How a college dropout from the suburbs became Maga star Charlie Kirk

One of the first people JD Vance called before deciding to jump into politics was Charlie Kirk.

"[Kirk] introduced me to some of the people who would run my [Senate] campaign and also to Donald Trump Jr," the vice-president wrote in a powerful tribute he penned hours after Kirk's death.

"Don took a call from me because Charlie asked him."

Three years after that winning Senate run, when the elder Donald Trump was pondering his choice of presidential running mate, Kirk argued the case for Vance "in public and private", Vance wrote.

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By then, Kirk was already a fixture in Trump's orbit, courting donors and discussing strategies at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and hosting Turning Point USA summits hosted by local Republicans.

He never ran for office or held an official government position, but Kirk rose from being an unknown activist from the suburbs of Chicago to standard bearer of Donald Trump's Maga movement.