Turning Point USA concluded its spring college campus tour Tuesday at the University of Idaho with an energetic crowd, a stark contrast to earlier stops that drew sparse attendance. The event featured conservative commentators Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles from The Daily Wire as headliners at the Idaho Central Credit Union Arena on the university campus in Moscow, Idaho.
The tour, titled "This is the Turning Point Tour," included high-profile appearances by Vice President JD Vance and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at other campuses. However, the Idaho event differed from previous stops by featuring podcast personalities rather than Trump administration officials or political candidates.
Erika Kirk, CEO of Turning Point USA and widow of founder Charlie Kirk, who was murdered last year, canceled her appearance at an April 14th event at the University of Georgia citing security concerns. The Georgia event drew low-energy crowds with sparse attendance, according to NPR reporting. A planned April 30th event at Iowa State University featuring Kirk alongside Vance was also canceled.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive critics argue that Turning Point USA uses college campus events to spread views on issues like abortion and immigration that they say target vulnerable populations. During the Idaho event, Walsh engaged in a debate with an attendee about a graph he cited claiming a growing number of mass shooters are transgender—a claim critics have called misleading.
Other attendees described using Turning Point's videos as educational resources during disagreements with professors over abortion at their California college. The organization has faced scrutiny for its approach to campus debates and the language used around issues like immigration, which critics say dehumanizes immigrant communities.
Progressive organizations that monitor conservative campus activism say events like Turning Point's tour can create hostile environments for students from marginalized backgrounds. They argue that framing certain policies in terms of protecting American identity, as some attendees at the Idaho event expressed, overlooks the contributions of immigrants and international students.
What the Right Is Saying
Supporters describe Turning Point USA as a vehicle for engaging young people in conservative politics. Attendees like Chloe Moes, 20, who drove more than 500 miles from California to attend the Idaho event, said she found the organization's content helpful for articulating conservative positions during conversations with those she disagreed with.
"This is the way to reach younger minds, especially younger, well-influenced minds," Moes told NPR. Marissa Aten, 23, who traveled from Nevada, said consuming Turning Point's content helped her develop arguments on topics like abortion and immigration to present to others.
Walsh and Knowles encouraged young attendees to get involved in politics and continue what they described as the movement Kirk started. During a question-and-answer segment, a 17-year-old attendee received applause when suggesting the Republican Party was leaning toward an "America First" approach on foreign policy issues.
What the Numbers Show
The Idaho Central Credit Union Arena can typically seat more than 4,000 people for sporting events. However, Turning Point USA requested to limit seating three times throughout the planning process, reducing capacity from an initial 3,000 to over 1,000 before settling on 869 seats. The organization did not respond to NPR's question about why it reduced event capacity.
Attendees began lining up outside the arena hours before the Tuesday event. As start time approached, the line extended down sidewalks and wrapped around the football stadium dome. Despite the capped seating, more than 1,000 people were turned away from the event. When Knowles took the stage, he acknowledged those unable to attend.
"I'm very sorry for the over 1,000 people who did not make it in the room tonight, but who wanted to be here," Knowles said during his opening remarks.
The Bottom Line
The enthusiastic turnout at the University of Idaho marks a notable recovery from earlier tour stops that drew sparse crowds and faced event cancellations. The success came without high-profile political figures, suggesting the organization's brand may still resonate with young conservative audiences regardless of specific headliners.
During discussions about the Republican Party's future after President Trump leaves office, Walsh told attendees that now is the time to shape what the party stands for in the next decade. "What's going to define it for the next ten years?" Walsh asked. "Now's the perfect time to get in that fight and get into the conversation about what the next ten years of the Republican Party's going to look like."
Turning Point USA will likely evaluate whether to continue campus-focused programming or shift toward different venues as it navigates its future without its founder, while progressive critics say they will continue monitoring the organization's activities on college campuses across the country.