Turning Point USA

Turning Point USA (TPUSA), often known as just Turning Point, is an American right-wing organization that says it advocates conservative narratives on high school, college, and university campuses.[2][3][4] The organization was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and William Montgomery.[3][5] TPUSA's sister organizations include Turning Point Action, Turning Point Endowment, Students for Trump, and the Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty at Liberty University. The group also works closely with PragerU.[6]

Turning Point USA
AbbreviationTPUSA
FormationJune 5, 2012 (2012-06-05)
TypeNonprofit organization
80-0835023
PurposeAdvocacy of conservatism on education campuses
HeadquartersPhoenix, Arizona[1]
Region served
  • United States
  • United Kingdom (TPUK)
LeaderCharlie Kirk
Revenue (2017)
US$8,200,000
Website
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The organization is known for its "Professor Watchlist", a site that "exposes" professors that TPUSA claims "discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom".[3] Academic faculty listed have reported receiving threats and harassment, including death threats, after being added, with some professors being added for any mention of race or politics, including in academic publications.[7][8] The Anti-Defamation League has reported that the group's leadership and activists "have made multiple racist or bigoted comments" and have links to extremism, including white supremacy.[3] According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, TPUSA has attempted to influence student government elections in an effort to "combat liberalism on college and university campuses."[9] The group often supports the Trump campaign, and has been subject to several controversies around their beliefs, their means of advocacy, and the organization itself.

Turning Point is funded by a cohort of conservative and right-wing donors and foundations, including Republican politicians. Between July 2016 and June 2017, the organization raised in excess of US$8.2 million. The same year, leaked records found that the group had funnelled "thousands of dollars" into student governments to elect conservatives. Donors include Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, Richard Uihlein, and the Donors Trust on behalf of private donors.

History
Trump speaks at the 2019 Student Action Summit

In May 2012, Bill Montgomery attended a panel discussion at Benedictine University's "Youth Empowerment Day," and was impressed with a speech by 18-year old Charlie Kirk.[10] He described Kirk's speech as “practically Reaganesque”,[11] and encouraged him to postpone college and engage full-time in political activism. In June 2012, the day after Kirk graduated from high school, he founded Turning Point USA, a section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.[12] Montgomery became Kirk's mentor, and worked behind the scenes handling the paperwork for the organization.[11] Montgomery often described himself as the group's co-founder, although it was not an official recognition by the group or Kirk.[13]

At the 2012 Republican National Convention, Kirk met Foster Friess, a Republican donor, and persuaded him to finance the organization.[11][14] Friess also serves on the organization's advisory council, alongside Ginni Thomas, wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.[15] Barry Russell, president and CEO of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), is a key advisor.[16]

In 2017, the loosely connected group Turning Point Canada registered a chapter in Canada.[17] In 2019, Turning Point UK was set up in the United Kingdom.[18]

Leadership and associates

Charlie Kirk
Main article: Charlie Kirk (activist)
Kirk speaking at Culture War Tour, October 22, 2019

Charlie Kirk, an evangelical Christian[19] and Republican activist,[20] was born in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois, and raised in nearby Prospect Heights, Illinois. He is founder and president of the organization and the related Turning Point Action.

External video
Charlie Kirk ~ The Conservative Forum ~ 9-8-2015 on YouTube (Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley) (at 2:10–3:20)

In a 2015 speech at the Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley, Kirk stated that he had applied to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, and was not accepted.[21] He said that "the slot he considered his went to 'a far less-qualified candidate of a different gender and a different persuasion'" whose test scores he claimed he knew.[22][23] In 2017 he told The New Yorker that he was being sarcastic when he said it,[22] and at a New Hampshire Turning Point event featuring Senator Rand Paul in October 2019 he claimed that he never said it.[23]

Kirk addressed the 2016 Republican National Convention. In an interview with Wired magazine during the convention, Kirk said that while he "was not the world's biggest Donald Trump fan," he would vote for him, and that Trump's candidacy made Turning Point's mission more difficult.[24] He spent the rest of the 2016 presidential campaign assisting with travel and media arrangements and running errands for Donald Trump Jr.[25]

Several former employees and student volunteers for Turning Point claimed they had witnessed collusion between high-ranking Turning Point employees – including Kirk himself and top advisor Ginni Thomas – and the presidential campaigns of both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. The interactions included Kirk coordinating via email with two officials at a pro-Cruz super PAC to send student volunteers to work for the PAC in South Carolina, as well as two students being requested by Thomas herself, via voicemail, to distribute over 200 Cruz placards in Wisconsin.[22] A former employee for Turning Point, who had been based in Florida, alleged that Turning Point had given the personal information of over 700 student supporters to an employee with Rubio's presidential campaign.[22]

In October 2016, Kirk participated in a Fox News event along with Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Lara Trump that had a pro-Donald Trump tone. A Turning Point staff member wrote on Facebook that students who attended the event would have their expenses covered. The event led tax experts to say the organization's conduct may have violated its tax-exempt status, a charge disputed by Turning Point.[26]

William T. Montgomery

Montgomery (1940–2020), was a marketing entrepreneur and onetime participant in the Tea Party movement.[27] He invested in Kirk after he heard him speak to students at a small college, and helped him set-up Turning Point USA in 2012. He served as the organization's secretary and treasurer until April 2020.[13][27] According to two of Montgomery's friends, Montgomery died in July 2020 from complications related to COVID-19.[13]

Tyler Bowyer

Bowyer became the organizations's chief operating officer (COO) in 2017. He graduated from Arizona State University in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree. He was chairman of the Republican Party of Maricopa County, AZ, for two years before joining TPU as regional manager in 2015.[28][29][30] Bowyer also oversees Students for Trump.[31] He is a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints and part of an effort in August 2020 to launch a "Latter-day Saints for Trump" coalition.[32]

Others

In February 2019, Turning Point hired Benny Johnson as their chief creative officer.[33][34] Johnson was fired by BuzzFeed for plagiarism in 2014[33][34] and suspended by the Independent Journal Review in 2017 for publishing a conspiracy theory about Barack Obama.[35]

In May 2019, communications director Candace Owens resigned after controversial remarks she made in December 2018 were publicized and some Turning Point campus chapters called for her resignation.[36] She had said in a speech at a conservative event in London that "if Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, okay fine. The problem is ... he had dreams outside of Germany. He wanted to globalize." She later stated that "leftist journalists" had mischaracterized her statement.[37]

According to Politico, Turning Point and Falkirk Center "ambassador" Christianné Allen is a surrogate for Trump lawyer Rudy Guliani.[38]

Finances

Turning Point USA receives funding from a cohort of conservative and right-wing donors and foundations, including several Republican politicians.[39] According to the Center for Media and Democracy, donors include:

Turning Point USA also contributes money to its affiliated operational organizations, including Turning Point Endowment.[43]

In the 2016–17 financial year, Turning Point reported US$8.2 million in donations to the IRS, an increase from $4.3 million the previous year. The same year, expenses for the group doubled, reaching $8.3 million, most of which were employment related costs ($4.3 million).[44] In 2017, leaked records found that the group had funnelled "thousands of dollars" into student governments to elect conservative candidates.[45]

In September 2020, Turning Point USA came under fire for employing a number of teenagers, including some minors, to post disinformation about climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the integrity of postal voting leading up to the 2020 presidential election.[46]

Activities

In late 2017, the organization claimed to have representation on 1,000 campuses. Journalist Joseph Guinto could not verify the number in 2018, finding that Turning Point had 400 officially registered chapters, many of whom showed no activity on their Facebook pages.[47][12] Each of Turning Point's paid workers is supposed to meet a quota to make at least 1,500 student contacts per semester.[48] Student volunteers have several different themes for promoting conservative ideas, including "The Healthcare Games", "Game of Loans", and "iCapitalism".[49] According to The Washington Post, TPUSA centers "group membership on making provocative claims and publicly inciting outrage".[50]

Turning Point USA supports the NRA and the use of fossil fuels,[51] and opposes groups such as Black Lives Matter.[52] Turning Point USA and Turning Point UK promote the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory and said they are working to "combat it" in universities. Kirk described universities as "islands of totalitarianism".[53][54]

Annual summits

Turning Point holds several annual national conferences, including the Teen Student Action Summit,[55] the Young Women's Leadership Summit (YWLS),[56] the Black Leadership Summit,[57] and the Young Latino Leadership Summit.[58] Turning Point provides lodging and some meals for the attendees who can also apply for travel stipends.[58] The National Rifle Association (NRA) was the headline sponsor of the YWLS in 2017 and 2018.[56] According to The New York Times, YWLS "styles itself as an alternative to a liberal culture of feminism that many Republicans characterize as oppressive" and had by 2018 "evolved into an ultra-Trumpian event complete with 'lock her up' chants and vulgar T-shirts disparaging Hillary Clinton."[56] Candace Owens, who days prior to the 2018 conference stirred controversy by saying "the entire premise of #metoo is that women are stupid, weak, and inconsequential", was greeted with a standing ovation at the conference.[56]

Involvement in 2016 presidential election

Several former employees and student volunteers for Turning Point claimed they had witnessed collusion between high-ranking Turning Point employees – including Kirk himself and top advisor Ginni Thomas – and the presidential campaigns of both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. The interactions included Kirk coordinating via email with two officials at a pro-Cruz super PAC to send student volunteers to work for the PAC in South Carolina, as well as two students being requested by Thomas herself, via voicemail, to distribute over 200 Cruz placards in Wisconsin.[22] A former employee for Turning Point, who had been based in Florida, alleged that Turning Point had given the personal information of over 700 student supporters to an employee with Rubio's presidential campaign.[22]

A Turning Point staff member wrote on Facebook that students who attended the event would have their expenses covered. The event led tax experts to say the organization's conduct may have violated its tax-exempt status, a charge disputed by Turning Point.[26]

Involvement in 2020 presidential election

In September 2020, Turning Point USA's affiliate Turning Point Action was reported by The Washington Post to have paid young people in Arizona, some of them minors, to produce thousands of posts with Turning Point content on their own social media accounts and on fake accounts without disclosing their relationship with Turning Point.[46][29] According to an examination by the newspaper and an independent data science specialist, the campaign was highly coordinated and included similar messaging under the instruction of Turning Point to prevent detection.[46]

In September 2020, Facebook removed 200 accounts and 55 pages as well as 76 Instagram accounts linked to Turning Point USA’s marketing agency Rally Forge. The agency had paid teenagers in Phoenix, Arizona, on Turning Point's behalf to use their own and fake accounts and pages for thousands of posts boosting Trump and disparaging Democratic candidate Joe Biden during the 2020 United States presidential election. In October 2020, Facebook banned Rally Forge permanently while Twitter suspended 262 accounts from its platform.[29][59][60] Neither organization penalized Turning Point USA or its affiliates, stating that they "could not determine the extent to which the group’s leaders were aware of the specific violations carried out on their behalf, such as the use of fake accounts."[29]

Turning Point hosted Trump reelection rallies, some of them featuring Trump surrogates and some of them Trump himself.[56][61][62]

After the election, Kirk disputed the results and denied that Trump had lost.[63] On Jan 4, 2021, Kirk announced that Turning Point would be sending more than 80 buses to a January 6, 2021, Trump rally near the White House in Washington, D.C, to protest the outcome of the election.[64][65][66] They actually sent seven buses with approximately 350 participants.[65] The rally, which was attended by several thousand Trump supporters, ended in a riot and the storming of the US Capitol where Biden's win was about to be certified.[67] Kirk later deleted the tweet[64] and said on his podcast that it was "bad judgment" and "not wise" to enter the Capitol but not necessarily insurrectionist.[68]

Professor Watchlist
Main article: Professor Watchlist

First appearing on November 21, 2016, Turning Point USA also operates a website called Professor Watchlist.[69] Kirk has said the site is "dedicated to documenting and exposing college professors who discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values, and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom."[70] As of December 2016, more than 250 professors have been added to the site.[71] Reporting from Politico has described that the list contains many inaccuracies, and includes professors listed for things they did not exactly say or do and others listed for being rude to students or for making "clever remarks" about Trump.[72] Talking to New York Times, "Mr. Lamb", a director of constitutional enforcement and transparency at TPUSA admitted that the list was “simply aggregating” academics who had been subject to news reports, and that anyone could report a staff member without evidence.[73]

The website has been criticized for using surveillance type propaganda to manipulate ideas of truth, equality, and freedom.[73][74][75] Critics have compared Professor Watchlist to the actions of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, who tried to publicly identify American citizens as Communists and Communist sympathizers in the 1950s.[76][77] The New York Times wrote that it was "a threat to academic freedom,"[73] while Salon commented that it was "a sign of the stupidity of the post truth era."[78]

In May 2017, Northern Arizona University criminology professor Luis Fernandez said Turning Point surveillance of him had led to multiple threats.[79] In The Harvard Crimson, Harvard University Professor Danielle Allen also said she had been threatened after being targeted by Charlie Kirk and Turning Point.[80]

Hans-Joerg Tiede, a staff member of the American Association of University Professors said of a professor who was named for writing a book chapter on teaching mathematics to minority ethnic children: "She was inundated with death threats. She was Jewish and received antisemitic threats and threats of sexual assault. Instances like that are happening with some regularity".[81] The American Association of University Professors has also called for university administrators, governing bodies, faculty and individuals to "speak out clearly and forcefully to defend academic freedom and to condemn targeted harassment and intimidation of faculty members", with the New York Times describing the site as a threat to academic freedoms.[73]

Involvement in student government elections

Turning Point USA has been involved in influencing student government elections at a number of colleges and universities.[26][72] Universities that have been targeted by this effort have included Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the University of Maryland. These claims led to conservative candidates at the University of Maryland withdrawing from student elections after failing to report assistance from Turning Point.[82][83]

A private brochure, handed out only to Turning Point donors, highlighted the organization's alleged strategy to take over student governments at universities across the country, and included a list of every Turning Point-supported student who was elected to student government positions in the year 2017.[22] Turning Point said that it had helped more than 50 conservatives win elections to become student-body presidents.[72] When Politico looked into Turning Point's claims, it found the "success rate to be considerably overstated. Some of the students that Turning Point USA claimed to have backed flatly condemned the organization and said they'd never spoken to anyone who works for it."[72]

Denial of recognition on campus

At Drake University, Turning Point was denied recognition as an official student organization based on student senate concerns that the organization has "a hateful record," "aggressive marketing" and "an unethical privacy concern."[84]

At Hagerstown Community College, a student's attempt to start a Turning Point group was initially blocked when the school said the organization duplicated an existing group. The student's lawsuit led to the school revising its policy on student organizations, clarifying that school funded groups will be denied if they duplicate existing groups while unfunded groups face no such restriction.[85]

In February 2017, Santa Clara University's student government voted to deny recognition for Turning Point as a campus organization.[86] As of March 2017, this decision was overturned by the Vice Provost for Student Life, and Turning Point has been recognized as a registered student organization.[87]

Wartburg College's student senate voted to deny Turning Point USA recognition in late November. The chapter was forced to make changes to its constitution after initially being denied approval.[88][89]

The Executive Board of the student union of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute also voted on January 18, 2018 to deny the Turning Point USA chapter status as an officially recognized student organization.[90]

Controversies

In 2016, Turning Point at Grand Valley State University filed a lawsuit against the trustees of the school. The complainants asked the court to prohibit enforcement of GVSU's Speech Zone policy and declare it a violation of the students' 1st and 14th Amendment freedoms. They have since reached a settlement.[91]

In December 2016, Turning Point falsely quoted Nancy Pelosi in a Facebook post as saying: "Employers cutting hours is a good thing. It then gives that person time to pursue their dreams and passions."[92]

In May 2017, DePaul University refused to allow Turning Point to post "Gay Lives Matter" posters on campus. Matt Lamb, a spokesperson for Turning Point, said that the action by DePaul was an infringement of free speech rights.[93]

In September 2017, a University of Nebraska lecturer was reassigned after she received threats stemming from a video posted online that showed her confronting a student recruiting for TPUSA.[94]

In October 2017, several Turning Point student members at Kent State University conducted a protest against campus "safe space" culture, which involved members dressing up in diapers as babies.[95][96] Following widespread ridicule on social media, the president of the chapter, Kaitlin Bennett, resigned,[97] and the student-run publication KentWired.com reported that the Turning Point chapter at Kent State had disbanded.[98]

In February 2018, the University of South Florida chapter of TPUSA was dissolved when it was discovered that their president, Aida Vazquez-Soto, was working with a pro-Palestinian group. Vazquez-Soto said 'Something is clearly wrong with an organization that felt that somehow by silencing me they could deal with the problem at hand.'[99]

In June 2018, conservative radio talk show host Joe Walsh resigned from the TPUSA board because Charlie Kirk was too closely tied to Donald Trump. Walsh said that "It’s so important to not be beholden to politicians, but to be beholden to the issues ... When Charlie went to work for Trump, that crossed that line. You can’t advance Trump and advance these issues."[100]

In October 2018, the Miami New Times reported that TPUSA members at Florida International University shared jokes "about watching underage cartoon pornography and deporting Latina women, and, in the most repugnant case, share racist 'Pepe the Frog' memes showing Syrian men raping a white Swedish woman at gunpoint."[101]

In November 2018, Fox News correspondent Rick Leventhal cut off Turning Point USA's Anna Paulina after she compared former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the disease herpes.[102]

During October and November 2019, Turning Point USA launched the 'Culture War' college tour of speaking events with appearances from many conservatives such as Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle. These events were frequently targeted by homophobic and antisemitic members of the alt- and far-right who consider TPUSA to be too mainstream and not sufficiently conservative. Concerted efforts were made by this group to ask leading questions during the Q&A sections on controversial topics such as Israel and LGBTQ issues in order to challenge the extent of the speakers' views. These members are called Groypers.[103]

Instances of racism

In December 2017, The New Yorker published an article by Jane Mayer showcasing interviews with former minority members of the organization. Former staff members said they witnessed widespread discrimination against minorities in the group, and stated "the organization was a difficult workplace and rife with tension, some of it racial."[22][104] One former employee, an African-American woman, said she was the only person of color working for the organization at the time she was hired in 2014; she then said that she was fired on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The article also revealed text messages sent by Crystal Clanton – who was a leading figure in the organization and served as the group's national field director for five years – to another Turning Point employee saying "i hate black people. Like fuck them all . . . I hate blacks. End of story." Kirk responded to the revelations by saying that "Turning Point assessed the situation and took decisive action within 72 hours of being made aware of the issue."[22] The article also noted that Kirk had explicitly praised Clanton in his book Time for a Turning Point, saying that she had been "the best hire we ever could have made," and that "Turning Point needs more Crystals; so does America."[22]

In an article titled "Turning Point USA Keeps Accidentally Hiring Racists," HuffPost reported that the woman hired to replace Crystal Clanton had a history of using racial slurs, particularly against African-Americans, on Twitter before deleting her account. In response to the reports, Kirk referred to the individual in question as "a former employee" in his official statement (without clarifying when she had been fired), and Turning Point issued an internal memo announcing that all current and new staff would face social media background checks.[105]

Charlie Kirk has said Turning Point USA has no relationship with alt-right groups.[106] In 2017, Turning Point chapters organized campus visits by former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos to the University of Colorado Boulder and Miami University (Ohio).[107][108][109]

In 2018, the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch documented TPUSA's links to white supremacists.[110][111]

On May 9, 2019, Riley Grisar was removed from his position as the president of TPUSA's UNLV chapter after a video surfaced of him with a friend using the okay hand signal in tandem with the chants of "white power" and "fuck the niggers".[112] Grisar's friend, who did most of the speaking in the video, is publicly identified as Lily Saxton, a student at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.[113] Saxton has no other known affiliations with TPUSA. The UNLV wing of Turning Point had previous press coverage from circumstances involving an April 2019 display of theirs on UNLV campus, which included a cardboard mock-up of a brick wall reading "Build the Wall". The display received significant protest from fellow students, which included vandalism and violence.[114]

In May 2019, it was reported that TPUSA's director for high school outreach, Kyle Kashuv, had previously used racially inflammatory language.[115][116] Screenshots of a Google Document for a class study guide showed Kashuv writing "NIGGER" multiple times, discussing "JEWISH SLAVES", and declaring that he would "fucking make a CSOG [sic] map of Douglas and practice" (in a supposed reference to the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive shooter game and Stoneman Douglas High School). Text messages reportedly showed Kashuv rating a female student "7/10" and stating that she "goes for niggerjocks".[117][118][119][120] Kashuv resigned from TPUSA hours after his former classmates threatened to make the screenshots public. Almost a week after the screenshots were published, Kashuv acknowledged that his comments were "callous and inflammatory".[115][116]

In July 2019, Kathy Zhu, a Chinese American conservative woman politically active on the University of Michigan campus, was stripped of her title as Miss Michigan USA due to comments about African-Americans and Muslims on social media that Miss World America found "offensive, insensitive and inappropriate."[121] Her posts included comments such as "the majority of black deaths are caused by other blacks", as well as criticizing a "Try a hijab booth" at the University of Central Florida, where she previously attended.[122] She defended her comments and opinions afterward, stating that her stances were derived from factual evidence such as FBI crime statistics, and that her statements were decontextualized.[123] Zhu had previously attended Turning Point USA events,[124] but since referred to Turning Point USA as "trash". Zhu criticized them for severing ties with brand ambassador Ashley St. Clair after she attended a dinner with alt-right figures; Zhu was also present at this event.[125]

Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center

TPUSA has been called an alt-lite organization by the Anti-Defamation League[126] (ADL) and has been criticized by both the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center for affiliating with activists from the alt-right and the far-right.[127]

Conflicts with other conservative organizations

In May 2018, an internal memo written by Young America's Foundation (YAF) was leaked, in which YAF leadership "warned" its members to not associate with Turning Point. The memo accused the organization of various improprieties such as exaggerating the number of Turning Point chapters and activities around the country, taking credit for other organizations' events, increasing attendance at its own events by "boosting numbers with racists & Nazi sympathizers," and sponsoring "humiliating" campus activism events, in reference to the Kent State diaper incident.[128] In addition, the YAF memo included another memo on the subject circulated internally by Young Americans for Liberty, which accused Turning Point of illegally obtaining YAL's email list and soliciting its students without their permission, which Turning Point only stopped doing after being issued a cease-and-desist order.[129]

After the memo was leaked in June 2018, a representative for Turning Point criticized Young America's Foundation in a statement to The Chronicle of Higher Education, accusing the group of "abandoning the 'Reagan Rule'" that "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." Although Charlie Kirk did not directly respond to the memo, he posted on Twitter that he wished "some conservatives fought the left as hard as they fight people who support President Trump". Turning Point's Communications Director Candace Owens directly responded to the memo, saying she was "truly speechless" over the memo supposedly attacking Kirk for his lack of college experience. A former employee stated on Twitter that "TPUSA activists do some incredible work. It's a shame the face for their work has become constant, EXTREME inflation of numbers to mislead donors. They have an opportunity to turn this around, and they should."[130]

In the Hillsdale College Collegian, opinions editor Kaylee McGhee wrote an article titled "Charlie Kirk and TPUSA aren't conservative, as real conservatives already knew". In the article, McGhee referred to TPUSA as a "reactionary cancer" rather than a group supporting real conservatism that is "supposed to preserve the timeless principles of liberty and equality for all".[131]

In late October 2018, The Daily Beast reported that Lucian Wintrich and other conservatives blamed Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens for losing Kanye West as an ally of President Trump.[132] Since then, West has re-affirmed his support for President Trump.[133]

During October and November 2019, Kirk launched the 'Culture War' college tour of speaking events with appearances from many conservatives such as Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle. These events were frequently targeted by homophobic and antisemitic members of the alt-right and far right who consider TPUSA to be too mainstream and not sufficiently conservative. Concerted efforts were made by this group to ask leading questions during the Q&A sections on controversial topics such as Israel and LGBTQ issues in order to challenge the extent of the speakers' views.[134]

In November 2019, the Dartmouth Review called TPUSA an organization that promoted Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump first, rather than conservative values. The article added "True conservatives must eventually outgrow TPUSA and devote their efforts elsewhere. We must challenge ourselves by pursuing an environment of rigorous inquiry, instead of being coddled by the intellectually devoid echo chamber of TPUSA, compromising our values for recognition." [135]

Internal dissension

After TPUSA's annual "Student Action Summit" in late December 2018, dissidents within the organization, headed by conservative activist Kevin Martin, formed "Heal Our Voice", a group critical of Kirk's leadership of Turning Point USA. One member of the group told The Daily Beast that "Charlie Kirk can be a little bit of a snowflake — or a lot a bit of a snowflake." Other complaints concerned sexual harassment and assault at TPUSA events.[136]

Alleged tax code violations

In 2017, Jane Mayer of the New Yorker described two separate actions by Turning Point staff in the 2016 election that appear to have violated campaign finance regulations.[22] Charlie Kirk "denied any wrongdoing and said it was “completely ludicrous and ridiculous that there’s some sort of secret plan."[22] TPUSA attorney, Sally Wagenmaker, refuted allegations of campaign finance irregularities in an article published by ProPublica in July 2020, stating that "payments to businesses belonging to organization officials 'provided a compelling operational benefit in Turning Point’s best and other interests,' and that they were 'in full compliance with TPUSA’s IRS-compliant conflict of interest policy.'[137]

Turning Point Action
Main article: Turning Point Action

Turning Point Action is a 501(c)(4) organization representing right-wing and conservative perspectives. While the group claims to be a "completely separate organization" from Turning Point USA, Forbes noted that both were founded by Kirk and use common marketing and branding styles.[138] Donors to Turning Point Action received a bumper sticker prominently featuring the URL of Turning Point USA’s website; the bumper sticker was also available for purchase from Turning Point USA’s web store.[139]

In September 2020, Turning Point Action was reported by The Washington Post to have paid teenagers in Arizona, some of them minors, to produce thousands of posts with Turning Point USA content on their own social media accounts without disclosing their relationship with the organization.[46] According to an examination by the newspaper and an independent data science specialist, the campaign was highly coordinated and included similar messaging under the instruction of Turning Point to prevent detection. Some of the messages were false and some were partisan.[46] One message posted on Twitter "claimed coronavirus numbers were intentionally inflated" and that "it’s hard to know what to believe." Another tweet warned to not trust Anthony Fauci.[46] The Washington Post reported that Twitter responded to their questions by suspending at least 20 accounts for their involvement in "platform manipulation and spam."[140]

On Facebook, a comment cast doubts on mail-in ballots because of the potential of mail fraud.[46] An Instagram comment claimed that 28 million ballots went missing in the past four elections, implying voter fraud.[46] In actuality, the missing ballots were neither returned as undeliverable nor returned by voters.[141] Also targeted in the messaging was Joe Biden, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate at the time, along with other Democratic politicians, and news organizations on social media. One message claimed that Biden "is being controlled by behind the scenes individuals who want to take America down the dangerous path towards socialism."[46] Facebook removed a number of accounts during their ongoing investigation.[46] Austin Smith, a field director for Turning Point told The Washington Post: "This is sincere political activism conducted by real people who passionately hold the beliefs they describe online, not an anonymous troll farm in Russia." Jake Hoffman, CEO of a Phoenix-based digital marketing firm that joined Turning Point for this project explained that "dozens of young people have been excited to share their beliefs on social media." He also added that participants are "using their own personal profiles and sharing their content that reflects their values and beliefs."[140][46]

Turning Point UK

Turning Point UK (TPUK) is a British offshoot of Turning Point USA,[142][143][144] set up to challenge left-wing political ideology which the organization perceives to be dominant in UK schools, colleges and universities.[145][146][147][148]

Turning Point UK's chairman was George Farmer[143][144] (fiancé of Candace Owens)[149] until April 2019, and its CEO is Oliver (Ollie) Anisfeld (the son of Lance Forman, Brexit Party MEP for London since 2019).[150][151][152] The group employs several staff.[146]

The organization claims it has chapters at the universities of Sussex, Oxford, St Andrews, York, Warwick, Nottingham, King's College London, University College London, the London School of Economics and the University of the Arts London.[146] Like Turning Point USA, it does not disclose the identities of its donors.[146]

The group was launched in December 2018[146] by Kirk and Owens[149][153] at the Royal Automobile Club in London.[146] Among those attending the event were Andy Wigmore, Paul Joseph Watson, and James Delingpole.[146][144] On the day of its social media launch in February 2019, MPs including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel tweeted supportive messages for the organization, as did Nigel Farage[149][143][144] while it was marked for criticism by others.[144][149] and the launch of its Twitter account was accompanied by multiple parody accounts, along with a parody of the organization's website created by a ‘left-leaning student’ calling himself ‘Skeptical Seventh’.[153][154][155] There was also a protest from the charity Turning Point over potential confusion caused by similarities between the two names.[156]

Labour MP David Lammy has described Turning Point UK as evidence that “sinister forces are taking hold of our country” and that the Conservative Party “openly promotes hard-right, xenophobic bile”.[157]

Dominique Samuels, one of the group's "Young Influencers", told the BBC during a radio interview that the UK branch would not set up the same controversial Professor Watchlist for which its US counterpart is known.[158] The group hosts the TPUK Education Watch website, where students can submit examples of political bias in the education system. The site has been described by the University and College Union as having "the acrid whiff of McCarthyism about it" after it called for videos and photos of lecturers to be sent into it for publication. Turning Point rejected the accusation and said that any academic they featured would be given the right to reply and that unlike the US group the default would not be to name people although they reserved the right to do so.[159][160]

Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty

The Falkirk Center is a right-wing think tank housed at Liberty University and co-founded by Kirk and Jerry Falwell, Jr.[161] Fellows include Antonio Okafor, director of outreach for Gun Owners of America and Jenna Ellis, a senior legal counselor for President Donald Trump.[162][161]

References
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