A cleanup tour in Kirk's home city

In Phoenix, where Turning Point USA was co-founded by Kirk in 2012, the organisation has been running its "CleanUp America" tour, a cleanup effort followed by a community festival at Paradise Valley Park in northern Phoenix. The event mixed litter-picking with political outreach, and participants handed out red caps bearing the slogan "Make America Clean Again" - a nod to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

• •The festival drew young activists and influencers from across Arizona
• •Red caps with the "Make America Clean Again" slogan were distributed to attendees
• •A Tesla Cybertruck adorned with Kirk's image and the slogan "We the people stand with Charlie Kirk" was parked near the entrance

The Cybertruck shrine underscored how closely the movement still orbits the memory of its founder, who was fatally shot at a speaking event at a Utah college on September 10, 2025.

The young faces of the movement

Among those at the festival was Carson Carpenter, a 21-year-old political science graduate from Arizona State University, who welcomed participants to an online discussion afterwards. Carpenter has amassed some 19,000 followers on TikTok, where he hosts live debates modelled on Kirk's style, and describes his own stance as "Jesus First and America Only". He formerly headed the ASU chapter of the College Republicans and now leads Off The Record USA, a right-wing media brand he co-founded.

The festival also reached beyond the movement's core. Daisy Fernandez-Herrera, a 22-year-old master's student at Grand Canyon University who described herself as an independent voter, attended after being persuaded by her roommate. Ange Perez, 25, an administrative assistant and member of Turning Point USA's Young Professionals branch, came across Kirk while scrolling through reels on YouTube and began attending church after hearing him discuss Christianity.

Influencer Taylor Sharp, who has more than 168,000 Instagram followers, used the occasion to call abortion "the genocide of our children in the womb" and called for Planned Parenthood to be defunded.

Who succeeds Kirk?

The question of who carries the Charlie Kirk legacy forward divided attendees. Daniel Fisher, a 26-year-old strategy director at Turning Point USA, believes Charlie's widow, Erika Kirk, is his natural heir. Erika Kirk became president of Turning Point USA immediately after her husband's killing and made a tearful surprise appearance at the festival. She is celebrated by her supporters but accused by her detractors of making a spectacle of her grief.

Anthony Watson, a former skeleton racer who competed for Jamaica at the 2018 Winter Olympics and now works with Turning Point USA, said the festival was not a forum for debate.

Sharp sees the succession differently.

He added that he does not yet see a successor to Kirk.

Divisions before the midterms

The organisation, which claims to have more than 1,500 campus chapters, is mobilising its network in support of Republican candidates for the midterm elections. In Arizona, Turning Point USA is backing Andy Biggs, a staunchly conservative Trump ally who is running for governor against incumbent Democrat Katie Hobbs.

The strategy has its critics, with some Republicans faulting the group for backing candidates who are too radical to win over moderate voters. Growing divisions also exist within the MAGA ranks on issues such as Israel and anti-Semitism.

The youth vote itself is uncertain territory. According to a Pew Research Center study published in early October, only 49% of 2024 Trump voters aged 19 to 34 continued to approve of his actions in October 2026.

Even some of Kirk's young admirers are uneasy. Carpenter criticised Trump over unkept campaign promises, citing the wars in Iran and Ukraine and tariffs, and expects Republicans to lose the midterms.

Ahead of the midterm elections, Turning Point USA continues to mobilise its claimed network of more than 1,500 campus chapters for Republican candidates, including Andy Biggs's run against Katie Hobbs in Arizona.