USA
ADL deletes ‘glossary of extremism’ amid backlash over Charlie Kirk entry
The organisation insisted that the inclusion of Kirk’s Turning Point USA did not mean it was considered to be an extremist group
October 1, 2025 11:16
The organisation insisted that the inclusion of Kirk’s Turning Point USA did not mean it was considered to be an extremist group
October 1, 2025 11:16The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has deleted its “glossary of extremism” from its website after it faced backlash from the US right over entries regarding the late Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, a prominent conservative activist, was shot dead during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on September 10.
An entry in the glossary regarding Turning Point USA (TPUSA), Kirk’s organisation, read: “Since the group’s founding, Kirk has moved further to the right and has promoted numerous conspiracy theories about election fraud and COVID-19 and has demonised the transgender community.
"Kirk also promotes Christian nationalism: the idea that Christians should dominate the government and other areas of life in the US.
“TPUSA continues to attract racists to the group. Numerous TPUSA representatives have made bigoted remarks about minority groups and the LGBTQ+ community.
"White nationalists have attended TPUSA events, even though the group says it rejects white supremacist ideology.”
However, since Kirk’s death, the entry, which appeared in a section on “extremism, hate or terrorism”, has come under scrutiny from high-profile right-wing figures, including Donald Trump Jr and X own Elon Musk.
"The ADL needs to change this now”, wrote Musk, while Trump Jr called TPUSA’s inclusion in the glossary “disgraceful”.
The ADL has since confirmed that it has removed the entire glossary from its website. The page on Kirk and TPUSA remains on the site, but has been heavily edited.
It now describes TPUSA as “a political student organisation that appeals to a wide range of conservatives, from moderate Republicans to the far-right” and details Kirk’s vocal support for Israel, while still referencing that he “has promoted some conspiracy theories”.
The organisation also clarified that it did not consider TPUSA as a hate or extremist group, though still points out its ties to some extremist figures.
An ADL spokesperson said: “With over 1,000 entries written over many years, the ADL Glossary of Extremism has served as a source of high-level information on a wide range of topics for years.
“At the same time, an increasing number of entries in the glossary were outdated. We also saw a number of entries intentionally misrepresented and misused
"At the ADL, we are always looking for how we can and should do things better. That’s why we are moving to retire the glossary effectively immediately. This will allow the ADL to explore new strategies.
"To be clear, inclusion in our glossary did not mean that the purpose of the group was to promote extremism or hate, and Turning Point USA is not an extremist group.
"We recognise that TPUSA repeatedly stated that it rejects white supremacist ideology; however, as we noted in our materials, white nationalists openly attended their events and some people affiliated with the organisation had a history of bigoted statements about minority groups.
"So we felt it important to have it covered both in the glossary and as a fuller backgrounder with more in-depth research on the group.”
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