In the wake of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting, online users shared a rumor claiming he once stopped his car on a dark highway to help change a transgender man’s tire. According to the story, the man had attended one of the conservative activist’s rallies in Phoenix earlier on the same day, where the man harshly criticized Kirk. The story ends with the transgender man allegedly writing a letter of thanks to Kirk or his organization, as well as the narrator delivering a message about practicing “true strength” and “quiet acts of mercy.”
Snopes readers emailed us and attached the aforementioned text from the story, which they copied from social media posts. One person asked, “Is this Facebook post true?” Another reader requested, “Please fact check this.”
However, searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo located no news outlets — including conservative, political outlets — reporting details about Kirk once helping to change a transgender man’s tire. Aside from studying the veracity of the claim, Snopes’ reading of the story’s text led us to also investigate the possibility that a user generated the text with an artificial-intelligence (AI) tool. (The Yahoo search displayed an “AI Summary” answer confirming the rumor as true, including claiming a video existed showing Kirk changing the tire. The Yahoo tool did not cite any sources, nor did we locate any such video.)
As of this writing, we found no evidence to confirm this story. We emailed Turning Point USA to ask questions and request evidence. We will update this article if we receive further details.
Kirk died at the age of 31 on Sept. 10 after being shot in the neck during an outdoor event for his “The American Comeback Tour” on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Prosecutors have since charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with multiple crimes, including aggravated murder.
Digging into the rumor
As one example of social media users sharing the claim, on Sept. 22, Facebook user Cliff Sims posted the tale of the alleged encounter between Kirk and the transgender man — a person the story did not identify by name. Other users also posted the same story on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Truth Social (archived) and X (archived).
(Cliff Sims/Facebook)
The story did not provide a date, time or exact location, or mention what the pair discussed at the event:
After a rally in Phoenix, a transgender man had stood at the mic, harshly criticizing Charlie Kirk. The exchange was sharp, the air tense, and the critic walked away feeling victorious.
Hours later, fate intervened. On a dark highway, their car broke down, a shredded tire, steam rising from the hood, and no help in sight.
Then headlights slowed. Out stepped Charlie Kirk and his companions. He didn’t mention the rally, didn’t recall the insults. He simply asked what was wrong, rolled up his sleeves, and helped. Together they replaced the tire, cooled the engine, and made sure the driver could get home safe.
No smug remark. No lecture. Just kindness on a quiet road.
Weeks later, a message arrived: “I was the one who insulted you at the rally. I never imagined you’d stop and help me. You didn’t just fix my car, you shattered my assumptions. You showed me what character really is.”
True strength isn’t proven in arguments or applause. It’s revealed when no one is watching, when compassion outweighs ego. Helping those who once opposed you isn’t weakness, it’s courage. And in a divided world, those quiet acts of mercy echo the loudest. #charliekirk
Under Sims’ post, a commenter asked for his source for the story. Sims answered:
I picked this up from a friend who wishes to remain anonymous who works for TPUSA, but there is a source which may originate with an Instagram link called bizminworks that supposedly goes back 6 months ago. That’s all I have. I met Charlie 4 years ago at the National Religious Broadcaster Convention which was held in Grapevine, Texas. This story sounds exactly like the man I met. He was gracious, unassuming, and genuine.
A search of Instagram user @bizminworks only located a Sept. 14 post (archived) displaying the story. We did not find any similar posts from “6 months ago,” as the user alleged, nor did we locate any information about the story occurring six months earlier.
We reached out to Sims via Messenger to ask questions, and also messaged the Instagram user to ask if the user could provide additional details. We did not yet find a share of the story earlier than @bizminworks’ Instagram post.
Possibility of AI-generated text
Several of the sometimes-unreliable websites claiming to specialize in detecting AI-generated text reported a user created some, if not all, of the story with the help of an AI tool. For example, the ZeroGPT.com website determined a majority of the text aligned with AI-generated content. Copyleaks.com, GPTZero.me, NoteGPT.io, QuillBot.com and Scribber.com also claimed to detect at least some AI-written text.
The final paragraph of the story, telling of “quiet acts of mercy [echoing] the loudest,” resembled the same sort of inspiring, forward-thinking wording that AI tools tend to generate for the end of AI-generated tales.
The story also aligned with some parts of the definition of glurge, which Dictionary.com defines as stories “that are supposed to be true and uplifting, but which are often fabricated and sentimental.”
Kirk’s history of opposing transgender rights
The alleged story of Kirk helping the transgender man change a tire touched on the activist’s past rhetoric about transgender rights. Following his shooting death, Reuters reported Kirk had sought to rally anti-LGBTQ sentiment:
Kirk opposed transgender rights and his organization sponsored rallies against transgender medical care. In April 2024, he likened doctors who perform gender-affirming care to Nazis committing atrocities.
“One issue I think that is so against our senses, so against the natural law and dare I say a throbbing middle finger to God, is the transgender thing happening in America right now,” he said during a speech posted in 2023 by Right Wing Watch.
In the same speech, he cited a Bible verse saying that a woman who puts on men’s clothes or a man who puts on a woman’s garment is an “abomination.”
During his show in April 2022, he argued that gay couples “are not happy just having marriage. Instead, they now want to corrupt your children.”
A check of the facts found Kirk genuinely made the remarks Reuters mentioned, as evidenced by videos provided by Media Matters for America and Right Wing Watch. The Bible verse Kirk referenced originated from Deuteronomy 22:5.
Reuters’ mention of the conservative activist likening doctors who perform gender-affirming care to Nazis committing atrocities referenced a genuine Kirk quote reading, “We need to have a Nuremberg-style trial for every gender-affirming clinic doctor.” The Media Matters for America website hosted the corresponding video and transcript.
We previously reported on several false rumors about good samaritans helping to change flat tires, including people assisting U.S. President Donald Trump, Maye Musk — the mother of tech billionaire Elon Musk — and others.
Sources:
“AI Detector.” Copyleaks.com, https://copyleaks.com/ai-content-detector.
“AI Detector.” NoteGPT.io, https://notegpt.io/ai-detector.
“AI Detector.” QuillBot.com, https://quillbot.com/ai-content-detector.
“AI Detector.” Scribbr.com, https://www.scribbr.com/ai-detector/.
“AI Detector.” ZeroGPT.com, https://www.zerogpt.com/.
Bedayn, Jesse, et al. “Suspect Left Note Saying He Planned to Kill Charlie Kirk, Later Confessed in Texts, Prosecutor Says.” The Associated Press, 16 Sep. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/charlie-kirk-tyler-robinson-court-death-penalty-f541df08a936e06497ee2342296bc398.
“Deuteronomy 22:5.” Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Deuteronomy%2022%3A5.
“Glurge.” Dictionary.com, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/glurge.
“GPTZero Dashboard.” GPTZero.me, https://app.gptzero.me/.
Huberman, Bond, and David Emery. “Snopestionary: What Does ‘Glurge’ Mean?” Snopes, 21 Aug. 2021, https://www.snopes.com//articles/363643/what-does-glurge-mean/.
Loe, Megan. “Charlie Kirk Is Dead after Shooting at Utah College Event.” Snopes, 10 Sep. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//news/2025/09/10/charlie-kirk-shooting-death/.
Media Matters Staff. “Charlie Kirk: ‘We Need to Have a Nuremberg-Style Trial for Every Gender-Affirming Clinic Doctor.'” Media Matters for America, 1 Apr. 2024, https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-we-need-have-nuremberg-style-trial-every-gender-affirming-clinic-doctor.
———. “On YouTube, Charlie Kirk Warns That Gay People ‘Want to Corrupt Your Children.'” Media Matters for America, 8 Apr. 2022, https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/youtube-charlie-kirk-warns-gay-people-want-corrupt-your-children.
“Read the Charges Against Tyler Robinson.” The New York Times, 16 Sep. 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/09/16/us/tyler-robinson-charges.html. U.S.
@RightWingWatch. “Charlie Kirk Declares That “the Transgender Thing Happening…” X, 11 Sep. 2023, https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1701259614077989121.
