After a rejection from West Point, Charlie Kirk was 18 when he launched a grassroots organization from an Illinois garage that would grow alongside the rise of President Donald Trump and fuel the "Make America Great Again" movement.

Kirk said he had "no money, no connections and no idea what I was doing" when he started Turning Point USA in 2012. Yet, his rhetorical gifts for countering progressive ideas, inflaming cultural tensions and making provocative declarations instantly resonated with college audiences.

Clips of his early campus appearances spread online, helping him secure a steady stream of donations that transformed Turning Point into one of the country's largest political organizations, attracting young people to star-studded gatherings and making it a presence at high school

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