I was obviously a fan of the 31-year-old conservative political activist who captured the hearts and minds of millions of college kids and built Turning Point USA into a potent force that helped put Donald Trump back in the White House.
But my daughter Ashley, 42, was much more familiar than I was with Kirk’s political and cultural message that stressed old-fashioned family values, Christian faith and reasoned debate with his ideological enemies.
A mother, a Catholic school teacher and the wife of an LAPD officer, Ashley was hit hard by the murder of a good young man she feels was the conservative voice of her generation – the digital generation.
By Ashley Reagan
My generation and I learned a lot about politics from Charlie Kirk.
I was first drawn to the baby-faced conservative during Trump’s first election in 2016. I never saw him in person, but I followed him on social media and almost every time he visited a college campus I watched on YouTube.
You could always tell he deeply believed what he was talking about, whether it was the importance of the Second Amendment, the evil of abortion or the absurdity of biological men having babies.
His Christian faith was strong and unapologetic. So were his moral convictions. He lived with such intent, with such purpose, and it showed in everything he did.
When you watch somebody like that, it’s almost mesmerizing – which is why I think he had the impact he did on young people.
One of my favorite things he talked about was his role as a husband and father, and the importance of a husband working hard to take care of his family financially so his wife can stay home and take care of the children.
That traditional position earned him a lot of flak from liberals, but he didn’t care.
Another thing I liked about Kirk was that he wasn’t afraid to talk straight to the college kids who disagreed 180 degrees with him politically.
He debated with them eloquently in front of unfriendly crowds. He was never malicious. He never raised his voice. And he was never disrespectful.
The liberal media made him out to be some radical rightwing extremist, but he wasn’t.
When he articulated what he believed and why he believed it, you saw that everything came from facts and knowledge – and often from biblical facts.
He had a wealth of knowledge about many things. I felt like he gave you the armor you needed to go into those hard political conversations with people on the other side and be able to back up your positions with solid facts and arguments.
I’ve never had the death of somebody like Kirk affect me like this. I didn’t know Charlie. He was not a family member. He was not my friend.
Then I realized I was so devastated by his murder because he was our generation’s voice. He’s been a conservative voice for so many people that don’t have a voice or who are too scared to have one – especially nowadays.
I also realized he was a political and moral powerhouse for all of us. Though I’m a little bit older, he was our age. He was a dad. He had two little babies. For my generation his loss broke our hearts, but his influence lives on.
His movement will grow even bigger now that he’s been killed for his political beliefs. The left can’t stand hearing conservatives call Kirk a martyr.
On my dad’s X account someone said Kirk was not a martyr because he didn’t know the gravity of what he was doing.
But he knew he was risking his life. He knew people wanted to kill him. But he didn’t back off his beliefs or hide from the public.
Someone else put up a quote on X written by philosopher Soren Kierkegaard I think accurately predicts how his influence on my generation – and future younger ones – will continue: “The tyrant dies, and his rule is over. The martyr dies and his rule begins.”