NEW: Turning Point See’s Unprecedented Surge In Chapter Requests Following Erika Kirk’s Speech

In the days following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, the conservative youth organization has experienced a record-breaking surge in requests to form new chapters at high schools and universities across the United States.

In less than 24 hours following a captivating nationwide address from Charlie’s widow, Erika, in which she vowed to make her husband’s movement bigger and better than ever before, Turning Point USA received 18,000 new chapter requests.

“To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die,” Erika Kirk said while broadcasting from her husband’s studio. “It won’t. I refuse to let that happen. No one will ever forget my husband’s name. And I will make sure of it. It will become stronger. Bolder. Louder and greater than ever. My husband’s mission will not end. Not even for a moment.

“I’ll make Turning Point USA the biggest thing that this nation has ever seen,” she later added. “I love you, baby. Rest in the arms of our Lord.”

In addition, more than $2.8 million has been raised to support Erika and the couple’s two young children through the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.

“GiveSendGo has always been a place where people can immediately respond to crises. Within hours of Charlie’s tragic death, friends and supporters had set up a campaign. The fact that it took off so quickly shows just how deeply his life impacted people and how urgent the desire was to support his family,” GiveSendGo co-founder and co-CEO Heather Wilson told Fox News.

“What we’re seeing is that people want to respond quickly when tragedy strikes, and crowdfunding has become one of the primary ways they do that.”

Thousands of Kirk’s supporters have responded to Erika’s calls to respond to her husband’s murder through activism. “We have 18,000 new chapter requests since Erika spoke,” a Turning Point staffer told Minnesota State Rep. Elliont Engen. “We had 9,000 college chapters and 1,100 high school chapters prior to this.”

Photo: Elliott Engen via X

Erika Kirk’s powerful address has fueled speculation that she may be the heir to her husband’s activist organization, which includes more than 2,000 student groups and faith-based groups, according to its website.

“I think Erika Kirk should be Turning Point USA’s CEO,” former TPUSA staffer Anthony DeWitt posted on social media.

Judah Waxelbaum, a former campus activist at Arizona State University, told Fox News that Kirk’s murder had “awoken a sleeping giant” in the American conservative movement. “They do incredible work with mobilizing and getting voters out there and chasing the vote. And they’re going to be energized. They have to be, and it’s what Charlie would have wanted,” Waxelbaum said.

“No one who admires Charlie Kirk is walking away from electioneering or what we’re doing in the youth space. And in a lot of ways, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve woken up a sleeping giant,” he added.