Josh Hammer on Turning Point USA's Future After Charlie Kirk and the Threats It Faces

[00:00] Talk to me about turning point as an

[00:03] organization. It is so so important but

[00:07] without Charlie who who was the biggest

[00:11] main part of that are you worried that

[00:14] there is there is risk that it won't

[00:16] survive particularly

[00:19] with so many different people coming at

[00:21] it now the likes of Candace and you've

[00:23] been a a victim of of her crazy as well

[00:26] but she is really going for them hard.

[00:29] Will people suddenly become confused

[00:31] about who it is they are and what it is

[00:33] they stand for? Is there a risk that it

[00:35] falls apart without Charlie?

[00:37] >> There's always a risk. I mean, every

[00:39] time you that you have an organization

[00:40] that is intimately affiliated with an

[00:43] individual and that individual is no

[00:45] longer there, there's certainly always a

[00:46] risk. I I think turning point to this

[00:48] point, Erin, is probably too big to fail

[00:51] or at least too big to fail in the short

[00:52] to midterm. amount of chapters that

[00:55] they've started after Charlie's death.

[00:57] They've started tens and tens of

[00:59] thousands of new chapters on college and

[01:00] high school campuses. I mean I mean

[01:02] literally I I I forgot the exact numbers

[01:05] but but but prior to Charlie's horrific

[01:07] assassination I think the total number

[01:09] of Turning Point USA chapters

[01:11] >> was I I I think 2,000 or less 3,000

[01:13] something like that. The number now is

[01:15] literally like 50 to 60,000. So there's

[01:17] been a a a a shocking expansion, a a a

[01:20] shocking interest here, and they've had

[01:23] a lot of donations coming in as well. So

[01:25] in the short to midterm, I think they're

[01:26] going to be a-ok. Okay. Completely fine.

[01:28] In the mid to long term, any

[01:29] organization can only sustain itself,

[01:31] especially especially as a not for

[01:33] profofit if you have a a set of

[01:36] principles that you are dedicated

[01:38] towards pursuing. So there are a lot of

[01:41] folks now that seem to me to be

[01:43] interested in trying to hijack Turning

[01:45] Point USA and to alter the principles

[01:48] that Charlie Kirk founded it on. And the

[01:50] and a lot of this kind of post Charlie

[01:52] Kirk assassination discussion is

[01:54] actually really getting at this. A lot

[01:56] of it is divide back. A lot of it is

[01:58] just pure gutter anti-semitism. But part

[02:00] of it is a deliberate attempt to try to

[02:03] turn this extraordinarily powerful

[02:04] vehicle in American politics in a very

[02:07] different direction than what it had

[02:09] been there. And it is it is incredibly

[02:12] important that those forces not win.

[02:14] That's actually part of the reason why

[02:16] I've been so outspoken over the past

[02:18] month, give or take, about Charlie,

[02:20] about his legacy, about my friendship

[02:22] with him, pushing back on the crazies,

[02:24] and people have said that he was turning

[02:26] on Israel. Then Ken that said there was

[02:27] an intervention at this retreat in the

[02:29] Hamptons. I was at that retreat. It

[02:31] didn't happen. Obviously, the latest

[02:32] insanity from Kenis this past week about

[02:35] I I can't even say. I mean, my alleged

[02:37] complicity in the murder. So I I mean

[02:39] the reason I've been so outspoken is not

[02:41] just on a personal level because it is

[02:43] imperative that Turning Point USA stay

[02:45] the course and stay true to what its

[02:47] founder Charlie Kirk wanted there. So

[02:49] you know I don't have all the answers. I

[02:51] don't I don't exactly know what

[02:52] Turningoint USA will look like in 5

[02:54] years that they're more than fine aokay

[02:56] in the short term. In the mid to long

[02:57] term I think that their success will be

[02:59] defined by their willingness and their

[03:01] ability to stay true to their founders

[03:03] vision.

[03:04] >> Eric Kirk is obviously dealing with with

[03:07] hell on earth. I can't even imagine.

[03:09] >> Does she need to come out and clarify

[03:11] Charlie's position when it comes to

[03:13] Israel just because it has been

[03:15] weaponized to the extent that that it

[03:18] could do serious damage to the

[03:19] organization he started?

[03:22] >> I don't think it's my role to say that

[03:24] Erica Kirk should do or should not do

[03:27] anything at at this moment. Right. This

[03:29] is a woman who just lost the love of her

[03:31] life. She is a grieving widow to young

[03:34] children. And I believe it's a matter of

[03:35] public record that her mother is also in

[03:37] ailing health. So she's got she's got a

[03:39] lot going on to put him mildly. And uh I

[03:41] don't think it's helpful for for me to

[03:43] say that she should do something. I do

[03:46] think it would be helpful. I will I will

[03:48] say I think it would be helpful if Erica

[03:50] and Turning Point as an organization

[03:53] released some sort of statement saying

[03:56] that Candace Owens has no idea what

[03:58] she's talking about that Josh Hammer was

[04:01] not involved that Turning Point was not

[04:02] involved. the turning point. It was not

[04:04] an inside job that my friend Andrew Kov,

[04:06] the executive producer of the Charlie

[04:08] Kirk show, who's been the main uh host

[04:10] of of the show since Charlie was killed.

[04:12] You know, Andrew's name has been

[04:13] implicated as well by Candace and others

[04:15] there. So, it'll be helpful if some sort

[04:17] of statement were to come out, whether

[04:19] it's from Erica or from Turning Point or

[04:21] from someone else there. But ultimately

[04:23] the proof will be in the pudding and

[04:25] ultimately, you know, we'll we will we

[04:26] will find out sooner rather than later

[04:28] the extent to which Turning Point USA

[04:30] continues in in Charlie's footsteps

[04:32] versus goes down some other path. I I I

[04:35] I think it's going to be okay, but uh

[04:38] you know admittedly there are a lot of

[04:39] of forces, some very powerful ones,

[04:42] including some folks within, you know,

[04:45] some some wolves in the hen house such

[04:47] as Tucker Carlson who are very much

[04:48] trying to kind of take this in an

[04:50] unfortunate direction.

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