White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk discussed President Donald Trump’s administration’s decision to add content creators to the White House press pool, voter ID legislation and Charlie Kirk’s legacy during a talk at Lisner Auditorium Thursday.

Leavitt, who spoke in conversation with Kirk — the wife of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in September — said she included podcasters and content creators in the press pool because of their large audiences and Trump’s success with them during his 2024 campaign and pushed back against a student who asked her why Trump’s administration is pushing strict voter ID legislation when voter fraud is rare. The event, the first stop of the This Is The Turning Point tour, nearly filled the auditorium’s 1,400 seats, with some attendees adorned in red “Make America Great Again” hats and Turning Point merchandise.

Attendees filed into an auditorium decked out in traditional Turning Point style, with posters reading “I am Charlie Kirk” draped on every seat and organizers handing out free “Freedom” hats, American flags and flyers for guests to check their voter registration at the lobby door.

Leavitt, who has invited dozens of new podcasters and content creators into the White House press pool — a change from past administrations that allowed only established “legacy” media outlets, said she began planning the shakeup during the presidential transition. She said Trump on the campaign trail did a good job of “owning” the non-traditional media lane, appearing on podcasts like the Joe Rogan Experience, while his opponents, like former Vice President Kamala Harris, shied away from it. 

She said she thought it would be a “dereliction” of her duty as press secretary if she excluded the non-traditional outlets Trump dominated from the election once he took the White House. Leavitt said the move was a direct response to what she called the “fake news media” because she said legacy outlets had lost their ability to cover Trump fairly.

“The process that the fake news goes through to write stories, it’s really just such a low level of journalistic integrity,” Leavitt said. “They will find anyone and call them ‘a source familiar with the White House,’ and then they’ll just write what that person said like it’s the truth.”

She said the credentialing process for new-media journalists follows the same vetting as legacy outlets and that the administration does not screen applicants by ideology — though the vast majority are conservative or right-wing. Leavitt said podcasters and content creators like Jack Posobiec — who also spoke at the event — now travel with the president on Air Force One, which can draw uncomfortable reactions from legacy press.

“They have bigger audiences and followings than many of the legacy-media journalists do, so they deserve a seat at the table,” she said.

Ryan Caldwell, a GW student, asked Leavitt and Kirk why the Trump administration is pushing for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act — which would require “documentary proof” of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections — if studies from conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation have found fewer than 2,000 cases of verifiable fraud since 1982.

The SAVE America Act, which the House of Representatives passed in February but has stalled in the Senate, would require states to obtain in-person proof of citizenship from individuals to register them to vote and mandate voters show identification when casting a ballot in a federal election. Critics of the act warn it will disenfranchise millions of Americans by making it harder to vote, but its supporters say the legislation is needed to prevent voter fraud.

“Why are you okay with any voter fraud in the United States?” Leavitt said. “We are the greatest country on the face of the earth, and we can have the biggest and most secure election of any country on earth”

Leavitt said the SAVE America Act was “common sense” legislation that Democrats should support in Congress to prove they do not support voter fraud.

“The only people in the world, except for maybe the gentleman who asked the question, seem to be politicians in this city who don’t want voter ID and proof of citizenship in American elections,” Leavitt said.

Kirk spent the evening remembering her late husband’s legacy and lauding his career of engaging with students on college campuses with whom he disagreed. Kirk said her husband, Charlie, who was assassinated at Utah Valley University last September while speaking at a college event, was always willing to listen and engage with students with differing viewpoints and make himself available for debates.

“I just hope that my husband continues to be an inspiration to all of you of how to properly engage with those that you do not agree with,” Kirk said.

Kirk said conservative students who feel isolated or silenced on liberal-leaning campuses like GW’s should treat free speech as a responsibility. She said conservative students should engage with their liberal classmates to understand their perspectives instead of shutting down differing viewpoints.

She said her husband “gave his life” for free speech and told the conservative students in the crowd they must continue to “speak with truth” against liberal classmates who try to push false narratives.

“The more that you take light out of dark places, the darker it will get,” Kirk said. “I just pray that each and every one of you, especially students, look to my husband as the example to speak with truth.”

Kirk also answered a question from a high-school student about why conservative messaging on marriage and family struggles to reach young women compared to young men. Kirk said she does not think there is a one-size-fits-all answer but said women should pray about their path, consult their husbands and resist outside pressure on whether to pursue a career or family.

“If you do have a husband that’s supportive, and you are blessed to be a stay-at-home mom, that’s just as much of a massive role and a job as being a CEO of a Fortune 500 company,” Kirk said. “You are the guardian of your home, and raising your children is the most precious blessing that you could have as a woman.”

Several of the University’s top officials were also present at the event, including Interim Provost John Lach, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Colette Coleman, Deputy Dean of Students Rachel Stark, GW Police Department Chief Victor Brito and Associate Vice President of Campus Safety Katie McDonald, among other Division for Student Affairs and security staff.

Ryan Van Slingerland, president of Turning Point Foggy Bottom — the chapter that hosted Leavitt and Kirk and held a similar November event with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — spoke before the event, warning attendees that any disruptors would be asked to leave and referred to the “appropriate University channels” for further action.

“Tonight, we’re here for conversation. We’re here for dialogue, and we’re here for the open exchange that America was built on,” Van Slingerland said. “Let’s keep it that way.”

Despite no formal protest happening in conjunction with the event, GW Reproductive Autonomy and Gender Equity — or GW RAGE — posted on Thursday encouraging students to boycott the event due to Leavitt and Kirk’s stances supporting abortion restrictions and defunding organizations like Planned Parenthood.

A protest of around 60 students demonstrated outside Kennedy’s November event, criticizing his controversial agenda and tenure as health secretary.

“GW RAGE is appalled that the George Washington University would allow a group that is known to pursue an agenda that harms marginalized students to speak on campus,” the post read.

Ryan Saenz contributed reporting.