Gov. Sanders encourages Turning Point chapters in public schools
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Screenshot: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on YouTube
Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday signed a proclamation encouraging every Arkansas high school and college to start a Turning Point USA chapter.
Why it matters: Supporters see the move as a way to encourage open political discourse, but detractors see it as an abuse of power by Sanders to push "ideological, partisan political clubs" on students.
The big picture: Turning Point USA is widely credited with helping Republicans make significant gains with young voters in the 2024 election.
- The party in power almost always loses seats in Congress in the midterms, especially when voters are uneasy about the economy or foreign conflict.
State of play: A proclamation is largely ceremonial to increase awareness of issues across the state without legal teeth or public funding.
- The document encourages students to "engage in civil discourse and open dialogue by starting a Turning Point USA chapter."
- It also encourages high schools and colleges to "accept students' reasonable participation in clubs or political or religious speech" and discourages public schools from discriminating against free speech, especially conservative students, the document says.
Context: Founded in 2012, Turning Point USA is a nonprofit with "a mission to build the most organized, active, and powerful conservative grassroots activist network on high school and college campuses across the country."
- College chapters are known as Turning Point USA, while high school chapters are called Club America.
What they're saying: Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk — the widow of conservative activist and Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot at an event last year — attended the announcement.
- "Just know that as long as you're a part of Turning Point USA, you have us by your side, and we will be there for you every step of the way," she said, addressing the many students gathered for the announcement.
The other side: "We also believe it's hypocrisy, because under Arkansas Access and many of [Sanders'] executive orders and proclamations, she has railed against ideology and indoctrination coming from — as she would call them — woke professors and teachers in our educational institutions, and she's gone after them with gusto," Billy Cook, president of the Young Democrats of Arkansas (YDAR), told Axios after the announcement.
- "They are pushing Republican beliefs and ideology on students, just as much as they are saying that teachers and professors are pushing them on students, which we know is not happening in truth. It is, in essence, political theater."
What we're watching: Cook said the publicity this week about Kirk and the partnership sparked interest in starting new YDAR chapters. The group estimated there are 37 active in the state now.
- Andrew Sypher with Turning Point USA said at the announcement that about 16% — roughly 50 — of Arkansas' high schools now have a Club America chapter.