Turning Point USA Struggles with Leadership Crisis and Infighting After Charlie Kirk’s Death
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One year after the shooting of right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA claims membership growth but is mired in leadership chaos, factionalism, and declining interest among young conservatives.
Turning Point USA, the reactionary campus organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk, boasts of adding over a million students to its network of high-school clubs and college chapters for the 2025-2026 school year. Yet beneath these inflated numbers, the group admits to facing 'a confluence of challenges' as it attempts to fill the void left by Kirk’s cult of personality among Gen-Z activists.
Students like Jacob York, a 21-year-old at Olivet Nazarene University, say Kirk’s death spurred them to start new chapters, but others, such as 23-year-old Dino Fantegrossi, a former chapter leader at the University of Arkansas, have abandoned the group to form alternative organizations, citing confusion and disillusionment about how to channel their frustration.
'One of the big problems that has happened since Charlie's death is that I think a lot of the youth have kind of felt lost,' Fantegrossi said.
Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet insists the organization is expanding, touting a record number of clubs and framing the current crisis as both a challenge and an opportunity. But the reality is that the group is plagued by infighting and a lack of direction.
The movement is also caught up in the broader dysfunction of the Republican Party. Support for Donald Trump among voters under 35 has plummeted from 92% early in his second term to just 57% by April 2026, according to Pew Research Center. Controversial issues like the 2025 Iran conflict and unwavering U.S.–Israel policy have only deepened rifts within the party.
Students such as Hazel Roberts of Grand Canyon University remember Kirk’s calls for 'civil discourse,' but worry that his absence has led to even more hostility and toxic behavior within the right-wing campus community.
Rampant misinformation about Kirk’s assassination, amplified by right-wing media, has further eroded the organization’s credibility, according to Alex BirdSong, a Turning Point chapter president at Georgia State University.
'The conspiracies revolving around Charlie Kirk's assassination really tanked the credibility of Turning Point,' he said.
Some chapter leaders, like Max Williams of the University of Richmond, report a clear decline in enthusiasm for conservative organizing, blaming both Kirk’s death and the collapse of support for the Trump administration.
Turning Point’s new leadership, including Erika Kirk (Charlie’s widow) as CEO and Vice President Vance, has shifted campus events toward keynote speakers rather than the debate formats Kirk preferred, but attendance has been lackluster.
The organization’s future is uncertain, hinging on whether it can overcome internal divisions and unite young conservatives behind new leadership, all while grappling with the broader failures of the right.