TPUSA Against the Nation
Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, October 30, 2019
Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk says he’s waging a “culture war.” I don’t know who he’s fighting, since he’s a liberal on many issues, but I do know he’s losing. He’s losing because young identitarians and nationalists routed him last night at Ohio State University. A veritable army of patriots, some wearing red MAGA hats, dominated the question and answer period.
“If the president were to enact a policy that would completely benefit the United States and her citizens to the detriment of Israel, would you support it?” one asked. “Yes or no.” Mr. Kirk called it a “false choice” and wouldn’t answer the question.
Patrick Casey, leader of American Identity Movement, pressed Mr. Kirk on the conservative movement’s traditional policy of gatekeeping. Mr. Kirk deflected the question, and accused questioners of promoting “hatred.”
Patrick Casey DESTROYS Charlie Kirk pic.twitter.com/AFvPimSxGp
— american nationalist (@NationalistTV) October 30, 2019
Another questioner asked whether American ideals can be preserved if America’s population is majority non-white, given that non-whites vote overwhelmingly for Democrats.
This is a completely reasonable question on immigration.
Wrong for Kirk and Turning Point to suggest this young Trump supporter’s views are “racist.”
They already get that every day from their leftist professors.pic.twitter.com/C4QT0gGsgy
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) October 30, 2019
In reply, Mr. Kirk endorsed Senator Tom Cotton’s RAISE Act, which would cut legal immigration. He also backed official English, ending the visa lottery, and ending chain migration. Thus, he is in the Steve King wing of the GOP.
However, Mr. Kirk said it is a “racist ideal” for America to keep a white majority. “The insinuation of your question is that race and ideology are somehow intertwined together,” he said. “It is a failure of the conservative movement to not be able to communicate to communities in the black community,” he added, further claiming that “the black community is an inherently conservative community.”
It is the fault of conservatives that blacks vote in their own interests? If only Charlie Kirk and his friends could say the right things to them, would blacks vote for smaller government and fewer handouts? Mr. Kirk seems to be saying that blacks must be saved by whites. It sounds like another version of the White Man’s Burden.
Mr. Kirk had an openly homosexual black man named Rob Smith on stage with him. One of the questioners wanted to know how promoting anal sex helps win the culture war. Needless to say, Mr. Kirk had no answer.
Not even two years ago, Mr. Smith was recording videos for the “I Am Trayvon Martin Project,” which was an open invitation to blacks and Hispanics (but not Asians) to tell their stories if they have been “harassed, racially profiled, and have feared for their lives for no other reason than the color of their skin.” Apparently, Mr. Kirk thinks this qualifies Mr. Smith to tell conservatives what to think.
According to based gay black man conservatism isn’t about what conservatives want pic.twitter.com/XZahojbJRQ
— john eastwood (@PepeLeIncel) October 30, 2019
Do you guys remember that time @robsmithonline played the identity politics game just so he could get on CNN and called Trump’s Joint Chiefs of Staff racists?
Now, he’s miraculously working for Turning Point USA and @charliekirk11 where he pretends he’s conservative. pic.twitter.com/gBd84ZMUcw
— Brett MacDonald (@TweetBrettMac) October 30, 2019
Upset that Rob Smith called young patriots racists? Don’t worry, he said the same thing about Trump in a 2017 NBC op-ed.
I guess Cardi B is right: some people will do anything for the clout pic.twitter.com/MTWm5nxP0I
— Scott Greer (@ScottMGreer) October 30, 2019
TPUSA supporters reacted to the fiasco just you would expect:
There were a number of trolls who sabotaged the Q&A portion of tonight’s @tpusa event.
Many of the questions were abhorrent and were not asked in good faith.
White nationalism and anti-gay hatred have no place in our movement.
This is what the Left wants.
It’s time to Wake Up
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) October 30, 2019
Tonight a bunch of alt-right, White Supremacist racists infiltrated the @TPUSA Culture War event.
That was WILD.
Take note of all of these people when you see the They’re not what this movement is about, and should be called out like the scum they are.
— Rob Smith 🇺🇸 (@robsmithonline) October 30, 2019
White nationalist trolls have infiltrated @TPUSA speaking events with @charliekirk11 to make the conservative movement look bad, as they shout out disgraced neo-Nazi “academics” no one’s heard of. To Charlie’s credit, he’s handled them all with class, and the audience boos them.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 30, 2019
Curiously, they don’t call leftist opponents trolls, scum, or abhorrent.
Nationalists, populists, and Identitarians will continue to press Conservatism Inc. TPUSA claims to support free speech. We’ll see if it allows questions at future “Culture War” appearances.