Donald Trump Jr. sat down with Newsmax on Thursday to reflect on his long friendship with Charlie Kirk — calling him one of the most impressive political organizers in recent history and someone whose influence he’s watched grow from the ground up.
“I’ve known Charlie since 2015, when I met him on the campaign trail,” Trump Jr. said on “Finnerty,” referring to the first presidential campaign of his father, President Donald Trump.
“And he was a young guy, and my friends convinced me to take a meeting. And, you know, once I found out he was basically 20 years old at the time, I said, ‘Guys like, we don’t need to do this. You know, we have enough people that don’t know what’s going on in politics. You know, this is so new to us. Like, I don’t need another one.’ And in five minutes, I listened to him, and he was as effective then as he was today in getting his message out and understanding,” Don Jr. said.
Trump Jr. said that after just that first meeting, he knew Kirk had something rare. He recalls inviting Kirk to travel with him during the 2016 campaign, and that ever since, they’ve stayed in close touch — speaking daily for the last decade.
“He’s built the Turning Point movement and the young conservative movement into something nobody could’ve even imagined,” he said. “He was truly … an incredible guy.”
Kirk, co-founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, was assassinated Wednesday during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He was just 31 years old.
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