Charlie Kirk: young hero of US conservatives | International

LOS ANGELES, United States, Sept 11, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot at a US university on Wednesday, was the eloquent spokesman for a younger generation of Donald Trump's hard-right Republican movement. The 31-year-old boasted millions of followers on social media who delighted at his whip-smart edits and provocative takedowns of hecklers and ideological challengers. Kirk's conservative ideology was closely aligned with Trump: he backed the US president's false claims of fraud when he lost the 2020 presidential election and used his heavyweight influence to lash out at migrants and transgender people. In speaking gigs at American universities, he invited students to debate with him in quick-fire exchanges that often went viral online -- especially those with...