Erika Kirk, the new leader of Turning Point USA, kicked off this year’s annual conference in Phoenix on Thursday by calling for attendees to honor her late husband’s memory and get JD Vance elected in 2028.
Erika Kirk was quickly chosen as the new leader of Turning Point following Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September.
AmericaFest is a four-day conference featuring conservative speakers and informational sessions, which began with a moment of silence and a video presentation for Kirk.
Thousands of people from all over the country, and even other parts of the world, poured into the main room at Phoenix Convention Center on opening night.
In the wake of her husband’s death, Erika Kirk announced thousands of new colleges and high schools have started new Turning Point chapters.
She said there are “4,514 total chapters as of today and we are starting 50 chapters per day at Turning Point USA. It’s amazing."
Roughly a third of the attendees at AmericaFest are young students in college and high school. That’s a key part of Turning Point’s movement: engaging the youth and meeting them where they are, often on campus.
“As long as you’re connected to Turning Point USA we will empower you and give you whatever you need,” Kirk told students.
Turning Point is also well known for engaging young men — but Kirk noted in her speech that more than half of the attendees this year are actually women.
Kirk made it clear that the Turning Point her late husband started will continue. Charlie Kirk’s famous “prove me wrong” open invitation debate events on campuses will continue, Erika Kirk announced.
On the political side, Kirk said Turning Point aims to keep Congress in Republican control for the entirety of President Donald Trump’s term and is already working to get Vice President J.D. Vance elected in 2028 as the 48th president of the United States.
“We are going to get my husband’s friend, JD Vance, elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” Kirk said.
She and other speakers spoke about the importance of maintaining the “red wall,” which is Arizona, Nevada and New Hampshire. Keeping those states in Republican hands is expected to be key for the next election cycles.
Kirk encouraged people to remember her late husband and to honor his memory by getting involved.
“We are going to honor him not just with words but with actions,” Kirk said.
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