A new military recruiting campaign could center around slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, NBC News reported.
The Pentagon's campaign would be aimed at encouraging young people to join the military to honor Kirk's legacy. A potential slogan included "Charlie has awakened a generation of warriors," officials told NBC.
Other ideas include having military recruiters at Turning Point USA events and advertising at the influential group's events.
Some Pentagon officials have pushed back on the idea, worried it would be seen as capitalizing on Kirk's death, NBC News said. Kirk did not serve in the military. He was fatally shot while speaking at a college campus in Utah last week.
Sean Parnell, a spokesman for the Pentagon, dismissed the NBC News report in a statement.
"The media is so desperate to attack this administration's success that they are now inventing lies about our recruitment efforts," Parnell said. "Leadership matters, and under the strong leadership of President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth men and women are coming out in droves to serve this great nation."
The Pentagon has been working for months to boost recruitment, establishing a task force in June aimed at developing a forward-looking recruiting strategy to maintain momentum on recent increases in recruiting numbers, NBC News reported.
"While we have great recruiting numbers now, it might not always be the case," Parnell said at a press briefing in July. "And so one of the things that we're trying to achieve with this recruiting task force is answering the tough question about how do we set the conditions here culturally in this country to have more kids want to serve the country and see it as a viable career path."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.