A Behind-the-Scenes Look at TPUSA & How It's Grown Since Charlie's Assassination

[00:00] Everybody is talking about uh the field

[00:02] team and what the great work that you

[00:04] guys are doing. So, thank you for

[00:05] joining. I really wanted to highlight

[00:06] the great work you guys are doing. We

[00:08] got Nick Koka, Club America Enterprise

[00:11] Director.

[00:12] >> Yes, sir.

[00:13] >> By the way, Nick is looking slim and

[00:15] trim and

[00:17] very very healthy. Love to see that.

[00:19] Chris Gaffrey, college enterprise

[00:22] director. So,

[00:23] >> that is correct.

[00:23] >> Why don't we start with you, Chris? uh

[00:25] explain what it is you do

[00:28] >> and

[00:29] and we'll just start there. What what do

[00:31] you do?

[00:31] >> Yeah, so essentially I oversee all of

[00:33] the college staff, all of the chapters,

[00:35] all of our field representatives, all of

[00:37] the regional managers, all of the

[00:38] operations uh that goes into the field

[00:41] program that Charlie built over so many

[00:43] years, over the last 13 years. Um and

[00:46] we're we have a presence on so many of

[00:47] these college campuses across the

[00:49] country. Uh we have a big part in those

[00:51] tours that Charlie loved so much. um all

[00:54] of the things that we were doing uh

[00:55] these last few years on campus with the

[00:57] prove me wrong with these evening

[00:58] events. Uh that's a lot of what I do is

[01:00] just travel the country and work

[01:02] one-on-one with these students. Uh get

[01:04] to see it firsthand what it's like being

[01:06] on a college campus as a conservative uh

[01:08] before Charlie's assassination and now

[01:10] and the the big differences there.

[01:12] >> Yeah. And I mean people have been asking

[01:14] about this. We're not doing

[01:18] the the open air prove me wrongs, right?

[01:21] and and that's for security reasons and

[01:24] there's just a lot I mean emotionally

[01:25] for all of us that goes into that and

[01:27] you know I I'm candidly I'm I'm relieved

[01:30] that we're not uh but like secondly we

[01:32] are still doing the evening events and

[01:34] these evening events team if you could

[01:36] throw some of this B-roll I mean at Utah

[01:38] State

[01:39] >> this was

[01:40] >> what 6,6200

[01:43] people

[01:43] >> yes

[01:44] >> at Utah State and we had I guess

[01:46] Governor Cox we had um Andy Biggs the

[01:49] great Andy Biggs love Andy He's going to

[01:51] be the next governor of Arizona. We had

[01:54] uh Jason Chaffitz who was actually there

[01:56] at UVU.

[01:58] >> Uh so that was a really power I know

[01:59] that was really powerful for him to kind

[02:01] of get back there. And you see this

[02:02] footage, I mean the energy is just

[02:04] incredible at these things. Um and th

[02:08] this was our largest evening event of

[02:11] all time at a campus. And by the way,

[02:13] little hint, we're going to beat it.

[02:15] We're going to we're going to even

[02:16] exceed this in this campus tour. Tell us

[02:18] tell us about this. Yeah, I mean I've

[02:21] been to more of these tour stops than I

[02:24] honestly can count. And coming back to

[02:26] Utah, um there's definitely some some

[02:29] closure there and being that and you

[02:31] know for context, I was not at UVU that

[02:33] day. Um but coming back to Utah and

[02:35] seeing so many of our students who are

[02:36] there at Utah Valley and seeing them be

[02:39] able to get that closure um and having a

[02:41] room that is larger than a lot of our

[02:44] conferences. I mean, larger than YWS,

[02:47] larger than, you know, some of our

[02:48] student action summits that we've done,

[02:50] much larger than CLS, you know, six

[02:52] times over than the largest chapter

[02:53] leadership summit that we've ever done.

[02:55] There's something about that, that

[02:57] feeling of standing on the floor and

[02:58] seeing so many people coming out 3 weeks

[03:01] later after a man was killed in the same

[03:04] state just an hour and sun change away

[03:08] and saying, "I am not afraid. I'm going

[03:10] to come out. I'm going to show face."

[03:11] >> I love that. Uh, Nick, let's transition,

[03:13] brother. So, you are Club America. Club

[03:16] America is our high school brand at

[03:18] TPUSA.

[03:19] >> And I will never forget this, especially

[03:21] because of obviously obviously what

[03:23] happened uh just a few weeks later, but

[03:25] we were in Aspen. We were talking with

[03:27] donors

[03:28] >> and Charlie was like, we're going to

[03:30] have we're going to get a a Club America

[03:33] at 35,000 high schools. And I was like,

[03:36] Charlie, um there's only 23 or 24,000

[03:40] high schools. He's like, all right,

[03:41] fine. 23,000. you know, Andrew Cipher,

[03:44] who's the VP of of Field, great guy, was

[03:47] like, um, could we maybe like 10,000 or

[03:49] whatever, like, you know, just because

[03:51] he's freaking out because he's like, I

[03:52] know how hard this is going to be. And

[03:54] Charlie's like, fine, all right, fine.

[03:55] You know, he cuz Charlie was always

[03:56] pushing us and pushing us and pushing us

[03:58] more, more and more. And and so within

[04:02] days of what happened, you know, finding

[04:06] out that there's

[04:08] 120,000 inquiries, about 50% of which to

[04:11] start new chapters, about 50% maybe more

[04:14] are high school, Club America.

[04:15] >> That's right.

[04:16] >> So tell us about that, Nick.

[04:17] >> It's been amazing. See, there are two

[04:19] types of high schools in this country.

[04:21] High schools that have Club America

[04:22] chapters and high schools that will soon

[04:24] have Club America chapters.

[04:25] >> Well said. Well said.

[04:26] >> You're one of the two. We have had 1,500

[04:29] chapters that have started. So, these

[04:32] are high school students coming

[04:34] together, organizing, building groups

[04:36] >> since

[04:37] >> since Charlie's passing.

[04:38] >> Oh, that's breaking news, folks. Uh I'm

[04:41] probably going to have to tweet that. Um

[04:43] give me this clip by the way. This is I

[04:45] want to tweet that. That's a uh that's a

[04:47] really big that I mean, you guys are

[04:49] making quick work. 1500.

[04:50] >> It's been it's been amazing. I remember

[04:52] when Charlie sat right here uh and

[04:54] announced that we hit 1,000 chapters

[04:57] back in 2023. Something that we thought

[04:59] was uh just a monumental goal when we

[05:02] first launched the program in 2022. And

[05:04] I think he'd be really proud to see the

[05:07] progress that has happened um despite

[05:09] the tragedy

[05:10] >> in his honor. In his honor, he inspired

[05:12] this. He put jet fuel behind it by being

[05:16] living his life in such a a wonderful

[05:18] way, being so courageous and so stalwart

[05:21] in believing that we can impact the next

[05:24] generation. By the way, I just want to

[05:25] remind I mean you were you've been with

[05:27] us long enough where you even saw when

[05:30] people thought it was still ridiculous

[05:32] that we could reach the next generation

[05:34] and Charlie just was so dogged. He's

[05:36] like, "No, we can." And and you saw that

[05:38] kind of go from incredul to like what's

[05:41] happening? What? It was crazy how fast

[05:43] it happened, too. It was like they just

[05:44] needed a new freshman class that

[05:46] suddenly had been all these people who

[05:48] saw Charlie videos and it was instantly

[05:50] like he was this huge celebrity.

[05:52] >> Yeah. They had probably You're Riley

[05:53] right. It was like these kids had been

[05:55] >> probably seen being seen Charlie videos

[05:57] on social media for years and years and

[05:59] all of a sudden they come into high

[06:00] school or college and it was it was like

[06:02] a the turnover, you know, 18 to 21

[06:06] happened and it was they they were

[06:07] ready. They were ready and and it was

[06:10] also a generation when we're talking

[06:11] about the college kids that had been so

[06:13] beat up.

[06:14] >> Their high school years were wrecked by

[06:15] co

[06:16] >> wrecked by co a thousand%. I mean it and

[06:19] talk about that because you've been

[06:20] around long enough to see this this

[06:22] thing blossom.

[06:23] >> Yeah. Yeah. You know I actually started

[06:26] when I when I started with turning point

[06:27] I was a student. So I was the chapter

[06:29] president uh in Detroit, Michigan. If

[06:31] you know anything about Detroit, it is

[06:32] not a conservative city at all. Um, and

[06:35] when I was a chapter president, I

[06:36] remember saying, "Hey, do you know who

[06:38] Charlie Kirk is?" And unfortunately,

[06:41] every answer was no. No one really knew

[06:43] him back then. Uh, and then now the

[06:46] difference is everybody knows Turning

[06:48] Point. Everybody know even before he

[06:50] died, everybody knew Charlie Kirk. Love

[06:53] him or hate him, they knew who he was.

[06:54] Love Turning Point or hate Turning

[06:56] Point, they knew who we were. and the to

[06:58] see that that growth over such a short

[07:00] period of time and see the passion and

[07:03] the energy. I mean, I I I'll tell the

[07:05] story real quick. Right after the Utah

[07:07] State event, um we went out and got ice

[07:10] cream and the girl behind this is like

[07:12] some 17-year-old high school girl. Um

[07:14] she asks us, she sees my jacket says

[07:16] Turning Point and she's like, "Are you

[07:18] at Turning Point USA?" I was just at

[07:20] that event. I I just clocked in because

[07:22] I called off and I I moved around my

[07:24] schedule so I could be at that event.

[07:26] And then she asked us for a picture, all

[07:28] of us that were there, Andrew and myself

[07:30] and the tourist team. And the it's just

[07:33] so weird to think how much this

[07:36] organization and this movement has meant

[07:38] to people since Charlie's passing. And I

[07:41] think it's something to do with being

[07:42] too close to home, being a little too

[07:44] close to it to realize, to truly realize

[07:47] the impact that we've had, that this

[07:50] organization has had, that the students

[07:51] have had, that Charlie has had in the

[07:53] last decade. Uh it it is really I I mean

[07:57] it's earthshattering.

[07:58] >> It's breathtaking. I I completely relate

[08:00] to that by the way

[08:03] >> because I and I would tell Blake this I

[08:04] I had to keep recalibrating how famous

[08:07] he was becoming cuz I was I was always

[08:09] like I don't know like a year behind in

[08:10] my internal clock of but then I would

[08:13] take him somewhere public and I was like

[08:15] dude you're like a beetle. It shocked me

[08:17] the most when we were doing the whole uh

[08:19] Nebraska push. And so we went on campus

[08:22] during the tailgating before uh a

[08:24] Huskers game and just hundreds of people

[08:28] mobbing around him. And of course it

[08:29] helped a lot that they wear red anyway

[08:31] at the University of Nebraska. So it's

[08:32] like everyone's wearing red stuff for

[08:34] the Huskers game and they're Charlie.

[08:37] >> Yeah. The Charlie Chants.

[08:38] >> Just a giant convoy.

[08:39] >> Well, and you got those chants at Utah

[08:41] State.

[08:41] >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There was a lot of

[08:43] chant. a lot. I mean, that that first uh

[08:45] uh event that we did uh post Charlie's

[08:47] assassination, the energy in the room

[08:49] was just something different. It it was

[08:51] just completely different. It there was

[08:53] there's hope that I think that's the

[08:55] best way to put it. There's hope in the

[08:56] air in amongst young conservatives. They

[08:59] want to get involved. They want to do

[09:01] something. They do not want to sit idly

[09:03] by why a man died. And you you you have

[09:06] seen many iterations of this movement of

[09:09] what Charlie has built here. And so you

[09:11] are a keeper of history and and I you

[09:15] both are and

[09:17] I think that's important because we lost

[09:19] Charlie uh far too early, far too young.

[09:22] And I I've I've told this to the team.

[09:24] It's like there's just no replacing that

[09:28] experience that we've all had with an

[09:30] American legend. And to see it up close,

[09:32] to see how he operated, see how he would

[09:34] inspire the troops, how he would

[09:36] motivate the staff, and how he would

[09:38] speak to students. And you guys are

[09:40] keepers of that legacy uh in a really

[09:42] really important way. And I just want to

[09:44] encourage you that you know your jobs

[09:46] are more important than ever. And I know

[09:48] you know that. So why why don't uh I'm

[09:51] going to go high school then college.

[09:52] Okay. High school. So 1500. We I mean

[09:55] you have tens of thousands of

[09:57] applications. Are we changing the way

[09:59] we're doing this? Have has everybody

[10:00] been uh spoken to and communicated with?

[10:03] like how are we? So, if you're out there

[10:05] in the audience and your your you know

[10:07] daughter or son or grandkid has reached

[10:08] out and inquired to start a chapter,

[10:10] what can they expect? What have you done

[10:12] already? What will happen in the in the

[10:14] days ahead?

[10:15] >> Our field team, our representatives have

[10:16] been hard at work just calling uh

[10:19] picking up the phone, talking to

[10:21] hundreds of students every single day

[10:23] who want to get involved. And if you

[10:26] filled out a get involved form on our

[10:28] Club America website or on TPSA students

[10:30] website and you're in high school,

[10:31] expect a phone call from your field

[10:33] representative, they're going to tell

[10:34] you how to get your Club America chapter

[10:37] started and set you up with everything

[10:39] that you need to hit the ground running

[10:41] on your campus.

[10:42] >> That's a really important point. Um the

[10:45] we we have we know how to do this at

[10:47] Turning Point USA. So if you're a

[10:49] student out there or you're a parent of

[10:51] a student or grandparent of a student

[10:52] and you're like, "Ah, how do you even

[10:54] do?" we we tell you how to do it. Like

[10:56] we have a whole road map. We have all

[10:58] the tools and we're going to set you up.

[11:00] And by the way, if there's multiple

[11:01] students that have applied from the same

[11:03] school or whatever, we'll put you

[11:05] together. That's right.

[11:06] >> We'll get you linked up. And by the way,

[11:08] that's really powerful because we have

[11:09] multiple from a lot of these schools cuz

[11:11] you know, if there are any trolls that

[11:12] are in or whatever, other people that

[11:14] shouldn't really be starting the the

[11:15] chapter. Maybe they're good,

[11:16] well-intentioned, but they just really

[11:17] maybe shouldn't be the president or vice

[11:19] president of a chapter. We're going to

[11:20] find that out in this process, right? I

[11:22] mean, we're going to we're going to get

[11:23] the best. It's really amazing how we're

[11:25] able to bring people together. We have

[11:27] students that multiple from a single

[11:29] school that are reaching out. Maybe they

[11:30] didn't even know each other, but they

[11:32] both loved and admired Charlie and want

[11:34] to step up. So, we're able to bring

[11:36] these students together to make lifelong

[11:39] friendships. That's how when I got

[11:41] involved, when I met Charlie, the people

[11:43] that I met through Charlie, I'm still

[11:46] very close friends with today. It's

[11:47] changed the trajectory of my life and of

[11:49] my career. And so we hope to do that for

[11:52] you. If you're a high school student

[11:53] looking to get involved for the first

[11:55] time, it will change your life.

[11:56] >> That's so that's so right on. When you

[11:58] step out and you join this movement, you

[12:00] will your life will never be the same

[12:02] for the better because you're something

[12:04] you're going to be part of something

[12:05] that's much bigger than yourself. And

[12:07] that goes for our college camp. So it's

[12:09] a little different on C. Just so you

[12:11] know, like we've got all these tens of

[12:12] thousands of applicants. Well, we've

[12:13] pretty much saturated

[12:15] >> the vast vast majority of college

[12:17] campuses. So you're not going to get

[12:18] like a huge you you we'll get some

[12:20] growth from it, but really like that

[12:21] topline number like Turning Point had

[12:23] already kind of hit a really big point

[12:26] on college campuses, but we're going to

[12:28] plug these people in. Maybe door

[12:30] knockock, whatever. We'll figure out

[12:31] what it is. Devoter Regge and we have

[12:33] these tours. Yes. So tell us what we can

[12:35] expect uh in the coming days because

[12:37] this tour is kicking off and we're not

[12:39] backing down.

[12:39] >> No, not at all. We're not not backing

[12:41] down. Uh we're going to keep on going.

[12:42] We're going to keep this tour alive. Uh

[12:44] we're going to be going all over the

[12:45] nation. We got Tucker Carlson coming up.

[12:47] We've got uh who else? Who? We We've By

[12:51] the way, we have a We just locked one in

[12:54] >> and I can't say yet because I got to

[12:56] coordinate. We got to coordinate the But

[12:58] it's big big.

[13:00] >> So, who else do we got though?

[13:02] >> We got a lot of lot of great people

[13:03] coming up. We have Savannah Chrisley.

[13:05] >> Savannah. Oh, we got Russell Brand.

[13:07] >> Yes. Governor Kevin Stit from Oklahoma.

[13:10] >> Yes. Uh we're going to have Governor

[13:11] Jeff Landry. Alli bet Stucky. Uh we have

[13:14] a lot of very exciting speakers coming

[13:16] up and what we're really seeing is the

[13:17] excitement of students who are saying

[13:19] they want to get involved, they want to

[13:21] be there. Uh I mean I've never I've been

[13:23] to so many of these tours. I've never

[13:24] seen students line up 7 hours before the

[13:27] tour stop begins and you are seeing

[13:29] young I mean the older generation did

[13:31] that. Yeah. I mean it's crazy.

[13:33] >> We Okay. Charlie always wanted the

[13:35] biggest venue we could get and these

[13:37] schools would dink around with us and

[13:39] just give us such a hard time. That's

[13:40] why we started doing the the campus out

[13:42] stops outdoors because it like they

[13:44] could just stream in.

[13:45] >> But now they're giving us these arenas

[13:48] >> and it's a beautiful thing. Gentlemen,

[13:50] you are more important than ever. I

[13:51] commend you. I salute you. We have your

[13:54] back and I know you guys are doing the

[13:55] truly truly hard and important work out

[13:57] there in the field. Thank you.

[13:59] >> Thank you, Andrew.

[13:59] >> Yeah. God bless you guys.