Geoff Bennett:
As Liz mentioned, one figure whose influence is still deeply felt at the Republican gathering is Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA. His killing one year ago reshaped the young conservative movement he built and left his friends and political allies with the task of carrying it forward.
Today, Vice President J.D. Vance appeared on Kirk’s former podcast to reflect on the future of the movement.
J.D. Vance, Vice President of the United States: This was a guy who just had so much life to live, who had so many people who loved him, and so many people who relied upon him, who depended upon him.
All of us, I think, have this hole that we’re all trying to fill or all trying to at least find some way of making sure that we carry on in Charlie’s absence.
Geoff Bennett:
For more on the future of Turning Point USA, we’re joined now by Robert Draper, a “New York Times Magazine” reporter who profiled Kirk before his death. He continues to cover the young conservative movement and the fight over its future.
Thank you for being here.
Robert Draper, “New York Times Magazine”: My pleasure.
Geoff Bennett:
When you look at the conservative youth movement that Charlie Kirk built, what has changed the most in his absence and who, if anyone, is stepping in to fill that leadership vacuum?
Robert Draper:
Sure.
I mean, I on a certain level, Turning Point USA is still the predominant youth organization, conservative or otherwise. I mean, it in fact added numerous chapters after Kirk was assassinated. A lot of young conservative kids on campus really felt inspired by Kirk and wanted to properly pay tribute to him by starting chapters of their own.
And they continue to raise a lot of money to host events. But certain things certainly have changed. I mean, no one, including his widow, Erika Kirk, can sort of really fill the shoes that Charlie Kirk walked in.
I mean, he was a generational talent. I mean, that’s — it becomes trite to say that, but in his case it’s really true, not just because of his fluency as a conservative messenger, but also his deftness in being able to hold a very fragile coalition together and to help get out the vote, to raise money.
And he was a very trusted adviser to President Donald Trump. So it’s — so replacing all that with just one person is a pretty impossible task.
Geoff Bennett:
And, as you say, Turning Point USA has exploded in size. What exactly has it grown into?
Robert Draper:
Yes. I mean, it’s still — it’s — well, they’re doing a couple of things.
So, first, they’re growing more and more college campus chapters, but something Erika Kirk had told me she wanted to focus on, and which they’re doing, is adding more and more high school chapters. So they’re trying to get kids at an earlier age and sort of acculturate them to conservative values. And that largely explains the proliferation of the chapters.
Geoff Bennett:
And you have reported on how openly racist and antisemitic elements of the far right have gained traction among some young conservatives…
Robert Draper:
Yes.
Geoff Bennett:
… especially young men who are drawn to figures like Nick Fuentes. How much have those views seeped into Turning Point and how is Turning Point, if at all, addressing it?
Robert Draper:
They haven’t seeped into Turning Point. I think that is a battle that they have been fighting, not internally, but rather sort of waging a kind of conservative civil war over the hearts and minds of disaffected young males.
And there are some people who are Groyper-curious — that’s the name of Fuentes’ movement — who show up to Turning Point USA events. But, by and large, they have been very clear, Turning Point has, that — and Charlie Kirk used to talk to me about this — that we utterly reject Fuentes’ virulent racist form of white nationalism, and so, kids who are interested in that, look elsewhere.
Geoff Bennett:
There’s another tension here. Turning Point is growing, while some young voters who backed President Trump are growing disillusioned over affordability, the war in Iran, the Epstein files.
Are you seeing that frustration manifest in the campus movement?
Robert Draper:
Yes. Yes, I mean, now you’re really putting a finger on, I think, the true war that’s being waged here. It’s not so much against one conservative flank versus another, another organization.
It’s instead that President Trump’s policies have become very unpopular among young Americans. He has really — the youth coalition that contributed to the larger MAGA coalition has really fallen off. I mean, just as Trump has lost a lot of Latino and Black voters who voted for him, that’s even more so the case with young voters.
And so it’s very, very hard. And I think the Iran war in particular has made it difficult for conservative groups like Turning Point to come to young people and say this is your kind of place after President Trump had talked so much about no more forever wars.
Geoff Bennett:
Are we seeing or is it too early to say that we’re seeing competing movements with very different ideas about what conservatism should be?
Robert Draper:
It’s a bit early.
We certainly are seeing that sort of above in the ecosystem, in the influencer ecosystem, whether it’s Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene, both former Trump loyalists who have fallen out of favor with him, or other individuals, that has not yet seeped into the sort of young conservative movement.
But there’s no question that the conservative movement writ large is fracturing. I mean, it’s — and Charlie Kirk was someone who I would argue actually died trying to hold it together. It was already starting to fall apart while he was there. It still may be enough, by the way, to help them in the midterms and in 2028.
But that movement has really begun to be in tatters, and we will eventually see that in the youth groups as well.
Geoff Bennett:
Robert Draper, thank you for joining us this evening. Good to speak with you.
Robert Draper:
My pleasure.
