President fires up conservative teens
Trump’s base extends to Turning Point USA
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump shared some of his pet peeves — academic speech codes, social-media giants and the “fake news” media — with a sympathetic audience of conservative teens and young adults at the Turning Point USA teen summit in Washington on Tuesday.
“The voices of political correctness want to silence conservative students and make them feel alone, marginalized and afraid,” Trump told the cheering crowd dotted with MAGA hats.
Turning Point USA has sparked controversy. In March, prosecutors charged a 28-year-old software engineer with three felony counts after he allegedly punched the face of Hayden Williams, who was trying to recruit students at the University of California, Berkeley for the group, which focuses on fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government.
For this younger crowd, Trump called to the stage three teens who discussed being targeted for their beliefs. Hunter Richard of San Antonio was enjoying a cheeseburger with friends when someone threw a drink in his face and stole his MAGA hat.
Trump invited Richard onstage, where he told Trump he had one complaint, “Mr. President, I only get to have you as my president for six more years.”
When Connecticut students tried to open a Turning Point chapter at their high school, a school board member charged they were “racist, sexist bullies who are brainwashed by their Republican parents,” the Hartford Courant reported.
Wearing a jacket, tie and MAGA hat, the high school chapter’s Dan Gallipoli stood by Trump and declared, “No matter the teacher, no matter the student, no matter the faculty, we will stand up for what we believe in.”
Someone released pepper spray at a Park City, Utah, high school ahead of a Turning Point USA meeting. Club president Ryan Zink told the room of about 1,500: “I do believe the free speech in our schools is currently at stake. Us conservative students — there are many cases: myself, some other people that I’ve met here, and across the country — are being silenced, are being shut down by — whether it be their schools, teachers, friends. We’re not being listened to properly.”
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @Debrajsaunders on Twitter.