Turning Point USA is under fire from some of its top members after, they say, it attempted to exploit the murder of Mollie Tibbetts. The right wing conservative college activist group with strong Trump ties has quickly become the face of young Republicans, despite its founder’s false remarks and repeated accusations of racism against the organization.
On Friday, the executive board of one of TPUSA’s supposed 350 college campus chapters resigned. As they detail in an open letter (below), founder Charlie Kirk and director of communications Candace Owens wanted to hold an “immigration event” on the campus of the University of Iowa, in response to the murder of Tibbetts.
Mollie Tibbetts was a student at the University of Iowa. Right wing media and the Trump administration have been using her murder, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant, as a rallying cry to support the president’s demonization of all immigrants.
The executive board of the University of Iowa’s TPUSA chapter “respectfully decline[d]” the request.
“We find it in poor taste to exploit the death to suit a political agenda,” they write. Saying they “would like time to grieve and mourn,” they note they “are all shocked, hurting, and in need of more respect than what was given to us by Turning Point USA.”
The board members also denounce the “public harassment from Turning Point USA’s Communications Director, Candace Owens.” Owens and Kirk are frequent Fox News guests.
Here’s a copy of their letter:
TPUSA is funded by longtime Republican Foster Friess, a billionaire evangelical Christian perhaps best known for saying the only birth control women only need is keeping an aspirin between their knees. He was endorsed by President Trump in his failed attempt to become governor of Wyoming, losing the primary race this week.
TPUSA works closely with Donald Trump Jr., who has spoken at their rallies and frequently retweets Charlie Kirk. President Trump was interviewed by Kirk, and Kirk has also appeared in Trump campaign propaganda, like this.
Last month, after Attorney General Jeff Sessions joined in a “lock her up” chant while speaking at a TPUSA rally, The New York Times profiled the group in an article titled, “A Place Where Conservative Teenagers Feel Free to Be Themselves.”
Image: TPUSA University off Iowa chapter Facebook page