FILE PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Cheney Orr/ File Photo
(Reuters) - U.S. right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk was credited with building President Donald Trump's base among younger voters, galvanizing conservative youth and rising to international prominence through a group he founded at age 18.
Kirk, an Illinois native who founded the conservative student group Turning Point USA and went on to become a rising star in the Republican Party under Trump, had just returned to the United States from an overseas speaking tour when he was shot to death on Wednesday. He was 31 years old.
