Peter Navarro, senior White House counselor for trade and manufacturing, told Newsmax on Thursday that Charlie Kirk will go down as "the greatest political organizer in the last 50 years," praising his unmatched ability to convert America's youth to conservative ideas.
Appearing on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Navarro said Kirk's legacy will rank with — and surpass — some of the most influential strategists in modern American politics.
"People need to get this right for the history books," Navarro said. "This man could and would have been either a president of this country or a governor. Put that aside. He is the greatest political organizer in the last 50 years when you look at what he's done."
Kirk, 31, was assassinated on Wednesday during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He was participating in the first of a 15-stop itinerary on what was billed as the "American Comeback Tour."
Navarro compared Kirk's record to Ralph Reed, architect of the 1994 Gingrich Revolution and a key player in George W. Bush's 2000 presidential victory, and David Axelrod, the strategist behind Barack Obama's presidential campaigns.
While Reed mobilized Christian conservatives already inclined to vote Republican and Axelrod used micro-targeting to increase minority turnout, Navarro said Kirk faced a far tougher challenge.
"Charlie had to turn young people — Turning Point [USA] — who were naturally disposed to be Democrats into Republicans," Navarro explained. "So he not only organized the youth of America, he turned them through the powers of his persuasion and the sensibility of Republicanism."
Navarro credited Kirk's organizational savvy and persuasive power with building Turning Point USA into a national force on college campuses and within the broader conservative movement.
"He will go down in history," Navarro said. "No one has done it better. And he did it better than Reed and Axelrod."
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