Fox News ghosts Turning Point USA as right-wing group gears up for convention: report

The right-wing student organization Turning Point USA is being iced out by Fox News as they prepare to roll out a first-of-its-kind convention that ought to have been ample ground for the network to cover and participate in, reported The Daily Beast on Monday.

"In years past, the cable network maintained a close, nearly symbiotic relationship with the Charlie Kirk-led MAGA student group, with Fox News stars regularly appearing at TPUSA events and Fox Nation livestreaming the entirety of the org’s Student Action Summit and Americafest events, including an All Access Live broadcast in 2021 hosted by Fox stars Kayleigh McEnany and Pete Hegseth," reported Justin Baragona. "However, as Kirk unveils his big 2023 confab for this upcoming weekend, Fox News is notably absent from the speakers roster, has done no advance hyping of the event, and will not be live-streaming it."

According to the report, a Fox News source told Confider, “Fox’s relationship with Turning Point is basically over. They don’t want their talent associated with them anymore.”

A previous report from Semafor indicated that Fox News is pulling back generally from having its personalities attend events where conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election may be promoted — following the network's almost $800 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for their defamation suit.

"Further suggesting a link between Dominion and Fox’s break-up with TPUSA is the fact that ActCon 2023’s keynote speaker is Donald Trump, whose election lies directly led to Fox’s Dominion mess," noted the report. "Other 2020 deniers and Jan. 6 organizers scheduled for ActCon speeches include Mike Lindell, Patrick Byrne, and Steve Bannon. Furthermore, Kirk himself has been outspoken in his belief that the 2020 vote was 'stolen' from Trump."

TPUSA, which mobilizes right-wing students, has been embroiled in repeated controversy over the years, including multiple members of the group spewing racist invective. The TPUSA chapter president at the University of Missouri resigned at the end of last year after it was revealed she posted racial slurs on Snapchat. And in 2021, a Florida-based adviser to the group sent out a newsletter that proclaimed Black Americans have "become socially incompatible with other races" and "American Black culture has evolved into an unfixable and crime-ridden mess."