Donald Trump Jr. made a last-minute appeal to Republican voters on Election Day, invoking the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk to urge supporters to get to the polls.
In a post on X Tuesday, the president’s eldest son shared an image of Kirk holding a microphone, overlaid with the words, “Vote Like the Other Side Will Kill You for Talking.”
Trump Jr. added his own caption: “Vote like your lives, and the lives of your children depend, on it. BECAUSE THEY DO!!!”
Conservative podcaster Benny Johnson struck a similar tone earlier in the day.
“I watched them kill Charlie Kirk and celebrate it. I watched them kill Trump supporters and celebrate it,” Johnson wrote on social media. “If they can shoot Charlie and Trump — what will they do to you and your family?”
The posts drew backlash online, with critics accusing both men of exploiting Kirk’s murder for political gain.
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed on Sept. 10, 2025, while speaking at a Turning Point USA “Prove Me Wrong” event at Utah Valley University in Orem. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called the killing “a political assassination.”
Tyler Robinson is currently on trial in Utah for Kirk’s murder. According to charging documents, when Robinson’s parents asked him why he committed the killing, he said “there is too much evil and the guy spreads too much hate.”
Kirk was one of the most influential figures in the conservative movement and a driving force behind President Trump’s gains with young voters. He co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012, and the group’s political arm was widely credited with boosting youth turnout for Republicans in 2024. Kirk also built out key parts of the Trump campaign’s ground game in battleground states including Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
His death hit close to home for the Trump family. Kirk was a close friend of Trump Jr., and the two traveled to Greenland together in January 2025. Trump Jr. spoke at Kirk’s memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, alongside the president and Vice President JD Vance.
Speaking to Fox News’ Martha MacCallum days after the assassination, Trump Jr. argued the killing showed the left had lost the debate and blamed rhetoric he said had been fomented by Democrats and the media.
“The hate has been fomented by those in the Democratic Party, and you can probably play hundreds of hours of those clips,” he said at the time.
The Election Day post capped a busy final stretch on the campaign trail for Trump Jr. On Monday, he appeared alongside Vance at a campaign event in Swanton, Ohio.
Republicans are fighting to hold their majorities in both the House and Senate in a midterm cycle in which voter frustration over rising costs has loomed large.
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