ADL dropped extremist label for Turning Point USA after Charlie Kirk's death

In late September 2025, multiple widely circulated posts (archived) claimed that the Anti-Defamation League included Turning Point USA – the organization co-founded by conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot Sept. 10, 2025 – in its "Glossary of Extremism and Hate." The claim drew outrage from conservative figures such as Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk, whose posts garnered millions of views.

Over the next couple of days, the ADL — a self-described anti-bias and anti-extremism organization particularly focused on combatting antisemitism — took steps to remove various mentions of TPUSA across the organization's site, including the entire Glossary of Extremism and Hate, until it completely removed its page on TPUSA from the site Oct. 1. The Glossary of Extremism and Hate was a collection of more than 1,000 groups, individuals, conspiracy theories, events, concepts and more that the ADL compiled and featured on its site before its removal.

When we first looked into the claim on Sept. 30, the ADL still had the Glossary of Extremism and Hate available on its site, though a search for TPUSA in the glossary yielded no results. 

According to the alleged screenshots shared online, the ADL had, at one point, included TPUSA in the glossary. On Sept. 30, the ADL posted on X (archived) that the organization was "moving to retire the Glossary effectively immediately."

We reached out to the ADL seeking information regarding the alleged, earlier designation of TPUSA as an "extremist" group. The ADL didn't answer the question directly but instead responded that it did "not consider TPUSA to be an extremist group," and directed us to learn more at a link to the organization's page on TPUSA (now deleted). 

We responded inquiring why the page on TPUSA still belonged to the category "Extremism, Hate or Terrorism" (as seen below) if the ADL did not consider TPUSA to be extremist. Shortly after, the ADL deleted the organization's entire page on TPUSA. We have not, as of this writing, received another response.

(adl.org)

Archived versions of the page reveal the ADL made significant changes in the days leading up to its deletion. For example, an archived version of the page from Sept. 29 read, "Kirk has created a vast platform for extremists and far-right conspiracy theorists." By Sept. 30, this statement was gone from the top key points of the page. Instead, the ADL added the following to the page's key points:

While TPUSA repeatedly has stated that it rejects white supremacist ideology, white nationalists openly have attended their events. Moreover, extremists and far-right conspiracy theorists have been featured at the AmericaFest conference and other TPUSA events. However, it should be noted that Kirk himself publicly condemned such groups, insisting that they did not represent TPUSA and their beliefs.

In a later section, the Sept. 30 version of the page read: "Kirk created a vast platform that was used by numerous extremists and far-right conspiracy theorists" (emphasis added to indicate the change in wording).

The edited version from Sept. 30 also featured new sections, including, "Charlie Kirk: His Murder & Its Aftermath" and "TPUSA, Charlie Kirk and Israel."

On Oct. 1, Kash Patel, head of the FBI, publicly cut ties with the ADL, stating on X (archived), "This FBI won't partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs." We reached out to both the FBI and the ADL seeking information regarding any potential role the FBI may have played in the ADL's stance on TPUSA and did not immediately receive a response. We will update this story if we do.

The ADL responded on X (archived) that it was "more committed than ever to our core purpose to protect the Jewish people."

We reached out to TPUSA for comment, and the group directed us to an X post (archived) by TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet in which he wrote that the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center were "both part of an ecosystem leveraged by radical left vigilantes to dehumanize conservatives and stoke political violence."

In sum, the ADL did not deny claims that TPUSA was, at one point, featured in the organization's Glossary of Extremism and Hate, which lists hate groups. The ADL did, however, delete its entire glossary, stating that it saw "a number of entries intentionally misrepresented and misused." The ADL updated its original TPUSA page published in 2019 on Sept. 29, 2025, making significant changes, before deleting it entirely on Oct. 1.