Turning Point USA

Turn­ing Point USA (TPUSA), co-found­ed in 2012 by Char­lie Kirk and Bill Mont­gomery, is a con­ser­v­a­tive youth non-prof­it ded­i­cat­ed to pro­mot­ing free mar­kets, lim­it­ed gov­ern­ment, and anti-“woke” ide­ol­o­gy across Amer­i­can high schools and col­lege cam­pus­es. Fund­ed by major right-wing donors—including GOP-aligned mega-contributors—the orga­ni­za­tion has built a net­work of thou­sands of chap­ters and devel­oped tools like the “Pro­fes­sor Watch­list” to chal­lenge cam­pus fac­ul­ty. TPUSA has faced crit­i­cism for spread­ing misinformation—such as vac­cine and elec­tion-relat­ed falsehoods—engaging in par­ti­san polit­i­cal activ­i­ty despite its 501(c)(3) sta­tus, and link­ing up with far-right and Chris­t­ian nation­al­ist ele­ments. Its empha­sis on cul­ture war themes and close align­ment with MAGA fig­ures like Don­ald Trump, Steve Ban­non, and Tuck­er Carl­son has solid­i­fied its role as a core insti­tu­tion with­in the broad­er nation­al con­ser­v­a­tive movement.

Sources:

• What is Turn­ing Point USA? – AAUP

• A Con­ser­v­a­tive Non­prof­it That Seeks to Trans­form Col­lege Cam­pus­es Faces Alle­ga­tions of Racial Bias and Ille­gal Cam­paign Activ­i­ty – The New Yorker

• Mon­ey and mis­in­for­ma­tion: how Turn­ing Point USA became a for­mi­da­ble pro‑Trump force – The Guardian

• Turn­ing Point USA: A case study of the hard right in 2024 – SPLC