Bombshell Allegations: Is TPUSA Bullying Schools for Entry?

[00:00] Hello and welcome back to Trigger Smart.

[00:02] Today I'm going to talk about something

[00:03] that's really interesting. I know that

[00:04] people have heard that TPUSA has been

[00:06] putting chapters in certain schools in

[00:08] certain states. I believe in Texas it is

[00:10] basically mandatory that the high

[00:12] schools allow a TPUSA chapter and I

[00:14] figured they were just extremely widely

[00:16] accepted. But a couple stories came out

[00:19] and I'm starting to see maybe a

[00:21] different story. So let's look into

[00:22] that.

[00:23] >> Cassuna government at St. John's

[00:24] University in New York rejected an

[00:27] application from TurningPoint USA.

[00:29] Turning Point was not alone. Other

[00:31] applications were rejected, too. St.

[00:33] John's is a private Catholic school. Was

[00:36] the rejection based on politics? Does

[00:38] the First Amendment apply to private

[00:40] schools which receive federal money?

[00:43] Joining us as spokesperson for Turning

[00:45] Point USA, Andrew Kovit. Welcome,

[00:48] Andrew. I I want to uh again express my

[00:51] sympathy at the loss of your friend.

[00:53] They say time heals all things. It

[00:55] doesn't. Um, so my sympathies to you. I

[00:58] know that you lost an extremely

[01:01] close friend. Tell us what happened,

[01:03] which criterion were allegedly unmet,

[01:07] and whether TPUSA will reapply at St.

[01:10] John's.

[01:12] >> Yeah. Well, thank you for the sentiment,

[01:14] Trey. And, um, you're right. There's c

[01:16] certain things you uh, you don't get

[01:18] over. Um, and uh, but we're we're doing

[01:20] our best to continue honoring what uh,

[01:22] Charlie Charlie's mission was and his

[01:24] legacy through Turning Point. So, and

[01:26] and I'm so glad to talk about St. John's

[01:28] because this is exactly what he spent

[01:30] his life doing. And to to answer your

[01:33] question, no, they they didn't give us

[01:35] much clear clarity at all. Their letter

[01:37] to us was vague. It just said, "Sorry,

[01:39] at this time, we regret to inform you."

[01:42] And it's, you know, it's a lot of

[01:44] hypocrisy involved, especially Trey, I

[01:46] want to highlight this for your audience

[01:48] with Catholic and Christian private

[01:50] universities across the country. We are

[01:52] at a point now, Trey, after Charlie's

[01:54] assassination where all the Ivy Leagues,

[01:57] which historically never let us form

[02:00] chapters, they're all getting on board

[02:02] and they're lapping these private

[02:04] Catholic and Christian universities.

[02:05] >> So, I just want to point out here really

[02:07] quick. Listen to what he is saying. He's

[02:09] saying a private entity will not let us

[02:12] in. And he just said the Ivy League

[02:14] schools didn't let them in previously

[02:15] and now they are. That's great. Sure. If

[02:18] they're a good organization and they're

[02:20] doing good things and they're vetting

[02:22] their pastors and leadership for

[02:23] criminal activity, especially against

[02:25] youth, then great. That's awesome. If

[02:27] it's a good cause, but a private entity,

[02:31] as far as I know, doesn't legally have

[02:32] any obligation to let you in. So, just

[02:35] listen to what he says about this. They

[02:37] are time and time again the worst of the

[02:39] worst. When it comes to St. John's, we

[02:41] got rejected the first time in 2020.

[02:44] Then we got rejected again in 2024 and

[02:46] now again uh just just uh recently. And

[02:49] what's interesting about this actually

[02:50] our field rep in New York City is a guy

[02:53] named Anthony Romano. I recommend

[02:55] everybody check him out on X. He's been

[02:57] keeping everybody apprised of this

[02:58] story. He was actually the chapter

[03:01] member that was trying to form the RSO

[03:03] in 2020. Gets rejected. was so

[03:05] disappointed at St. John's because he's

[03:07] a proud Catholic local New York boy. He

[03:10] ended up transferring to Alabama and

[03:12] getting involved in the chapter there

[03:14] and he was once once he graduated he

[03:16] went to work for us and now he's trying

[03:18] to do the good work uh that he can in

[03:20] New York City because he he sees the

[03:23] hypocrisy uh in in plain view. I mean

[03:26] there's every kind of LGBTQ plus group

[03:28] you can imagine. There's pro Palestine

[03:30] Palestine groups uh at St. John's. They

[03:33] even make housing for gender affirming

[03:36] housing and and they have special

[03:38] lavender graduation ceremonies.

[03:40] Everything you can imagine at St.

[03:42] John's. Uh but for some reason, a

[03:44] pro-America, pro- capitalist,

[03:46] conservative student group is beyond the

[03:49] pale for these folks. Well, like a smart

[03:51] guy, you anticipated my next question. I

[03:53] was going to ask you, when I hear

[03:55] Catholic, I think anti-death penalty,

[03:57] for instance, which I respect. I mean,

[03:59] if that's your position, that's fine.

[04:01] It's not mine, but if that's yours,

[04:03] that's fine. I I I was going to ask you,

[04:05] are there groups that have been approved

[04:08] that that would make us like think this

[04:11] is like rank hypocrisy? It is

[04:13] contentbased discrimination, but you

[04:16] just laid out things that I'm pretty

[04:18] sure the Catholic Church doesn't teach.

[04:21] Yeah. Well, they even have a letter, and

[04:24] I I apologize for looking at my phone

[04:26] because it it blew me away. I was like,

[04:28] I need that written. they have uh their

[04:31] bishops support LGBTQ and affirm them.

[04:35] So, you know, it just it's a very

[04:37] fascinating thing. And I have a list

[04:38] here, Trey, because again, this isn't

[04:40] just a problem at St. John's. This is

[04:42] across the country at Catholic and

[04:44] Christian private universities. Time and

[04:46] time again, they are the biggest

[04:47] cowards. And so, I'm going to I'm going

[04:49] to call them out. Lyola University,

[04:52] Xavier, Satan Hall, Isuza Pacific,

[04:55] PointLoma, Nazarene, Catholic University

[04:57] that this has been a trend and it

[05:00] typically is a situation where they're,

[05:03] you know, a Christian or Catholic

[05:04] university in a blue state and they

[05:06] don't want to offend the political

[05:09] leaders of that state.

[05:10] >> There's a few different ways you can

[05:11] look at this. The first way is that if

[05:14] you believe in TPUSA and what they're

[05:16] doing and you believe it's for a good

[05:18] cause and you are on the right, then

[05:21] everything they're saying is yes, you

[05:23] would want to get TPUSA and their

[05:26] ideologies in a chapter in those

[05:29] locations where there's a lot of

[05:30] wokeism. But the other side of that is

[05:32] it's a private university or a private

[05:35] organization and you are basically

[05:37] trying to bully them and defame them on

[05:41] Fox News to try to force them to let you

[05:44] in.

[05:44] >> And so time and time again, the

[05:46] university presidents could overrule uh

[05:49] these decisions. They could overrule

[05:51] them and intercede. They choose not to.

[05:53] So, if you happen to be an alumnest or a

[05:56] donor at some of these universities I

[05:58] just mentioned, the only way to get

[05:59] around this at a private Christian or

[06:02] Catholic school is to put pressure on

[06:04] them. So, we're we're asking for your

[06:06] help out there. Put the pressure on. Let

[06:08] them know this is not okay. Let them

[06:10] know that the hypocrisy is not okay.

[06:11] These are school chap.

[06:13] >> Now, I want to switch gears a little

[06:14] bit. This is another video. This is also

[06:18] for St. John's. This just sparked a

[06:21] fierce campus battle. At St. John's

[06:23] University, the student government

[06:25] rejected a proposal to start a Turning

[06:28] Point USA chapter in the wake of Charlie

[06:30] Kirk's assassination, saying it failed

[06:33] the recognition process. A decision

[06:36] critics call suppression of conservative

[06:39] voices and free speech.

[06:41] >> So again, if you have a private church,

[06:43] if you have a private school, you can

[06:45] tell them no. Should they keep

[06:47] attempting to come in and harassing you

[06:50] and defaming you and threatening you

[06:52] kind of, right? It's not a direct

[06:53] threat, but um they're basically saying

[06:56] like, "Hey, you know, we're going to put

[06:57] a ton of pressure on you. We're going to

[06:58] challenge you and force you basically to

[07:00] let us in there as much as we can." And

[07:03] they've been trying for what do you say

[07:04] 20 22 2020? So, you know, it's been five

[07:08] or six years of being rejected by this

[07:09] school and they just keep going. Which

[07:12] again, if they're a good organization

[07:15] and they have something to offer, then

[07:17] maybe they should be considered. But I'm

[07:19] not sure if it's appropriate to act in

[07:21] this manner where you're saying you're

[07:23] going to get a bunch of people to put

[07:24] pressure on them. That sounds kind of

[07:25] familiar, right? There's there's certain

[07:28] groups that are putting pressure on

[07:29] other groups to try to force them to

[07:31] believe something or act a certain way.

[07:33] Turning Point USA, a conservative

[07:35] activist organization founded by Charlie

[07:37] Cook in 2012, focuses on promoting free

[07:39] market principles, limited government,

[07:41] and cultural conservatism through

[07:42] student chapters on campuses and high

[07:44] schools.

[07:46] This says that they are doing free

[07:48] market principles and limited

[07:50] government. Yet, they are trying to

[07:52] force and pressure themselves into these

[07:54] private organizations. TPSA faith

[07:57] launched in 2021 extends the mission and

[07:59] that goes to churches and it encourages

[08:01] pastors and congregations to engage in

[08:04] political activism framed as biblical

[08:06] citizenship. And this is some of the

[08:08] stuff that some people are alleging is

[08:11] crossing the lines as a 501c3

[08:15] into political activism and um basically

[08:19] pushing very specific candidates and/or

[08:22] parties which they're not technically

[08:24] allowed to do. The organization has

[08:26] 1,400 college chapters, 3,000 plus high

[08:29] school chapters branded as Club America,

[08:31] and partnerships with more than 9,500

[08:33] churches as of late 2025 with explosive

[08:36] growth after Charlie Crick's

[08:38] assassination, receiving over 140,000

[08:40] student inquiries and doubling the

[08:43] church network. While TBSA emphasizes

[08:45] voluntary student led initiatives and

[08:47] church partnerships, critics from groups

[08:49] like the American Association of

[08:51] University Professors, Southern Poverty

[08:53] Law Center, and some Christian

[08:55] Discernment Ministries accuse the

[08:57] organization of aggressive tactics such

[09:00] as forcing pressure on them until they

[09:02] accept them, including staging

[09:03] provocations, leveraging political

[09:06] pressure, and promoting controversial

[09:08] ideologies like Christian nationalism

[09:10] and dominionism to expand influence.

[09:12] TPUSA's expansion into schools has

[09:15] involved staff and volunteers providing

[09:17] resources like organizing guides,

[09:19] speaker bureaus, and campaigns to help

[09:21] students establish chapters. However,

[09:23] this has led to numerous denials by

[09:25] school administrations, often citing

[09:27] concerns over the group's provocative

[09:28] style, ties to extremism, or duplication

[09:32] of existing clubs. In response, TPUSA in

[09:35] support of Republican le states have

[09:38] used legal and political pressure to

[09:40] override denials, which critics view as

[09:42] forcing chapters onto unwilling

[09:44] institutions. And here we have Erica

[09:47] Kirk. She's with Dan Patrick and this is

[09:49] Ali Top Files with this post and she

[09:53] says there's this book and the book says

[09:58] Turning Point Education.

[10:02] So, is there a turning point school?

[10:06] Are they doing educational content

[10:09] inside these chapters or is this

[10:11] something that's up and coming? So,

[10:13] let's look at this here. Turning Point

[10:15] Education. The Turning Point Education

[10:17] team has a wealth of academic business

[10:19] and ministry experience and a passion

[10:20] for seeing Western civilization thrive,

[10:22] young people flourish, and God exalted

[10:25] by all. And here we have their

[10:26] leadership. And some of these are

[10:28] familiar faces, especially this pastor

[10:31] here, John Aman Chuku, if I'm saying

[10:34] that correctly. I believe he was also on

[10:36] DD Got a podcast and did an interview

[10:38] with him talking about uh some of the

[10:41] Charlie Kirk stuff, I believe, as well

[10:42] as the uh pastorial work. But it's

[10:45] interesting that the Turning Point

[10:47] Education has a pastor as an advocate.

[10:50] Now, before I did this video, I was

[10:52] unaware of TP Education. I've heard of

[10:56] Turning Point Endowment, Turning Point

[10:58] Action, and TPUSA Faith in addition to

[11:00] TPUSA.

[11:01] But now, apparently, there's the

[11:03] Education Wing. We did hear rumors of a

[11:06] possible political run by Erica Kirk

[11:08] from Frank Turk and from Mikey McCoy and

[11:10] a call with Rob McCoy. And then we've

[11:13] also heard rumors of like a TPUSA realy

[11:16] or like realtor training or a realy

[11:18] company or something similar. So, it

[11:20] seems like they're really branching out.

[11:22] Now, here are some allegations and

[11:23] reports from people that have dealt with

[11:25] TPUSA trying to get it chapters done.

[11:28] State level mandates and threats. Texas,

[11:30] Florida, Oklahoma 2025. Governors and

[11:32] officials have actively pushed for TPSA

[11:34] chapters in public schools, threatening

[11:36] action against resistant districts. In

[11:39] Texas, Governor Greg Abbott announced a

[11:41] plan to establish chapters in every high

[11:43] school, directing complaints to the

[11:44] Texas Education Agency for meaningful

[11:47] disciplinary action against blockers.

[11:49] So, they are forcing these high schools

[11:51] to specifically allow a TPUSA chapter.

[11:53] They don't have a choice. Framing it as

[11:56] a values-driven mission. Florida's

[11:58] attorney general legal action against

[12:00] the schools rejecting chapters, citing

[12:02] viewpoint discrimination. Oklahoma's

[12:05] education chief partner with TPSA to

[12:07] place chapters in every school despite

[12:09] union opposition, reporting record

[12:12] requests, but overriding woke

[12:13] administrators. These efforts follow a

[12:15] surge of 120,000 plus chapter inquiries

[12:19] post Charlie Kirk's death with Tupa USA

[12:22] starting 50 new chapters daily. Critics

[12:25] include parents and educators. They

[12:26] argue that this constitutes government

[12:28] forced imposition potentially violating

[12:31] local autonomy and exposing students to

[12:34] racist, homophobic and sexist rhetoric.

[12:37] And also remember too that the line

[12:40] between TPUSA faith, TPUSA action and

[12:43] TPUSA seems to get blurred quite a bit.

[12:46] And now if you put them in schools and

[12:47] force them in schools, are there going

[12:49] to be other lines that are crossed or

[12:50] potentially crossed? University denials

[12:52] and persistent attempts multiple

[12:54] Christian and public institutions 2021

[12:56] to 2025. That's like that first video

[12:58] that we watched. Several Christian

[13:00] colleges rejected TPS USA chapters

[13:02] citing conflicts with faith policies or

[13:04] the group's professor watch list which

[13:06] profiles radical professors and has

[13:08] driven harassment. Pointloma Nazarene

[13:10] University denied a chapter three times

[13:13] fearing a TPUSA faith arm would

[13:14] eliminate wokeism in churches. Vanguard

[13:17] University Christian banned all

[13:19] political groups after a TPUSA chapter

[13:21] went underground. Catholic University of

[13:24] America rejected applications in 2021

[13:26] and 2025, claiming overlap with existing

[13:29] groups, but students alleged bias and

[13:31] reported their social media being shut

[13:33] down. St. John's University Catholic and

[13:36] Loyola University New Orleans denied

[13:38] chapters twice each. TPSA's response

[13:41] often involves public campaigns are

[13:44] going on Fox News, legal advocacy from

[13:46] groups like First Liberty University,

[13:49] and claims of free speech violations.

[13:51] The AAP notes TPSA chapters stage and

[13:55] film controversies to gain visibility,

[13:58] including violent incidents like an

[14:00] assault at Arizona State University.

[14:02] High school controversies and

[14:03] harassment. At Fremont High School in

[14:05] Utah, a chapter sparked controversy

[14:07] after Kirk's death with supporters

[14:09] claiming silencing attempts. In

[14:11] Colorado, students faced poster

[14:13] vandalism by teachers and hallway

[14:14] harassment leading to disbandment.

[14:17] Petitions emerged to remove chapters

[14:18] from schools like Sigurro High in

[14:20] Arizona and Eagle Valley High in

[14:22] Colorado, citing National TPUSA's

[14:24] alleged hate speech. Mike Ben suggested

[14:27] federal intervention for civil rights

[14:29] violations and denials. And similarly,

[14:32] TPUSA faith targets churches by offering

[14:34] sermon templates, training, voter

[14:35] registration drives, and events like

[14:37] Freedom Night in America or pastor

[14:39] summits to equip the faith community for

[14:41] civic engagement. Partnerships are

[14:44] voluntary, yet they're using political

[14:46] and legal pressure to force people to do

[14:49] what they want. Partnerships are

[14:51] voluntary, but critics accuse TPUSA of

[14:53] infiltrating churches with dominionist

[14:55] or NR influenced theology, take back the

[14:58] nation through spiritual warfare,

[15:00] blurring church state lines, which I've

[15:03] spoken about, and using grift tactics.

[15:06] No sources describe outright forcing,

[15:09] but aggressive recruitment and

[15:10] platforming controversial figures. Now,

[15:12] this is really interesting as well.

[15:14] TPUSA faith grew from 4200 to 9,500

[15:17] church partnerships post Kirk's death.

[15:20] So, they more than doubled, hosting

[15:22] events at venues like Foothills

[15:23] Christian Church and Freedom House

[15:25] Church. In Maine, 20 plus churches

[15:28] launched chapters in 2025. So, it's not

[15:30] like they're not growing. They've

[15:33] doubled. They've more than doubled in

[15:34] size. So, why are they pushing so hard

[15:36] to be in everywhere and everything with

[15:39] everyone? Even these private

[15:41] organizations and churches and schools

[15:43] critics like former TPUSA faith

[15:45] contributor John Root alleged

[15:46] exploitation such as Fo's donation asked

[15:49] during false revival events bankrolled

[15:51] by TPUSA. Theological and political

[15:54] pressure various churches TPS USA faith

[15:56] encourages pastors to court political

[15:59] controversy and view activism as a

[16:01] gospel mandate. And again, that's where

[16:04] you're starting to blur those lines of

[16:06] church and state. And as a 501c3, that's

[16:10] why certain people like Danks and Wilson

[16:13] Finance are looking into this to see if

[16:16] there's something there that might

[16:17] possibly be illegal or, you know, tap

[16:21] dancing on the edge of illegal.

[16:22] Partnering with figures like Rob McCoy,

[16:24] the SPLC describes this as promoting

[16:26] Christian supremacy and myths of

[16:28] persecution to mobilize churches. At

[16:31] events like America Fest 2025, leaders

[16:33] frame TPUSA as building a Christian

[16:36] nation, exposing riffs in the Christian

[16:38] right. Some churches, like those

[16:40] associated with Churches of Christ, host

[16:42] chapters, but grapple with Kirk's legacy

[16:44] of prioritizing politics over doctrine.

[16:48] And I think that kind of goes back to

[16:50] this gospel mandate of courting

[16:53] political controversies. Now, supporters

[16:55] of TPUSA, they argue that these efforts

[16:59] defend free speech and biblical values

[17:01] against woke suppression with legal

[17:03] backing from the First Amendment. I know

[17:05] many people would probably argue that

[17:07] the Biden administration did the exact

[17:09] opposite. They were pushing wokeism and

[17:12] LGBTQ rights and transgender people

[17:16] reading books to children and

[17:19] transgender people in full drag in a

[17:22] church teaching the sermon or dancing up

[17:25] and down the aisles. Right? So, it was

[17:28] like the exact opposite extreme. And

[17:30] here we have the TPUSA chapters list.

[17:34] Doesn't look like they're doing too bad.

[17:37] It looks like red is the chapters

[17:41] and then blue is activism hubs. A lot of

[17:44] people get confused about the difference

[17:45] between political activism and political

[17:48] campaigns which is where that 501c3 kind

[17:51] of tap dancing on the edge right. So

[17:52] activism refers to direct often

[17:55] grassroots actions such as protests,

[17:57] boycots or in some cases civil

[17:58] disobedience. Now remember that TPUSA

[18:01] sent bus loads of kids or I guess

[18:03] college students whatever they were out

[18:05] to the J6 event and that's aimed

[18:08] primarily at achieving social or

[18:09] political change. Now a political

[18:11] campaign which you are not allowed to do

[18:13] as a 501c3 is a structured strategic and

[18:16] often timebound process that uses

[18:19] organized efforts communication and

[18:20] frequently policy advocacy to reach

[18:23] specific measurable goals. Now, many

[18:26] people would argue that that's what

[18:27] Charlie Kirk was doing with TP USA to

[18:31] get Trump elected. Now, as many of you

[18:32] know, Arctic Frost was the code name for

[18:35] a 2022 FBI investigation into President

[18:37] Donald Trump and his allies, and that

[18:39] also included Charlie Kirk and TP USA.

[18:42] There's a video out that shows Charlie

[18:43] basically saying that if President Trump

[18:46] hadn't won that he would probably go to

[18:48] federal prison. And I don't know what

[18:50] specifically the Biden administration

[18:52] was looking for or looking into, but

[18:54] there's a lot of allegations out there.

[18:56] So, it's very interesting that it almost

[18:59] seemed, this is just my opinion, that

[19:02] Charlie Kirk and TPSA crossed the line

[19:05] possibly of the 501c3 and went from

[19:08] political activism into campaigning. And

[19:11] then we had Erica Kirk endorsing JD

[19:13] Vance at a TPUSA event. Now, they are

[19:16] not supposed to endorse a specific

[19:18] candidate. So, let me know your

[19:19] thoughts. Do you think that there's some

[19:22] funny business going here? Is this just

[19:23] business as usual? Is this something you

[19:25] would expect from this type of

[19:26] organization? Let me know in the

[19:28] comments down below. And as always,

[19:30] don't forget to like, subscribe, and

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[19:36] the next one.