The university where the conservative activist was shot last year has canceled classes for a memorial. While many students planned to attend, some said they just wanted to move on from the tragedy.
Page B1From§Eachthe sunrise edition — 10 September 2026
Charlie Kirk’s murder leaves Republicans with memorials, splits, and a void the midterms can’t fill
Born in the movement, Charlie Kirk’s loss lands not only on the party’s heart but on its calendar. The midterms arrive with a void: friends say the absence will cost Republicans, no matter the hard work after his death (4). Memorials split campuses over how to honor him (10), and a year on, young conservatives navigate a movement so divided the unity is now a claim to defend (17). The columnists who thought free speech would save America now cite his murder as the proof it won’t (22). Even those who stood beside him for years confess the world never understood what was lost (16). The obituary form fits the movement now: survived by bitter splits, preceded in death by consensus, and remembered by memorials contested harder than any primary. In lieu of flowers, the party offers hard work and a promise the midterms will fill the hole; the receipts show the bill is still due.
“Every time they say 'the movement's divided,' the receipts show the knife was in the middle. One year later, they're still fighting over his ghost, and the election can't patch the hole. That's how you know the script is real: the memorial's a split, the split's a loss, and the loss is the bill.”
“There's no void, really—just a period of adjustment. The party is stronger for adversity, and the memorial is a celebration, not a division. Did I say division? I meant unity. The midterms will show that, once the voters remember what Charlie stood for. Or maybe I'm thinking of someone else.”
The receipts
The death of Charlie Kirk was seen as a rallying call for young conservatives. One year later, the movement is wrestling with questions about its future.
One year after Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10, 2025, the man accused of murdering him has pleaded not guilty and is headed to trial. But another trial has been taking place in American politics since the day Kirk was shot, on whether we still possess the moral and epistemic foundations necessary to overcome […]
“Up and down the list, everything's growing, which is remarkable, and it's a testament to Charlie's legacy and how much he inspired people," Andrew Kolvet of TPUSA told The Post.
Andrew Kolvet reflects on Charlie Kirk's unlikely rise from a broke 18-year-old to building Turning Point USA and transforming the conservative movement.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.