Texas has officially launched a partnership with Turning Point USA—an organization that advocates for far-right, conservative politics co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk—to create chapters on every high school and college campus in the state.
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both Republicans, announced the initiative during a press conference at the Governor’s Mansion on Monday.
Although they did not reveal specific plans that would require schools to start the clubs, Abbott said that he expects “meaningful disciplinary action” to take place against “any stoppage of TPUSA in the great state of Texas.”
“Let me be clear: Any school that stands in the way of a Club America program in their school should be reported immediately to the Texas Education Agency,” Abbott said. “This is about constitutional principles. This is about a restoration of who we are as a country.”
He also claimed that protecting the group’s presence is part of honoring Kirk’s vision and legacy, and ensures that students have access to what he called “essential moral guidance.”
But petitions calling for the removal of Turning Point chapters in public schools across the country have emerged, and higher education faculty in Texas are facing harassment thanks to the organization’s watchlist targeting instructors it claims have views contrary to Turning Point’s.
