OPINION:
It was 2017, and I was at the White House at the time. We knew, as conservatives, we had a youth problem. For far too long, we had leaned on the baby-boomer generation to win elections – they were reliable, leaned Republican, and, quite frankly, dominated other generations in terms of sheer number of votes cast.
Yes, we knew Millennials outnumbered Baby-boomers. But they didn’t turn out and they had been indoctrinated through our educational system for decades to lean left. The conventional wisdom was to let them grow up, get married, have families, pay taxes, and then and only then would they become persuadable.
Enter Charlie Kirk.
As a Gen X’er, I knew we needed at least some outreach to younger generations. But as someone who acquired her first cell phone at age 23, I couldn’t connect with those who had grown up with them. More importantly, I didn’t know how to talk to them and was half convinced we didn’t need to. But I knew Charlie did. That’s why we invited him to the White House.
It was a Millennials-geared event (which I took much flack for at the time – “what’s the purpose of this event? Why do we need to do it?”) in which Charlie would interview President Trump in front of a generation of Millennial “influencers” (believe me, influencers weren’t a big thing back then). Charlie also would help curate the audience and topics at hand.
He was giddy and excited. Everyone he invited showed up. We went through the show prep a hundred times. He pledged the youth vote wasn’t unattainable, that there was a revolution going on at college campuses, and that we needed to be a part of it.
I honestly didn’t know whether he was delusional or manifesting something. From my mind’s eye he was a young kid with a large social media following, with no college background or life experience, telling me, a White House staffer, that we had been thinking the wrong way and that he knew the path forward.
I went with it, despite my reservations.
As the day progressed, I knew he was on to something. Everyone serving in the White House brought their young children – they all wanted to see and meet Charlie Kirk. He was a rock star. They all wanted their pictures with him. No offense to President Trump, but Charlie Kirk was the draw. He was “dreamy.” To the children, he wasn’t the next big thing, he was the thing.
The event went well. Mr. Trump was gracious to come over to the Old Executive Office Building (which he hated going to for events) but did it. During the interview, he fed off Charlie’s energy and matched it – it was contagious.
Charlie left the day on a high. He was going to get the youth vote, he was going to deliver it to Mr. Trump, his grassroots movement was only getting started, and he was going to prove it to us all. He graciously thanked me, thanked Mr. Trump, and then vowed to get to work.
I do remember thinking, is this guy serious? Is it bravado, or is this the real thing?
Charlie Kirk was the real thing.
He turned Turning Point USA, which he founded when he was 18-years-old with nothing, into a youth organization with more than 850 campus chapters. In June, Turning Point USA organized the largest gathering of conservative young women in the country, urging 3,000 young women to put marriage before careers.
Charlie, I’m so sorry I doubted you.
Even as your stature rose far beyond mine, you still submitted columns to the Washington Times and were never as far as a text message away. You became a trusted friend and advisor to the president, and, without a doubt, helped him secure a second victory in 2024.
Yet, your lasting impression for me is with my 13-year-old son, much too young at the time to attend your 2017 event at the White House. Without my knowledge, he had been following you on YouTube and on social media, learning how to debate his friends in middle school.
He texted me Wednesday afternoon, after the news broke: “Mom, these Democrats are crazy.”
My son then wrote: “[Charlie] had a family and kids.”
To which I replied: “It’s okay. We fight on for the Lord and the truth and what is right … You’re going big places in the world and you and your brothers will change it for the better.”
God bless you, Charlie. Your legacy will fuel generations to come.