected them heavily and 45% reported struggling financially. Military engagements have further complicated voter sentiment, as Moody's Analytics estimated the conflict involving Iran added an average of $750 to annual household expenses.

February 202543%

August 202632%

February 2025

43 %

August 2026

32 %

Data from the article text

Political conventions and legal proceedings

Republicans also gathered in Dallas for a midterm convention that incorporated tributes to Kirk, though several of his allies boycotted the gathering. West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Josh Holstein noted that unexpected leadership changes cause structural adjustments, but pointed to new local chapters as evidence of enduring momentum. In the legal case arising from the assassination, a Utah state judge ruled that prosecutors may seek the death penalty against Robinson. The defendant, who was 22 years old at the time of the shooting, allegedly fired a World War II rifle from a rooftop overlooking the campus courtyard. Robinson awaits further proceedings in Utah state court.

“Obviously there's going to be a reorganization if you have the unexpected death of somebody with that significant of a voice in the movement.”