Robert Draper

That date is September 10th of this year when Charlie Kirk was assassinated.

Kirk, the head of Turning Point USA, was not only a conservative activist, but a confidant of the president.

And to be clear, Natalie, there were already fissures in the movement.

There was disquiet over the president's intransigence regarding his refusal to release the Epstein files.

There was concern relating to the president's decision to bomb nuclear facilities in Iran.

And Charlie Kirk was unable to tamp down altogether those growing concerns.

What Kirk was able to do was to modulate criticisms of the president.

To say externally, I think that we should release the Epstein files.

And once it became evident to Kirk where the president stood on this, that he didn't want to hear right-wing influencers talking about the subject of Epstein anymore, Kirk was able to expertly pivot away from him pressing for the release of the files and

to saying, I'm going to trust Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, J.D.

Vance.

It's their ball.

It's their possession.

I have full faith in the administration's ability to look into this matter.

I've said my piece.

And that viewpoint became the prevailing talking point amongst figures on the right.

I'm going to trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done.

So this was the unique skill of Kirk, to enforce a kind of discipline in the overall message of the right.

People looked to Kirk in that regard.

And correspondingly then, when he was gunned down on September the 10th, that discipline almost immediately began to give way.