By: Megan Jelinger
Despite the recent surge in COVID-19 infections across the U.S., this week the pro-Trump youth organization Turning Point USA opted to follow through with its annual end-of-year conference, which brings thousands of students to West Palm Beach. Unsurprisingly, the coronavirus edition of TPUSA’s Student Action Summit was more chaotic and more grotesque than ever before.
The function kicked off with an unforced error, as a large group of mostly mask-less right-wing youth activists found themselves on the outside looking into Palm Beach Convention Center, a situation they protested by huddling dangerously close together—i.e., close enough to share airborne microbes—and chanting “Let us in!” just outside the building’s door. A Palm Beach County administrator explained the issue by noting that TPUSA organizers “oversold their contract capacity by 500–600 people.” Donald Trump Jr., who frequently collaborates with TPUSA president Charlie Kirk and was a featured speaker at the summit, accused county officials of conspiring against them in a hyperlocal liberal plot. “Palm Beach County, not exactly a conservative place, so, I guess they are trying to make it difficult,” the outgoing first son said. TPUSA executive Tyler Bowyer also claimed that Palm Beach County “is at phase 2 [of Florida’s reopening plan]—50% capacity—County Convention Center is imposing beyond recent phase 2 requirements for the venue.” Florida CBS 12 reporter Jay O’Brien surmised that TPUSA knew about the head-count issue prior to the event.
In terms of the content featured at the summit—which attendees are enjoying at the risk of their health, along with that of their families and anyone else they come into contact with in the aftermath—one highlight included apparent Instagram fitness models taking to the main stage and firing wads of cash into the hordes of teens and 20-somethings. The stunt was instigated by one of the conference’s sponsors, energy drink company Bang. “Folks, we are trying to get that thing rolling,” Bang CEO Jack Owoc declared before bills began to fly on Sunday. “Let’s go, put some money in there, and let’s go!” Throughout Owoc’s 25-minute speech, TPUSA’s attendees were blasted by the cash cannon manned by “Bang Girls.” The stunt was labeled cringey by conservatives and liberals alike.
Another feature of the weekend was the TPUSA winter gala held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where attendees reportedly paid $2,000-per-head to mingle and hear speeches from the likes of Kirk, Sen. Rand Paul, and Fox News host Laura Ingraham. The majority of attendees evidently decided against the county’s COVID-19 guidelines, as photos that circulated on social media showed a largely mask-less crowd. (As per the county’s current emergency order, masks must be worn indoors at “all businesses and establishments,” and patrons are required to follow the CDC’s six-feet-apart rule.) Rep. Matt Gaetz, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, longtime Trump associate Roger Stone, and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, were just a few of the night’s right-wing celebrity sightings.
On Monday afternoon, Trump himself phoned in. “We won this [election] in a landslide, they know it,” the president said to the crowd via a phone call that Kirk held up to the microphone. He then added that he still needs “backing from like, the Justice Department, and other people have to finally step up,” before closing by thanking “Charlie for all the support…. We appreciate it.” Trump has given several speeches at TPUSA events in the past, including at the organization’s teen summit in Washington, D.C., last year, during which attendees were so excited to hear the president that they triedspending the night before inside the venue in an attempt to grab the best seats. The president’s cameo at this year’s Student Action Summit was greeted with just as much enthusiasm, as students began chanting “Four more years!” en masse at the end of Trump’s remarks.
As for how TPUSA is coping with Trump’s electoral defeat, Kirk and other featured speakers still seem to be in a state of denial. “Barack Obama: —69,000,000 votes —873 counties. Donald Trump: —75,000,000 votes —2,497 counties. Joe Biden: —81,000,000 votes —477 counties…And we’re not allowed to question his ‘victory,’” the TPUSA founder tweeted, showing his apparent inability to understand basic math. During his speech, Gaetz explained his last-ditch plan to keep Biden out of the White House by blocking the Electoral College’s certifying vote next month. “The odds may be tough, it may be 4th and long, but we’re going for it on January 6,” the Florida Republican assured his audience, adding that he had already discussed the plan with Alabama senator-elect Tommy Tuberville. Right-wing pseudo-historian Dinesh D’Souza did offer up his solution for conservative survival in Biden’s America. “What I’m saying is we create our own culture. We live in it. And thanks to the Second Amendment, we defend it,” he said, adding on Twitter that conservatives have to stop playing nice with their Democratic neighbors: “The left has concluded that we are the ‘Party of Nice Guys’ and continues to take advantage of us. It’s time we fix that.”
