Have you seen extremists on the far-right trying to connect with certain groups of voters? We’ve talked before about how they target young women; now, let’s look at how they target young men.
One of the most insidious actors is Turning Point USA, an extreme-right organization run by Charlie Kirk that targets youth across the country. Kirk’s goal is to recruit young people into the far-right movement by making conservatism seem “cool.” They project a clean-cut, straight-laced image in an effort to appear less threatening than other far-right extremist groups, hoping that they can draw more people in and make their radical ideas seem normal.
Turning Point’s messaging is not really “conservative.” Instead, it centers around white male “grievances,” claiming to be victims of liberal values like equality and inclusion. They want to return society to what they consider to be “traditional” values, but what the Anti-Defamation League has identified as sexist gender roles and racist and antisemitic goals. Kirk knows this rhetoric appeals to young men who are feeling disrespected and isolated because it validates their feelings. Turning Point USA offers them a community and a sense of belonging. Once they lure in vulnerable followers by talking about these issues, they expose them to their more radical ideas. Their end goal is to promote a more authoritarian, anti-democratic government in the U.S.
In fact, one of the overarching themes that Turning Point USA promotes is that the U.S. is not a democracy. It gets worse, because their messaging is also filled with hyper-masculine and aggressive themes of defiance, revolution, violence, and guns. They prop up people including Donald Trump, who consistently incites violence, and Kyle Rittenhouse, who murdered Black Lives Matter protesters, as heroes. This is especially dangerous because we know that Turning Point keeps a “professor watchlist” and a “school board watch” to name and monitor educators and administrators who they don’t agree with. Stoking rage with this kind of messaging while idolizing violence and keeping lists of perceived enemies is a recipe for disaster.
Kirk and Turning Point USA started off by speaking on college campuses, where they knew they could reach large audiences of people who are in a vulnerable time of transition and self-exploration. They’ve now expanded their reach through social media campaigns, TV and other forms of media, political campaigns, faith-based activities, and their own AmericaFest conference. They have more than 10 million followers online.
The good news is, there are many groups of young people who are countering Turning Point USA’s message, so we need to support them! Red Wine & Blue helps women engage in our local schools and communities and in the coming weeks, we’ll keep talking about what we can do to stop Turning Point USA from radicalizing young men.