Founder Of Phoenix-Based Turning Point USA Kicks Off Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention opened Monday for four days of speakers including well-known national names, but the event was kicked off by Charlie Kirk, founder of Phoenix-based Turning Point USA, a group for young conservatives focused on organizing students on college and university campuses.
The 26-year-old Kirk has more than 1.8 million followers on Twitter and is a self-proclaimed leading social media advocate of President Donald Trump. He is the author of "The MAGA Doctrine," which was published in March 2020, and was the youngest speaker at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
According to its website, Turning Point USA has representation on more than 2,000 high school and college campuses nationwide. The website touts that it is the "largest and fastest-growing conservative youth activist organization in the country.”
"We may not have realized it at the time, but Trump is the bodyguard of western civilization. Trump was elected to protect our families from the vengeful mob that seeks to destroy our way of life, our neighborhoods, schools, churches and values. President Trump was elected to defend the American way of life".
Turning Point USA operates a website called Professor Watchlist. 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."
In May 2017, Northern Arizona University criminology professor Luis Fernandez said Turning Point surveillance of him had led to multiple threats.
