Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old activist who was shot at an appearance at a Utah college Wednesday, personifies the pugnacious, populist conservatism that has taken over the Republican Party in the age of President Donald Trump.

Kirk has long focused on energizing young conservatives with speaking events like the one at Utah Valley University where the shooting occurred. He launched his organization, Turning Point USA, in 2012, targeting younger people and venturing onto liberal-leaning college campuses where many GOP activists were nervous to tread.

A backer of Trump during the president’s initial 2016 run, Kirk took Turning Point from one of a constellation of well-funded conservative groups to the center of the right-of-center universe.

Turning Point’s political wing helped run get-out

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