ON a sunny Wednesday afternoon at a Utah college campus, the 31-year-old founder of the far-right Turning Point USA was addressing students. Charlie Kirk was a regular on campuses across the US, where he would try to drum up support for right-wing Christian nationalist causes, debating with students, especially those who disagreed with his far-right take on issues such as race, abortion, religion and guns.

Kirk was responding to a question by a student about gun violence when a gunshot was heard and a bullet hit him in the neck. Blood gushed out and Kirk slumped to the ground. The terrified crowd began to run; no one knew where the bullet had been fired from and how many shots would follow. Kirk was rushed to hospital where he died. Kirk leaves behind a wife and two children.

For anyone interested in the political transformations taking place in the US, understanding who Kirk was and why he was influential is important as it would, among other things, provide insight into the White House`s worldview today and how drastically different it is from the one espoused by preceding administrations.

Turning Point USA brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to mobilise right-wing students on college campuses. On the day that Kirk died, this organisation had more than 850 chapters in campuses around the country. President Donald Trump credited Kirk with delivering the young vote that led to his victory in 2024. Following Trump`s win, Kirk became a regular visitor to the White House, as he had been during the American president`s first term. In fact, Kirk had championed J.D. Vance as the person Trump should pick for vice-president.

Trump announced Kirk`s death in an Oval Office address. He also ordered US flags to be flown at half-mast and decided to award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously. After Kirk`s assassination, right-wing leaders from Steve Bannon to former FOX host Megyn Kelly to Republican Congressional leaders all took to social media to decry the killing. MAGA supporters expressed rage against left-wing liberals even though the gunman remained at large. A suspect has been detained though little is known about his possible motives.

Republicans are also angry because Kirk was a poster boy for the Christian nationalist leader they think could have donned the Trump mantle after the president exited. Commentators pointed out that Kirk, a defender of evangelical Christianity, would have one day been a candidate for president. His organisationhas been described by some as the most important tool in mobilising the next generation of MAGA and thus the most crucial far-right organisation in the US.

There is also an international angle in the chatter around Charlie Kirk`s assassination, which reveals the often paradoxical nature of MAGA and its supporters.

Within minutes of Kirk`s shooting, footage of the gruesome killing was all over X as were rumours about the assassin. While many, including Trump, immediately began to blame the `radical left`, others saw more nefarious possibilities. One of these was Israeli involvement in the killing. In a conversation with media host Megyn Kelly, Kirk said that though he defended Israel he did not like the talk about how he was against the US being completely uncritical of Israel`s actions.

Commentators have speculated that the funders of Kirk`s organisation, many of whom are Jewish, were uncomfortable with Kirk holding such a position. In addition to his chat with Kelly, Kirk alsohinted in an interview that he was suspicious of Israel`s own role in the Oct 7, 2023, asserting that he had been to Israel several times and the country was a `fortress` and it waspossible to get from Jerusalem to the Gaza border in 45 minutes by helicopter.

Given this, Kirk held, it was bizarre how the attack was allowed to go on for six hours.

There is a section of the far-right MAGA that is nationalist enough to be irate at what they see as an Israeli hold over US politics. Kirk was caught between that position and keeping his pro-Israel funders who were integral to his organisation`s success. At least initially, the nature of the shooting was interpreted as an act of a professional rather than a bumbling lone extremist.

Kirk`s death has stunned many in the US, which is rather surprising because political and gun violence is now a frequent occurrence in the country. In fact, some feel that the extreme political polarisation in America is the harbinger of a civil war. This is just speculation but it is important to remember that the American far right creates, believes and circulates rumours far more fervently than the truth.

The wnter is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy rafia.zakaria@gmail.com