On Thursday, Turning Point USA’s Foggy Bottom chapter hosted a discussion between Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Campus events with right-wing figures often draw intense backlash from liberal student groups, as evidenced by the protests outside of the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. event earlier this year. Such protests let the event’s supporters frame the speakers’ presence as principled defenses of free speech and the First Amendment, giving voice to a supposedly silenced conservative minority. Thursday’s event did not draw any major protests that would’ve prompted a response from the speakers, but the conversation itself drifted between pointlessness and outright hostility toward the ideals of the First Amendment. Despite claiming to champion First Amendment rights, Erika Kirk and especially Leavitt frequently expressed targeted intolerance towards the press — and anyone with differing views. Ultimately, much of what they said indicated a total lack of respect for those rights.
Turning Point USA has built much of its brand — especially under the leadership of its former CEO, the late conservative leader and podcaster Charlie Kirk — around the premise of him and figures like him coming to college campuses, dominated by liberals who suppress conservative speech, and challenging the preconceived notions of the student body with intellectual debate. Even under Charlie Kirk’s leadership, those characterizations were disputed by the left, who argue that he was primarily focused on promoting bigoted, far-right talking points and point out his hypocritical attempts to silence liberal and left-wing views through shame lists like his professor watchlist. At this event, Leavitt and Erika Kirk shattered the illusion of the brand completely by simultaneously providing generic advice to express and fight for their views while repeating attacks on the press — a crucial part of the First Amendment — as “fake news media.”
The hour before Leavitt and Erika Kirk stepped on stage had its own concerning moments that also disparaged legacy media or opposing, left-wing views. Much of the content of the speeches was Christian in nature, which is reasonable, especially on the eve of Good Friday, but touched on exclusionary Christian nationalist themes in comments like Joshua James’ comments that Jesus should be the “foundation of our politics.” Far-right political podcaster Jack Posobiec, whom Leavitt later praised as superior in some ways to traditional media sources, accused “No Kings” protestors of infiltrating American society with the goal of forcing American submission to immoral and false values. This open contempt for a massive group of peaceful, patriotic protestors cannot be interpreted as anything but a devaluing of his political opponents’ right to assembly. This was a common theme throughout the event — speakers would uplift free speech but then deem it as wrong or immoral when it came to their opponents.
Once Leavitt and Erika Kirk joined the stage, they spent their hour providing fine, but generic, advice on career advancement and family life, paired with cheerful anecdotes about Charlie Kirk, life at the White House and Leavitt’s children. They barely mentioned controversial President Donald Trump-era policies or, frankly, anything intellectually stimulating or mind-changing in any way. The closest Leavitt ever came to making any real points were her frequent references to the “fake news media,” attacking legacy media like the Washington Post or Wall Street Journal. She warned that students should mistrust these “biased” sources, upset that they used outside sources rather than asking the White House for the “truth,” despite that being standard journalistic practice.
The four questions which comprised the originally planned Q&A section — what I, and I imagine many others, expected to be the most interesting part of the night — were all softballs. Leavitt appeared to take particular joy in a question promoting transphobic podcaster Riley Gaines and used the opportunity to promote Jack Posobiec’s popularity and relish the frustration of the press when he joined the press pool. It wasn’t until the audience chanted for a fifth question to be heard that Leavitt finally responded to a question that challenged the Trump administration’s controversial SAVE America Act, but even then, she dismissed the question by lying about the preponderance of data on voter fraud prevalence cited by the student.
This was frustrating, but unsurprising, and it neatly highlighted the reason for Leavitt’s animosity towards the press: it is the institution responsible for combatting Trump’s frequent, self-serving lies. This president has, going back even to the moment he entered politics, had a reputation for misrepresenting the truth to a degree beyond even what other politicians often engage in, and he frequently uses lies to justify any policy or action he wishes, no matter how unpopular. For a president like that, the press is a natural enemy. He called them “the enemy of the people” in his first term and has frequently targeted the press in his second term. Despite Leavitt’s claims that the White House cares about factuality and not ideology, the administration — especially in its allowance of who is and isn’t allowed in the White House — unmistakably does the opposite.
Trump and his administration seek to promote their political allies and tear down those who dissent in any way, whether they are “No Kings” protestors or hugely important, trustworthy, independent media. This approach to the press represents the most authoritarian characteristic of an unusually authoritarian U.S. president, and Leavitt brought it to campus on Thursday in full force.
Cassandane Smith, a first-year majoring in political science, is an opinions writer.