‘Kirkification’ explained as controversial trend goes viral

It's been over two months since controversial right-wing campaigner Charlie Kirk was fatally shot in the neck while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.

While many MAGA heads, Republicans and fellow members of the right-wing influencer sphere publicly mourned the former Turning Point USA leader - who died aged 31 and left behind his wife Erika Kirk, who is now the nonprofit organisation's new CEO, alongside their two children - it's clear that not everyone is navigating his death in the same manner.

Following his death, a new social media trend has started sweeping across the internet known as 'Kirkification', and it's got quite a few layers to wrap your head around.

Now, anyone who's been on the internet for even a minute will no doubt know all about the decade-spanning, weird, wonderful, sometimes offensive and downright bizarre history of meme culture.

Whether it's X, Instagram, Reddit or TikTok, it's as if absolutely no one is safe from becoming the next viral meme with the latest 'Kirkification' phenomenon proving just that.

A bizarre social trend known as 'Kirkification' has left people seriously baffled (Andrew Harnik / Staff / Getty Images)

In a similar fashion to what's been happening to US Vice President JD Vance for quite some time now, the likeness of Charlie - whose death has been mythologised in right-wing media for months now - is being photoshopped and deepfaked onto certain images and clips in what is effectively a copy-and-paste to turn him into some of the internet's most recognisable memes.

"Charlie Kirk Face Swaps, also known as Kirkified Memes, Kirkification or Kirkify Memes, refers to a Photoshop and AI edit trend of face-swapping deceased right-wing political pundit Charlie Kirk's likeness onto different memes and reaction images as an exploitable element," Know Your Meme explains.

Know Your Meme reports that the first instance of 'Kirficiation' happening took place just 13 days after his death, on 23rd September, on X. That post has since racked up 3.2 million views.

This instance featured a face swap of Kirk on the viral IShowSpeed Smiling Trying Not to Laugh clip.

"Kirkified Memes spread to TikTok comment sections heading into October 2025, where the term 'Kirkification' was coined," Know Your Meme continued.

David Gunkel, a professor at Northern Illinois University who studies AI ethics, has stated per Straight Arrow News that the underlying issues extend far beyond memes as AI systems can recreate someone’s face with almost no oversight, raising the risk of harm and the difficulty of holding creators accountable.

"Right now, there is no legal arrangement that tells us who’s responsible," Gunkel said.

"You can bet that at some point there will be a lawsuit where they will try to identify who the responsible party is."

He added: "I think we have to engage it and we have to see what it can and cannot do.

"And together decide what is the best way forward that values what we value and gives us results that will encourage human flourishing."