NBC’s Bogus Bombshell: The Military’s ‘Charlie Kirk Recruitment Campaign’ That Doesn’t Exist

This story is from NBC News. Which means, of course, there’s a pretty good chance it’s horse[expletive].

But then again, there’s a chance it’s not. For whatever reason, NBC News opted to run it despite the Defense Department’s denial:

The media is so desperate to attack this administration’s success that they are now inventing lies about our recruitment efforts. 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.
—Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell

Naturally, NBC News stuck Parnell’s denial all the way down in paragraph eight. (The seven paragraphs above it were way more important.) To run the story over the Defense Department’s direct denial, NBC News surely has a smoking gun — ironclad proof they’re telling the truth.

Which, I’m sure, they’ll be sharing very soon. Otherwise, this comes across as a vulgar, disgusting hit piece that exploits the memory of the deceased.

NBC’s (highly questionable) story begins:

Pentagon leaders are considering a new recruiting campaign that would encourage young people to honor the legacy of assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk by joining the military, according to two officials familiar with the planning.
The idea would be to frame the recruiting campaign as a national call to service, the officials said. Possible slogans that Pentagon leaders have discussed include “Charlie has awakened a generation of warriors,” according to the officials.
[…]
As part of the potential new campaign, Pentagon leaders are considering using chapters of Kirk’s political organization, Turning Point USA, at schools across the U.S. as military recruitment centers, the officials said. That could include inviting recruiters to be present at events or advertising for the military at the chapters, one of them explained. President Donald Trump has credited Kirk and Turning Point USA with helping him win the 2024 election.

My intuition: Some low-level dude in the Defense Department was spitballing ideas, and an NBC News lackey caught wind of it. But I just can’t imagine this was green-lighted by anyone important. On multiple levels, it would be an extraordinarily misguided initiative.

But that doesn’t mean the military shouldn’t partner with Turning Point USA whatsoever. The military has a huge advertising budget. The U.S. Army ALONE is gonna be spending over $1 billion this year!

And they’re required to spend it somewhere, so why not somewhere that honors and respects them?

If Turning Point USA events are full of patriotic, morally upstanding young men and women, then why shouldn’t the Army be there?

Curiously, in the entire NBC News exposé, they never said a peep about the most obvious objection: Military members cannot participate in events that could be “reasonably viewed” as partisan political activities, and Turning Point USA is strongly identified with MAGA and the Republican Party.

Specifically prohibited: “active participation in political fundraising activities, conventions, debates, and political clubs.” Additionally, “Any activity that may be reasonably viewed as directly or indirectly associating the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security (in the Case of the Coast Guard) or any component of these Departments with a partisan political activity or is otherwise contrary to the spirit and intention of this Directive shall be avoided.”

Not one mention in the entire NBC piece! Ain’t that weird?

The military does have some legal leeway to partner with politically-minded groups, and Turning Point USA is a 501c(4) and a 501c(3) non-profit, same as the N.R.A. and the N.R.A. Foundation — and the N.R.A. has partnered with the U.S. Army before. Like Turning Point, the N.R.A. is certainly more identified with the right than the left.

No, it’s not exactly the same. The N.R.A. is single-issue advocacy; Turning Point’s mission statement is more open ended: “…to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government.”

But I’ll betcha there’s enough overlap for a competent legal team to write a persuasive brief. (That’s why they get paid the big bucks.)

Question for the audience: How would you feel about the Department of Defense giving tens of millions of the taxpayers’ dollars to Turning Point USA, which the organization would then use to activate more conservative activists and voters?

Because, if they’re building a nationwide campaign around “Charlie awakening a generation of warriors,” it’s not gonna be as simple as sticking a rickety recruitment booth in the corner of a Turning Point event. We’re talking about a title sponsorship and a huge financial commitment.

I’m guessing it would be an eight- or nine-figure windfall for Turning Point. After all, the Army committed $11 million in a marketing deal with the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and the United Football League in 2024, and what NBC News is suggesting is far more ambitious than that.

Charlie Kirk never wore a military uniform, but he was unquestionably a patriot and a man of great courage. On a personal level, he’d probably be honored if a generation of young Americans recommitted themselves to protecting the homeland in his name: There’s nobility in military service. Charlie truly believed that, and I do, too: My 18-year-old son is currently at Fort Benning, completing his training in the Army Cavalry. I couldn’t be prouder of him.

He’s an amazing kid, surrounded by other amazing kids. God bless all our troops.

So theoretically, it could be a win-win partnership. If both the military and Turning Point are using their (significant) resources to boost attendance at live events, both sides would benefit: The bigger and more popular Turning Point USA gets, the more eligible candidates would be available for military recruitment.

Both sides would be incentivized to boost the other, which is the hallmark of a win-win relationship.

But it also creates a clear and obvious conflict, and the precedent set by one administration will almost certainly be exploited by the next.

Keep in mind that, unlike a real business, the U.S. Armed Forces don’t have to show an ROI. In fact, their $11 million marketing deal with the UFL and Johnson was a complete and total bust:

The high-dollar, high-profile deal likely didn't lead to a single new Army recruit and may possibly have had a negative impact on finding new enlistments, internal documents and emails reviewed by Military.com show. The service may even seek to get some of its money back. [emphasis added]

That’s the kind of precedent that a liberal White House would use to funnel obscene amounts of money into leftwing organizations. ‘Cause even if they failed to add a single new recruit, who cares? The REAL objective would be to sign “marketing deals” that goose the political budget of Democratic allies.

Then, there are the optics. There’s a fine line between honoring someone’s memory and exploiting their image on TV. When Jesse Jackson stood before the media, lying about his “bloody shirt” being stained with the blood of Martin Luther King, Jr., fair-minded Americans recoiled in horror. It was gross and offensive, because Jackson had hijacked King’s death for his own benefit.

Charlie Kirk’s memory deserves to be protected.

Much, of course, would depend on the positioning of the “Charlie has awakened a generation of warriors” ad campaign. Perhaps there’s a tasteful, honorable way to frame the story.

Perhaps I’m overthinking this.

Or perhaps not. (I don’t know how much faith I have in the government to tell his story correctly.)

But between the precedent, the unknowns, the legal questions, and the risk of blurring the “perceptual” lines between partisan politics and the U.S. Armed Services, launching a national marketing campaign around Charlie Kirk’s life and death — complete with commercials, recruitment drives, signage, and branding at Turning Point USA events — wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest.

There are better ways to honor his memory.

A recruitment table at a Turning Point USA event? Sure. And if the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines wanted to buy an ad in a Turning Point brochure, that’s fine, too. I mean, there’s no rule that the military has gotta spend all its marketing dollars on NFL games: If Turning Point USA events are a target-rich environment for recruitment — and if both sides agree — they should be allowed to work together.

But that’s not the same as an eight- or nine-figure sponsorship deal, comingling resources, live events, and a nationwide ad campaign, and I’m 100% positive the Trump administration recognizes the difference.

Which is why this NBC News story is almost certainly horse[expletive]. Shame on them.

NBC News owes Charlie Kirk’s family an apology.

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