"Charlie Kirk was one of the poster boys of the MAGA conservative movement and a very influential speaker and representative," Almann explained on "Terevisioon" Monday, describing the phenomenon behind the American activist whose assassination last week made headlines.

"His signature move was to go onto very liberal U.S. college campuses and engage in debates on highly charged, controversial issues, channeling those debates into the message of ultra-conservative America," he said.

Kirk was fatally shot last Wednesday while speaking outdoors at Utah Valley University, the first stop on a tour organized by Turning Point USA — the advocacy group he cofounded in 2012 to promote conservative politics in American high schools and universities.

"The debates he won, the debates he lost, generated millions and millions of views; his podcast drew millions and millions of listeners," Almann said. "Some believe it was his voice, tone and messages that may have been decisive in [U.S. President Donald] Trump's victories."

According to Almann, Kirk didn't express his polarizing views just to provoke people; he genuinely believed in what he was saying.

The right-wing activist's controversial positions included Ukraine and Russia. Days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kirk called the conflict nothing more than a "border dispute."

After the invasion, he criticized both Democratic and Republican leaders, saying their focus on Ukraine rather than the U.S.' own southern border was a "moral disgrace."

"He publicly apologized to Russia on behalf of the U.S. people, who, according to him, mostly want to get along well," Almann said, noting that Kirk also repeated claims that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a CIA agent, among other things.

"From Estonia's perspective, people are judged by their stance on Ukraine," Almann added. "And his arguments were full of Russian propaganda."

Cost of freedom

Kirk's rise in U.S. politics began with Turning Point, which he founded to reach young voters. He initially didn't support Donald Trump, but by 2016 had become a strong advocate, helping mobilize a demographic Democrats struggled to reach — young men.

Almann said Kirk emphasized freedom over safety, often taking personal and political risks in defense of liberty.

"And when it's a matter of freedom, then he was on the side of freedom — and if that came at the cost of some deaths, he was willing to take that risk," he continued, paraphrasing a 2023 statement by Kirk on U.S. gun deaths. "That risk, of course, ended up coming back to him."

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