The students who debated with Charlie Kirk: ‘His goal was to verbally defeat us’

Young liberals challenged Kirk's conservative views on the viral YouTube series Surrounded - an unnerving' spectacle, according to a rhetoric expert

In the days after his killing, Charlie Kirk was remembered by his allies as a great debater. A quote taken from a widely shared video of Kirk discussing his life's work - when people stop talking, that's when violence happens" - emblematized such eulogies.

Kirk toured American college campuses with his rightwing non-profit Turning Point USA, where he would set up a tent, table and microphone, and debate with undergrads. The goal, he said, was to save western civilization", and remembrances after his death positioned him as a budding statesman - a conservative hero who strode across the political divide for the sake of open dialogue.