Charlie Kirk Should Have Been TIME’s Person Of The Year

Faced with choosing the most obvious, consequential, and energizing figure in American political life, or a group of tech elites advancing AI technology, TIME Magazine opted for the latter, snubbing the late, great Charlie Kirk for their Person of the Year.

Honoring Charlie would have required the editors to acknowledge what the rest of the country already knows, which is that one man, Charlie Kirk, reshaped the political landscape amongst the next generation of Americans. Charlie didn’t merely influence politics, he changed its trajectory so much that President Donald Trump has frequently credited Charlie with helping deliver the critical youth vote in the 2024 election.

At a time when the old guard of the Republican establishment had all but locked genuine conservatives out of the space, when young men were being ignored because of the nation’s obsession with radical feminism, Charlie did what no one else would — or could– do. He built a national youth movement that engaged and activated college students across the nation. He helped bring young men who the left assumed was theirs forever over to the conservative side.

But apparently that wasn’t impressive enough for TIME. Instead, they chose a group of tech elites rather than focus on the real story of the year: Charlie’s impact and the shockwaves of his murder.

On September 10, Charlie was assassinated on Utah Valley University’s campus in front of hundreds of students. A single bullet took the life of one of the greatest political figures in American history. His murder shook the entire country. Millions of Americans — most who had never even met Charlie — mourned. They mourned a man who gave them a voice and who made them believe they had a stake in the country again. Americans who hadn’t been to church in years — possibly ever — went to a service. New applications for Turning Point chapters across colleges came flooding in. Charlie is dead, but his legacy and movement is not.

And yet TIME still couldn’t bring itself to honor the true person of the year. A person who actually changed America for the better (even in his death).

And perhaps that choice should not be surprising, given that TIME is a left-wing propaganda outlet. The reason TIME didn’t choose Charlie Kirk as its person of the year is because they desperately want to erase and ignore the influence Charlie had and still has. Because the movement he built continues to grow and directly threatens the left-wing woke apparatus that dominates mainstream media. Charlie’s movement threatens TIME’s preferred political candidates. In selecting Charlie Kirk as the Person of the Year, TIME would be acknowledging the titan that Charlie and his movement is, even though it’s to no benefit of TIME’s preferred political position. It would have pained them, but it would have slightly restored their credibility by proving they can objectively acknowledge the truth.

Charlie never needed a glossy magazine cover or a title. His legacy speaks for itself. His impact lives on through his wife Erika, his children, his movement, and the thousands of hours of footage he left behind for us to watch in years to come about faith, politics, and family.

But man, the failing TIME Magazine sure could have used a credibility boost.