Politics

What If This Is a Turning Point?

Charlie Kirk’s closest allies will help determine whether the next few weeks bring confrontation, de-escalation, or something in between.

First published in The Atlantic on September 13, 2025

by Elaine Godfrey and Russell Berman, The Atlantic

September 18, 2025 | reading time: 5 Min.

When Tyler Bowyer logged on to Benny Johnson’s X livestream on Thursday morning, pieces of tissue were stuck to the stubble on his unshaven face. Bowyer, the chief operating officer of Turning Point Action, had clearly been crying. Just a few hours before, he’d seen a video of his close friend and colleague Charlie Kirk being fatally shot in the neck.