Kirk (31) was on the campus of a university in Utah where he was kicking off his "American Comeback Tour" hosting his now infamous "Prove Me Wrong" panel where the audience debates him publicly.
According to US media, more than 6,000 people have signed a petition asking Utah State University to ban Kirk from their campus on September 30 for another of his events.
Kirk has become a national figure as a conservative influencer and founder of Turning Point USA, an organization that advocates for conservative politics on high school and college campuses.
In 2024, he spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he gave a speech focusing on what Kirk says he's heard from young people across the US.
Kirk has developed close ties to the president and his family during Trump's first term, and most recently appeared in the Oval Office in May, attending the swearing-in ceremony of Judge Jeannine Pirro.
"I won the young people with 37%. No Republican has ever won and I won with 37%. And Charlie Kirk will tell you, TikTok helped, but so did Charlie Kirk. He just happened to be here. Look at him. He likes that name being mentioned - don't you, Charlie? He did great and I appreciate all the help," Trump said.
At a pre-inauguration rally, Trump praised Kirk and his"army of young people."
"I want to thank Charlie. Charlie's fantastic. I mean, this guy. Don't believe this stuff when you hear kids are liberal. They're not liberal. Maybe they used to be, but they're not anymore," he said in January.
Kirk is one of the most prominent pro-Trump activists and conservative media figures in the United States.
In October 2020, Kirk began hosting a daily three-hour radio show called" The Charlie Kirk Show" on Salem Media's "The Answer" radio channel.
In 2024, NBC News reported that internal data showed that Kirk's podcast was downloaded between 500,000 and 750,000 times a day. It is currently ranked #13 on Apple's podcast chart.
Throughout his career, he has publicly promoted conservative and Trump policies, misinformation about COVID-19, critical race theory, and the scientific consensus on climate change.
