Charlie Kirk 'could have been President': Trump's top aide on assassinated right-wing activist

Peter Navarro says Kirk should be remembered as a historical figure and that “he was also the greatest political organiser in the last 50 years”

Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist who was assassinated last week, “could have been President, certainly a governor”, according to US President Donald Trump's top adviser Peter Navarro.

A moment of silence being observed for Charlie Kirk at an American football game. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters)

Kirk, a far-right Republican, was also "the greatest political organiser in the last 50 years” and should be remembered as a historical figure, Navarro told CNBC in an interview on Monday.

Navarro listed the Turning Point USA youth group founder and podcaster as an organiser he rates as hight as the “top two”, David Axlerod and Ralph Reed.

David Axlerod was the Democratic chief strategist to Barack Obama during his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns; and Ralph Reed is a key figure behind religio-political Christian Coalition of the 1990s and the Students for America (SFA) conservative activist group.

Navarro argued that Charlie Kirk had an even tougher task than they had.

While the other two mobilised people who were already somewhat aligned in terms of ideology, “what Charlie did [was] a heavier lift: he not only had to mobilise the youth, but had to persuade them," Navarro said.

Charlie Kirk was fatally shot on Wednesday, September 10, when he was speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem. A 22-year-old man from Utah, Tyler Robinson, has been arrested but the motive remains unclear except that police say Robinson held a deep disdain for Kirk's far-right political views that often attracted allegations of racism.

Peter Navarro recalled having met Charlie Kirk first in 2016. He said he thought Kirk "Don Quixote”, someone idealistic but impractical. “I mean, the youth of America, they're hopelessly Left,” Navarro said.

But Kirk, according to Navarro, managed to bring them around to Trump.

Trump, who counted the 31-year-old Kirk among his closest allies, blamed the "radical left" for the killing but gave no proof. He described Kirk as a “martyr for truth and freedom”.

In a historic level of government recognition, Trump has announced to posthumously award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour given by the United States. He also ordered flags to be flown at half-staff and sent the Vice President to accompany his casket, unusual for a non-elected official.