Trump invokes Charlie Kirk at RNC convention

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Today's Top Stories - September 10, 2026

Today's Top Stories - September 10, 2026

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It’s Thursday, and the 49ers play the Rams tonight. May the best Californians win.

TPUSA without Charlie Kirk

TPUSA without Charlie Kirk

Trump’s $5K promise to Americans 

Strait of Hormuz hostilities 

Programming note: We’re Abigail Walker and Claire Leibowitz filling in for Cate today. Please send us your tips, comments and story ideas to awalker@thehill.com and cleibowitz@thehill.com. 

Who can lead TPUSA and the young conservative movement?: 

AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

Thursday marks one year since conservative activist and leader of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University (UVU).

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) declared Sept. 10 Charlie Kirk Day in Utah and said moments of tragedy should not deepen divisions, but rather foster empathy.

Kirk was a well-known debater who went toe-to-toe with college students, liberals and occasionally public figures in a “Prove Me Wrong” format that allowed anyone to walk up to his table and discuss topics including immigration, race and social issues.

TPUSA is one of the most dominant youth-oriented conservative groups in the country, with chapters spread across U.S. universities. It also received extra chops after President Trump and Vice President Vance credited Kirk and the organization for electoral victories.

Although his wife, Erika Kirk, took over the nonprofit after his death, TPUSA is still left with a void that is difficult to fill, The Hill’s Caroline Vakil reports.

Could the next Charlie Kirk be like Forrest Gump?: Blake Neff, another conservative activist who worked with Kirk, has taken over the radio program the “Charlie Kirk Show.”

He describes himself as being like Forrest Gump, Politico reports, because he was a little-known figure who was pushed, with luck and pluckiness, toward the center of many important moments for conservatives.

He shares Kirk’s values and aims to host healthy debate about conservative tenets without censoring or cancelling his opponents to silence them.

Trump and TPUSA: Trump called Kirk “a great friend” at Wednesday night’s Republican National Committee midterm convention in Dallas.

The president tied together his........

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