Charlie Kirk: An Inevitable Turning Point

“Sticks and Stones may Break your bones, but words will never hurt you.” That mantra of my youth seems as quaint as buggy whips and fax machines in 2025. Yet, it is that very principle that Charlie Kirk’s death now poses.

For those of us who were pilloried in recent years for our work on behalf of President Trump, including death threats, indictments and financial ruin, the news that the Left had taken out Charlie Kirk was, sadly, not a surprise. The Democrat leadership had called for the death of U.S. Supreme Court members–“you’ll reap the whirlwind….”(Senator Schumer)2020 FLASHBACK: Schumer Tells Kavanaugh “You Have Released The Whirlwind And You Will Pay The Price” | Video | RealClearPolitics, and it nearly happened to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh.California man pleads guilty to attempt to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh – POLITICO The Democrat President, woken from his afternoon nap, held a rally, flanked by military, calling for the destruction and banishment of anyone who would support Donald Trump. Biden shocks viewers with ‘hellish red background’ for polarizing speech | Fox News. Leader after leader in the Democrat party sought to characterize those who protested on January 6, 2021, as ‘insurrectionist’, which, of course, means they were enemy combatants who should be destroyed. Just this week the public learned that the entire Federal policing system had been commandeered by the Left to spy on and destroy every significant Republican group, including Turning Point USA.FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation targeted dozens of Republican entities | Fox News

To those who did not understand Rush Limbaugh’s oft repeated admonition that the other side viewed its opposition not as wrong, but as evil and so they would do whatever was ‘necessary’ in their eyes, failed to recognize what can no longer be denied. There are deep divisions in this country–far deeper than mere political labels.

As events unfolded this past week in Utah, commentators kept saying this is a pivotal moment. But is it pivotal? Will these events be forgotten? Surely the legacy media will bury the story within days of Charlie Kirk’s internment. All those inside the establishment, without regard to their political labels, had long ago dismissed Turning Point USA, and similar dissenting voices, as meaningless. Of course, it is true that Trump and Vance both breathed new life into Turning Point in 2024, but was that really meaningful in any long-term way? I wonder. Establishment Republican Parties in State after State fought with and rejected Turning Point efforts in recent years–an unfortunate fact now swept under the carpet by fawning Republican leaders. Many Republicans are skeptical of Turning Point’s ability to get out the vote | AP News

The Tea Party movement was, like Turning Point, an organic national effort. But over a relatively brief period of time, it disappeared. The day the tea party died | CNN Politics . Will Turning Point suffer the same fate?  I ask this not as a cynic, I pray each day that this is a point when we will pivot to something lasting, real and meaningful, but when there is such unanimity among commentators, I’ve learned not to trust the outcome.

The establishment literally arrested more than a thousand unarmed trespassers who shared all of Charlie Kirk’s views and destroyed their lives, and the lives of many others, and there was no reaction. Republicans, like so many others, were afraid and they disappeared when it was time to defend those individuals. Perhaps this assassination will be a catalyst (i.e. things change slowly and then all at once), but history teaches a different lesson. Such events can change everything, but there is no certainty.

Oddly, while we see enormous positives in this, the Pax of Trump, the rest of the world is in turmoil. Ukraine, Gaza, Brazil jails its prior President, the French government collapses, Russia/India/China plan, Burma is on fire, England is unrecognizable etc.  In such context will the death of a young leader be meaningful over the long-haul? Will it really mean a rebirth of the First Amendment? Will there really be a civil debate again? Will the political powers of yesterday yield to a young cohort of committed Gen Z’s?

Even as we ponder the outcome, let’s hope for the best. Let’s say a prayer for a young family now without a father. Let’s do our best to make Charlie Kirk’s death a catalyst to begin a brightly burning fire, and not merely the death of a bright ember.

Judge Jim Troupis

Retired Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge. President Trump’s attorney in 2020. Speaker, columnist, talk radio guest, father, grandfather and fisherman. Lawfare Triage | Where Deception Dies