Trump camp in frenzy over fears that MAGA influencer is driving away new voters: report
Allies of former President Donald Trump are worried that far-right youth activist Charlie Kirk, a key figure in the MAGA movement and the leader of Turning Point USA, is going to hamper their efforts to sway nonwhite voters with his antics, MSNBC's Dasha Burns reported Monday.
Among actions that have them in a frenzy are his recent rants that commercial airlines are going to kill people by hiring too many Black pilots.
"A prominent conservative activist helped kick the RNC chairwoman out of her job, and now she's fighting to get him kicked out of Trump world with some help," said anchor Chris Jansing. "Why is Charlie Kirk so influential, and is he going anywhere?"
"These sort of influencers in Trump world have an outsized impact," said Burns. "He's someone that has Trump's ear, that has the ear of folks in his family, like Don Jr., they are close allies, and so what he tends to whisper in those ears matters, like Ronna McDaniel, he was part of the attempt to oust her from the RNC ... this is somebody that has a podcast that is downloaded maybe half a million to 3/4 million times a day"
Moreover, Burns said, some of the things Kirk is saying have Trump allies worried he'll drive nonwhite voters even further from the GOP.
"Recently he's questioned whether Martin Luther King Jr. deserves a federal holiday. He has questioned the diversity efforts in airlines, wondering if it means he can't trust Black pilots," said Burns.
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"That is a concern, of course, for the Trump campaign. This is a demographic into which they want to make inroads. They want to court Black voters, and they're worried this might have negative impacts. At the same time, Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA is a massive, influential organization aimed specifically at young conservatives, which is, again, young voters. A demographic that Republicans are trying to boost, when they see the youth drifting away from President Biden. There are benefits Charlie Kirk brings, and explosive downsides as well."
"What's not clear is how former President Trump actually feels about him," Burns added. "Some sources have said he believes he's a juggernaut, when it comes to fundraising, when it comes to the megaphone. Will this have an impact itself? Unclear, but there are certainly concerns among Republican advisers and folks in Trump world about the influence of this person."
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