Turning Point Action

In May 2019, it was reported that Kirk was "preparing to unveil" Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4) entity allowed to campaign against Democrats.{{cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Brian |title=Pro-Trump college GOP activist Charlie Kirk will launch a new group to target Democrats in 2020 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/20/pro-trump-activist-charlie-kirk-to-launch-new-group-to-target-democrats.html |work=CNBC |date=May 20, 2019 |access-date=July 22, 2019}} 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.{{Cite news |last=Sandler |first=Rachel |title=Facebook Bans Marketing Firm That Made Fake Accounts For Conservative Nonprofit Turning Point Action|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/10/08/facebook-bans-marketing-firm-that-made-fake-accounts-for-conservative-nonprofit-turning-point-action/#5fea81955dae |date=October 8, 2020 |access-date=July 30, 2021}}

In July 2019, TPAction acquired leasing rights to web domains and social media platforms of Students for Trump, a youth group founded in 2015 at Campbell University in North Carolina by John Lambert and Ryan Fournier.{{cite web |title=Turning Point Action Launches 2020 Expansion, Acquires 'Students for Trump' |url=https://www.democracyinaction.us/2020/interestg/turningpoint070219pr.html |website=Democracy in Action |access-date=July 21, 2019}}{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Stephen Rex |title=Students for Trump founder pleads guilty to posing as lawyer in $46K scam |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-students-for-trump-founder-guilty-20190806-uvtska53qrb33fq4u7jm6jkfmm-story.html |access-date=July 18, 2020 |work=New York Daily News |date=August 6, 2019 |archive-date=August 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807061132/https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-students-for-trump-founder-guilty-20190806-uvtska53qrb33fq4u7jm6jkfmm-story.html |url-status=dead }}{{Cite news |last=Stanley-Becker |first=Isaac |date=February 9, 2023 |title=Charlie Kirk's right-wing empire loses a key asset: Students for Trump |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/08/charlie-kirk-students-for-trump/ |access-date=July 13, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}} The Washington Post reported in 2023 that Students for Trump was separating from Turning Point Action after branding/revenue disputes.

In 2024, the Trump campaign partnered with Turning Point Action and other conservative groups to help execute a ground game strategy in key swing states Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. TPAction's "Chase the Vote" initiate was a new untested campaign tactic directly using outside organizations to lead canvassing efforts to turn out "low propensity right-wing voters" (people who had a high chance to vote for Trump but a low chance to actually cast a ballot). Chase the Vote's strategy was an answer to substantial Republican loses in the 2022 mid-term elections which was believed to be in part due to Democrats having an edge with early voting. Due to this, embracing early voting instead of trying to reboot the voting habits of Republicans in a single voting cycle was a main element of this strategy. Post election data from Arizona suggests that the strategy succeeded{{Cite news |last=Corasaniti |first=Nick |date=2024-12-23 |title=A Pro-Trump Group’s Risky Bet on Infrequent Voters Seems to Have Paid Off |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/23/us/politics/trump-turning-point-arizona-2024-election.html |access-date=2025-05-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Treene |first=Kristen Holmes, Alayna |date=2024-06-15 |title=Donald Trump’s ground game strategy: Rely on help from outside organizations like Turning Point {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/15/politics/trump-campaign-turning-point-charlie-kirk |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=CNN |language=en}}

In October 2020, Facebook permanently banned Arizona based marketing firm Rally Forge for running what some experts likened to a domestic “troll farm” on behalf of Turning Point Action. A month prior the Washington Post reported in a published article that young people in Arizona, some of them minors, were posting Turning Point content on their social media accounts without disclosing their affiliation with Turning Point.  The report from Washington Post prompted an investigation by Facebook which ultimately concluded in the removal of 200 accounts and 55 pages on Facebook, as well as 76 Instagram accounts. Twitter responded to the newspaper's questions by suspending at least 262 accounts for their involvement in "platform manipulation and spam.  Facebook and Twitter did not penalize Turning Point because they could not ascertain if Turning Point leadership was aware of the actions being carried out on their behalf by Rally Forge.{{Cite news |date=2020-10-08 |title=Facebook bans marketing firm running ‘troll farm’ for pro-Trump youth group |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/10/08/facebook-bans-media-consultancy-running-troll-farm-pro-trump-youth-group/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014065105/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/10/08/facebook-bans-media-consultancy-running-troll-farm-pro-trump-youth-group/ |archive-date=2020-10-14 |access-date=2025-06-03 |work=Washington Post |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2020-09-15 |title=Pro-Trump youth group enlists teens in secretive campaign likened to a ‘troll farm,’ prompting rebuke by Facebook and Twitter |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/turning-point-teens-disinformation-trump/2020/09/15/c84091ae-f20a-11ea-b796-2dd09962649c_story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916002213/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/turning-point-teens-disinformation-trump/2020/09/15/c84091ae-f20a-11ea-b796-2dd09962649c_story.html |archive-date=2020-09-16 |access-date=2025-06-03 |work=Washington Post |language=en}} Turning Point Action did issue a statement saying they wanted to work with Facebook “to rectify any misunderstanding” about their content.{{Cite news |title=Facebook removes hundreds of fake accounts linked to conservative group |url=https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/nation-world/facebook-removes-fake-accounts-created-by-us-marketing-company/507-dce4f5b6-a56f-45d4-a39a-23643c9e74d9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014162822/https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/nation-world/facebook-removes-fake-accounts-created-by-us-marketing-company/507-dce4f5b6-a56f-45d4-a39a-23643c9e74d9 |archive-date=2020-10-14 |access-date=2025-06-03 |work=wusa9.com |language=en-US}}  "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."{{Cite news |date=2020-10-08 |title=Facebook bans marketing firm running ‘troll farm’ for pro-Trump youth group |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/10/08/facebook-bans-media-consultancy-running-troll-farm-pro-trump-youth-group/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014065105/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/10/08/facebook-bans-media-consultancy-running-troll-farm-pro-trump-youth-group/ |archive-date=2020-10-14 |access-date=2025-06-03 |work=Washington Post |language=en}} Jake Hoffman, CEO of Rally Forge that joined Turning Point for the project, said that "dozens of young people have been excited to share their beliefs on social media" and were "using their own personal profiles and sharing their content that reflects their values and beliefs."{{cite web |last=Flood |first=Brian |date=September 16, 2020 |title=Turning Point USA-affiliated, pro-Trump teenagers violated Twitter policy with coordinated posts: report |url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/turning-point-usa-twitter-trump-social-media |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918172520/https://www.foxnews.com/media/turning-point-usa-twitter-trump-social-media |archive-date=September 18, 2020 |access-date=September 30, 2020 |website=Fox News}}{{Cite news |date=2020-09-15 |title=Pro-Trump youth group enlists teens in secretive campaign likened to a ‘troll farm,’ prompting rebuke by Facebook and Twitter |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/turning-point-teens-disinformation-trump/2020/09/15/c84091ae-f20a-11ea-b796-2dd09962649c_story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916002213/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/turning-point-teens-disinformation-trump/2020/09/15/c84091ae-f20a-11ea-b796-2dd09962649c_story.html |archive-date=2020-09-16 |access-date=2025-06-03 |work=Washington Post |language=en}}

On January 4, 2021, Kirk announced in a tweet that Turning Point Action would be sending more than 80 buses to a January 6, 2021, Trump "Stop the Steal" rally near the White House in Washington, D.C, to protest the outcome of the election.{{cite news |last=O'Harrow Jr. |first=Robert |date=January 17, 2021 |title=Rallies ahead of Capitol riot were planned by established Washington insiders |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/capitol-rally-organizers-before-riots/2021/01/16/c5b40250-552d-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html |access-date=January 18, 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Tanfani |first1=Joseph |last2=Berens |first2=Michael |last3=Parker |first3=Ned |date=January 12, 2021 |title=How Trump's pied pipers rallied a faithful mob to the Capitol |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-protest-organizers-insight/how-trumps-pied-pipers-rallied-a-faithful-mob-to-the-capitol-idUSKBN29G2UP |access-date=12 January 2021 |website=Reuters}} They sent seven buses with approximately 350 participants. Turning Point Action also funneled money to several "Stop the Steal" rally speakers, including Kimberly Guilfoyle, but did not organize or take part in the march to the Capitol that erupted in violence.{{Cite news |last=Zadrozny |first=Brandy |date=July 13, 2022 |title=Behind Turning Point USA's funding boom – with half of it coming from 10 anonymous donors |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/turning-point-usa-donations-surged-pandemic-rcna37143 |work=NBC News |language=en}}{{Cite news |last1=Stanley-Becker |first1=Isaac |last2=Reinhard |first2=Beth |date=2022-06-15 |title=Publix heiress paid Kimberly Guilfoyle's $60,000 speaking fee on Jan. 6 |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/06/14/kimberly-guilfoyle-turning-point-action-jan-6/ |access-date= |issn=0190-8286}} Kirk later deleted the tweet{{cite web |last=Thalen |first=Mikael |date=January 10, 2021 |title=Charlie Kirk deletes tweet saying he sent '80+ buses full of patriots' to D.C. |url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/charlie-kirk-delete-tweet-buses-capitol/ |access-date=January 16, 2021 |work=The Daily Dot}} and said on his podcast that it was "bad judgment" and "not wise" to enter the Capitol but not necessarily insurrectionist.{{cite news |last=Palmer |first=Ewan |url=https://www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-insurrection-buses-washington-tweet-1560727 |title=Charlie Kirk Says Not Everyone in Capitol Mob Was an Insurrectionist |work=Newsweek |date=January 12, 2021 |access-date=January 16, 2021}} A Turning Point Action spokesman later said the group condemns political violence.

In 2021, Kirk compared Biden's vaccination efforts to an "Apartheid-style open air hostage situation".{{Cite news|last=Stanley-Becker |first=Isaac |title=Charlie Kirk's pro-Trump youth group stokes vaccine resistance as covid surges again|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/29/vaccine-mandates-charlie-kirk-tpusa/|date=July 29, 2021 |access-date=December 11, 2021}}{{cite web |last=Ecarma |first=Caleb |title=The Right-Wing Vaccine Rebellion Has Arrived on Campus |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/07/right-wing-vaccine-rebellion-on-campus |date=July 8, 2021 |work=Vanity Fair|access-date=July 13, 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Korecki |first1=Natasha |last2=Daniels |first2=Eugene |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/12/biden-covid-vaccination-campaign-499278 |title='Potentially a death sentence': White House goes off on vaccine fearmongers |work=Politico |date=July 12, 2021 |access-date=April 22, 2022}} Text messages sent by Turning Point Action using Twilio automatically enrolled donors under a recurring monthly plan. Kirk's spokesperson said they are not anti-vaxx, reiterating that "the vaccine makes logical sense for millions of Americans" but they should "have the freedom to choose", and Kirk was advocating against vaccine mandates and passports for healthy young people. The same spokesperson said the text messages from Turning Point Action were not approved by Kirk and that the automatic contribution function was added by a vendor.

File:Donald Trump & Charlie Kirk (54235308296) (cropped).jpg with Charlie Kirk at an event co-hosted by Turning Point Action, AmericaFest, in December 2024.]]

TPAction hosted a conference in July 2023 called "ACTCON",{{Cite web |date=July 17, 2023 |title=Turning Point's #ACTCON was a pro-Trump lovefest designed to intimidate |url=https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/turning-point-action-conference-actcon-trump-rcna94720 |access-date=July 18, 2023 |website=MSNBC.com |language=en}} it was hosted in West Palm Beach and drew roughly around 6,000 attendees.{{Cite news |last=Vigdor |first=Neil |date=July 17, 2023 |title=A Pro-Trump Crowd, Sensing Disloyalty, Drowns Out Dissent |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/16/us/politics/trump-turning-point-conference.html |access-date=July 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} It had several guest speakers including the event headliner Donald Trump and keynote speaker Tucker Carlson. According to the New York Times, the two day event drew roughly a third of the Republican presidential field as speakers.{{Cite news |last=Vigdor |first=Neil |date=July 16, 2023 |title=In Florida, Trump Says DeSantis Has No Path to Victory |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/16/us/politics/trump-turning-point-desantis.html |access-date=July 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}

{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/18/austin-smith-turning-point-action-election-fraud/|title=Turning Point Action official resigns after accusation of election-related fraud|newspaper=Washington Post}}

On July 26, 2024, while addressing the crowd during Turning Point Action’s Believers’ Summit in West Palm Beach, Donald Trump told his supporters: "Christians, get out and vote, just this time! You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians."{{Cite web |last=Vargas |first=Ramon Antonio |date=2024-07-27 |title=Trump tells supporters they won't have to vote in the future: 'It'll be fixed!' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/27/trump-speech-no-need-to-vote-future |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=The Guardian}}{{Cite web |last1=Kaufman |first1=Katrina |last2=Suarez Sang |first2=Lucia |date=2024-07-28 |title=Trump tells Christian voters they "won't have to vote anymore" if he is elected in November |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-christian-voters-turning-point-action/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=CBS News}}

File:The People's Convention attendees (53809309440).jpg

For the 2024 presidential campaign Turning Point Action launched a "chase the vote" program that saw 1,000 people hired for voter outreach with a focus on younger voters as well as low-propensity Republican voters in all key battleground states, including Arizona, Wisconsin, partially in Michigan and Pennsylvania.{{Cite web |last=Editor |first=Peter Aitken Politics Weekend |date=2024-11-17 |title=Trump Is Picking the 'Avenger Squad' for Cabinet, Charlie Kirk Says |url=https://www.newsweek.com/trump-picking-avenger-squad-cabinet-charlie-kirk-1987225 |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=Joshua Rhett Miller Chief Investigative |date=2024-11-08 |title=Charlie Kirk took conservatism to college campuses ahead of Trump's big win |url=https://www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-turning-point-trump-reelection-1983029 |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2024-10-13 |title=The Ground Game: Harris's Turnout Machine vs. Trump's Unproven Alliance |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/13/us/politics/trump-harris-campaign-ground-game.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241203060744/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/13/us/politics/trump-harris-campaign-ground-game.html |archive-date=2024-12-03 |access-date=2024-12-11 |language=en |last1=Lerer |first1=Lisa |last2=Bosman |first2=Julie |last3=Browning |first3=Kellen |last4=King |first4=Maya |last5=Weisman |first5=Jonathan }} Voter turnout operations are typically run by national and state Republican parties or candidates' own campaigns, but in 2024 a Federal Election Commission decision allowed campaigns to coordinate canvassing with outside groups. For Turning Point, that has meant hiring staffers, developing a canvassing app and staffing tables at both on- and off-campus events.{{Cite web |last=Hagen |first=Lisa |date=October 24, 2024 |title=Beyond campuses and churches, can Charlie Kirk turn out votes for Trump? |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/10/24/nx-s1-5009316/charlie-kirk-turning-point-christian-nationalism-trump |website=NPR}} In Wisconsin, TPAction combined their canvassing efforts with those of America PAC.{{cite web |last1=Allison |first1=Natalie |title=Elon Musk-backed PAC, Turning Point combine operations for Trump in Wisconsin |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/03/trump-elon-musk-wisconsin-00182441 |website=politico.com |date=October 3, 2024 |publisher=Politico |access-date=8 October 2024}}

Before the 2024 election TPAction brought Moms for America into their "Chase the Vote" alliance. The partnerships goal was to have Moms for America help promote events as well as a new app focused on get out the vote tactics (GOTV). The app provided data with insights to key targets to "chase" during the election cycle.{{Cite web |title=Turning Point Action Partners with Moms for America to Get Out the Mom Vote |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/turning-point-action-partners-moms-145100770.html |website=Yahoo Finance}}

During the 2024 presidential election, Brian Hughes, a senior advisor on the Trump campaign called TPAction's field program a "force multiplier" which allowed for more efficient deployment of campaign and RNC assets in key battleground states.{{Cite web |last=Allison |first=Natalie |date=2024-06-15 |title=How Turning Point, once spurned by the RNC, is becoming Trump's 'force multiplier' in battleground states |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/15/turning-point-trump-battleground-states-00163563 |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}

Prior to the 2024 presidential election Charlie Kirk visited around 25 college campuses labeled as the "You're being brainwashed" tour, trying to stir up more Gen-Z voter turnout by where he would engage/debate with students on many different relevant topics. According to Turning Point Action the tour produced around two billion viral views on social media.{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=Joshua Rhett Miller Chief Investigative |date=2024-11-08 |title=Charlie Kirk took conservatism to college campuses ahead of Trump's big win |url=https://www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-turning-point-trump-reelection-1983029 |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=Newsweek |language=en}} The tour has been praised as having a "critical role" in helping Donald Trump get elected.{{Cite web |last=Editor |first=Peter Aitken Politics Weekend |date=2024-11-17 |title=Trump Is Picking the 'Avenger Squad' for Cabinet, Charlie Kirk Says |url=https://www.newsweek.com/trump-picking-avenger-squad-cabinet-charlie-kirk-1987225 |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}

In April 2024, Arizona state representative Austin Smith who was an "election integrity warrior" and the TPAction National Field Administrative Director resigned his TPAction position and quit his state reelection race after he was accused of forging voter signatures on documents he filed for his reelection run.{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Laurie |title=An election integrity warrior may have forged signatures to get on the ballot? Nooooo |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2024/04/16/arizona-election-lawsuit-austin-smith-forged-signatures-ballot/73345673007/ |access-date=20 April 2024 |work=The Arizona Republic |date=April 17, 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Duda |first1=Jeremy |title=Arizona GOP Rep. Austin Smith ends campaign amid forgery allegations |url=https://www.axios.com/local/phoenix/2024/04/18/austin-smith-campaign-ld29-arizona |work=Axios |date=April 18, 2024}}

On April 24, 2024, TPAction COO Tyler Bowyer was indicted on 9 charges in connection with the 2020 Arizona fake electors plot.{{cite news |last1=Leingang |first1=Rachel |title=Arizona grand jury indicts Trump allies including Rudy Giuliani over 2020 fake elector scheme |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/24/arizona-trump-fake-electors-charged-2020-election |access-date=25 April 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=24 April 2024}} On May 21, 2024, Bowyer and 10 of his 17 co-defendants pled not guilty after being arraigned in Maricopa County Superior Court.{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2024/05/21/arizona-felony-charges-Rudy-Giuliani-not-guilty-plea/2621716319913/|title=Giuliani, 10 others plead not guilty to felony election charges in Arizona|first=Mike|last=Heuer|publisher=UPI|date=May 21, 2024|accessdate=May 21, 2024}} Bowyer was among five people who made their not guilty plea virtually rather than in-person.{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-allies-plead-not-guilty-arizona-fake-electors-case-rcna153264|title=Trump allies plead not guilty in Arizona 'fake electors' case|first1=Alexandra|last1=Marquez|first2=Alex|last2=Tabet|publisher=NBC News|date=May 21, 2024|accessdate=May 21, 2024}}

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