About

A.K. (After Kirk) is a term used ironically in memes to mark the years after the death of Charlie Kirk, a right-wing political pundit and organizer, who was fatally shot in September 2025, riffing on the terms B.C. and A.D., which mark the years before and after the death of Jesus Christ. In the wake of his death, Kirk's likeness spread in face swaps in a meme trend dubbed Kirkification. A.K. (After Kirk) was coined in relation to Kirkification, as it humorously aimed to bastardize Kirk's legacy by satirically cementing it in the measure of time.

Creators on TikTok, Twitter / X and Instagram, among other sites, adopted the use of A.K. (After Kirk) in slang overload video caption memes and other text-based formats, in tandem with other buzzwords common in memes at the time like gloving and lowkenuinely.

Origin

Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk on September 10th, 2025,^[1] X^[2][3] users @JNIGHTWRIGHT and @qed57, on September 21st and 22nd, respectively, each suggested that the years following Kirk's death should be marked "A.K." The tweets were not viral and were seemingly posted in sincerity.

Months later, on December 7th, 2025, TikToker^[4] @mycatsego posted a GIFTok video caption meme using the Jonah Hill 'I Guess Bro' GIF and a POV caption that read, "POV: it's 1 A.K (After Kirk) and my parents are telling me to get a j*b but they don't understand that I'm lowkenuinely the best glover in the gloving community." Over four days, the post garnered over 49,900 likes. It's currently the first-known memetic use of A.K (After Kirk).

Spread

On December 8th, 2025, TikToker^[5] @ceemoe_ shared a Gloving video caption meme, showing a glover with text overlay, reading, "Me in approximately 30 Α.Κ. (After Kirk) when I've earned my gloving degree and am now lowkenuinely a gloving teacher at the Institute of Turks and Caicos." Over three days, the post received over 321,800 likes.

On December 9th, TikToker^[6] @lxvish00 shared a video caption meme, showing Charlie Kirk speaking to a crowd with a caption reading, "When u lowkenuinely realise next month is gonna be 2026 also known as 1 A.K. (After Kirk)." Over two days, the post received over 646,200 likes.

Also on December 9th, 2025, X^[7] user @AwesomeNintend0 posted a screenshot of the abovementioned video, gaining over 107,000 likes in two days.

On December 10th, Instagram^[9] user @wokboby shared a video caption meme as a Reel, which also joked about the Gloving Community and unemployment. In a day, the video received over 98,700 likes.

Later on that same day, X^[8] user @shitposts_mp4 reposted the abovementioned video, gaining over 8,700 likes in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References