Military Weighs Using Charlie Kirk’s “Legacy” to Recruit Soldiers

Officials say the Pentagon is considering a recruitment campaign that would use slain culture war activist Charlie Kirk as a symbol and call to service, NBC reports, as the president is calling for anti-fascist advocates to be considered terrorists.

The campaign, led by Undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness Anthony Tata, would “encourage young people to honor the legacy” of Kirk by “by joining the military.” One of the slogans reportedly being considered is, “Charlie has awakened a generation of warriors.”

Pentagon officials are considering using Turning Point USA chapters, which are present at colleges and high schools across the country, as recruitment centers, the report finds.

However, it’s unclear if the plan will go through, and some officials are cautious that the plan would make it appear as though the Pentagon was taking advantage of Kirk’s death. Top Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell denied the NBC report, calling it “lies” and criticizing the media.

“Leadership matters, and under the strong leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth men and women are coming out in droves to serve this great nation,” Parnell said. As NBC pointed out, recruitment is up right now, though the current upswing first began in 2024 under the Biden administration.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is monitoring the social media accounts of service members for any criticism or perceived slights against Kirk.

Department of Defense leaders have reportedly looked through dozens of social media posts of service members that have been brought to their attention by conservative lawmakers and activists. Some people have already reportedly been suspended due to their views.

“We are tracking all these very closely — and will address, immediately. Completely unacceptable,” said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on X last week. Parnell said that such posts are “a violation of the oath” and a “betrayal of the Americans they’ve sworn to protect.”

Experts have said that the administration may lack authority to suspend service members for making comments about a civilian who was not in an official government position or the military. Some within the Pentagon have said that the administration has set a tone where those with opposing views are being hunted by Trump officials.

Kirk never served in the military. He was a right-wing operative whose group, Turning Point USA, was funded by right-wing megadonors. His commentary focused largely on culture war issues.

The relation of his views and the ability to carry out military service, therefore, is not immediately clear. However, the Trump administration has been using his death to go after the left and crack down on speech, in following with Trump’s longtime obsession with purging his government of anyone who isn’t a loyalist.

The military connection is particularly concerning as the Trump administration is deploying troops into U.S. cities across the country and is increasingly using such force against Americans. On Wednesday, he said that he would be going after the anti-fascist movement, referring to the nonexistent group “antifa.” He said that he is designating antifa as a “major terrorist organization.”