What happens at Turning Point USA…?

Illustration by Sami Seyedhosseini, Cartoonist

A Turning Point USA meeting opens the way you’d expect any student club to: Chatting with friends, drinking complementary blue Gatorade and a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Turning Point USA is a political organization dedicated to promoting conservative values on college campuses across the country. The organization was thrust into the limelight in September after the assassination of its founder, Charlie Kirk. 

You might’ve recently spotted Chapman’s very own Turning Point chapter, perhaps tabling on Memorial Lawn or in the piazza. Every Wednesday night in the back of Beckman Hall, the group commits to fostering “freedom, free markets and limited government.” 

This past Wednesday, the discussion focused on conspiracy theories.

As the Pledge of Allegiance came to a close, a few Turning Point members patriotically made personal edits, ending the Pledge with “liberty and justice for all, born and unborn.” A few students chatted about SJP’s Monday night protest on Wilkinson Lawn, comparing protesters to “dogs in a cage, whining.” 

Turning Point USA employee and club moderator, Maxfield Von Preistley, extended an invitation to the upcoming “conservative social” and, of course, acknowledged recent coverage in The Panther.

Community Action Network employees Ethan Malamatenios and Will Setka took the stage to advertise their organization’s internship program: “War Machine.” The Community Action Network is a web of donors, politicians and journalists with the tagline “$2.5 MILLION TO WAGE WAR.” 

The employees flashed big names such as former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and actress Leigh Allyn-Baker, who many might remember from “Good Luck Charlie.” The internship offers positions titled “task force,” “ground operations” or “field director,” which involves knocking on doors and calling donors.

Malamatenios told of how he got his start at the War Machine, working the front desk of EOS Fitness when he was selected, without a degree, to work for the prestigious network. Conservative influencer Dylan Frazin also shared his personal experience with the hiring process.

“I met Will protesting outside of a Planned Parenthood,” Frazin said.

A printed QR code link brought potential interns to a rigorous application process, with questions such as “What sport did you play in high school?”

Instead of applying, one of the members in attendance pulled out his phone to ask ChatGPT: “Are Democrats or Republicans going to win the next election?”

The group discussion opened with recent pop culture phenomena, including Sabrina Carpenter’s reaction to an Arabic call and President Trump’s recent online behavior. They specifically questioned his “off-putting Easter Sunday message” in which he praised Allah and threatened nuclear action against Iran. They also pondered the blasphemous nature of portraying himself as Jesus Christ using generative AI.

“He didn’t make it himself, so it’s possible he misinterpreted it,” one member said in the president’s defense. “He’s 80!”

Then came the highly-anticipated discussion of members’ personal conspiracy theories. Von Priestley took the lead by explaining the “Great Replacement Theory.”

“White populations are being deliberately replaced by non-white immigrants orchestrated by political and cultural elites,” he wrote in his slideshow presentation.

Von Priestley conducted extensive research through large language models Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini, which offered potential evidence of “elite coordination” and “anti-white cultural narratives.” Analyzing self-identifying U.S. Census data of major U.S. cities’ ethnic demographics, Von Priestley pointed to the increase in non-white populations since 1950. 

The club weighed the elite coordination’s stake in pushing the replacement, formulating motives such as creating a larger voter base or coercing a loss of American identity.

“They want to get rid of the American Empire,” Frazin said.

When voting on the legitimacy of the theory, six members raised their hands in belief of the theory.

The club then began discussing “cloud-seeding,” an effort by private companies to reverse the effects of climate change by dispersing chemicals through aircraft chemtrails. Although cloud-seeding is not a secret, members theorized about whether the weather modification technique is being used for malicious purposes.

“You should’ve seen the chemtrails before the recent hurricane that devastated Ashville,” Frazin said. “You can see exactly where they chemtrailed. It guides hurricanes. It guides weather.”

However, Setka spoke up with personal evidence.

“I’m friends with the guy that owns that company,” Setka said. “The company’s called Rainmaker. They fly drones in the air and they basically create clouds.”

Another weather-based conspiracy brought up was the “sussy California fire,” referring to the California Palisades Fire in early 2025. Similar to the suspicion behind a higher power intentionally causing hurricanes, members speculated that the Palisades Fire was orchestrated by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

The next conspiracy theory presented was the legitimacy of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The COVID-19 virus was a test on Americans to see how submissive they would be to the government,” Frazin said.

The room cited suspicious factors. They said COVID was“made in a lab.” They also brought up the relatively short testing period before the vaccine’s rollout.

One member shared the story of his friend in the army, who during the pandemic, was legally required to receive the vaccine.

“He’s fully, 100% disabled. He has an autoimmune disorder. His blood doesn’t coagulate."

Daniel Golan shared the story of a family friend who, after receiving the vaccine, began limping and was shortly thereafter diagnosed with ALS.

“The doctor confirmed that it’s from the vaccine. He said ‘We’re not allowed to say it publicly, but it's definitely a side effect from the vaccines,’” Golan said.

He also shared an anecdote of his neighbor’s son, who he believes contracted autism the morning after a vaccine was administered. 

“(My neighbor’s) child at the age of 4 went to a doctor’s to get the MMR vaccine, and he woke up the next day completely nonverbal … He got the worst stage of autism,” Golan said. “The child’s whole life is screwed.”

Theories surrounding the U.S.’s medical system piled up, with members theorizing that cures for terminal illnesses might be withheld from public access.

“There’s probably a cure for cancer, but it’s not publicized because of how much the medical industry profits,” one member said.

Others expressed their discomfort with genetically modified produce, and one member brought up the potential health benefits of not eating any food.

“If you go on a water fast, after a certain amount of time, your body has completely regenerated its cells.”

The meeting concluded with Von Priestley praying over the club’s members, thanking God for a night of fellowship and community.

While Turning Point USA is known for their provocative, conservative takes, the members’ conspiracy theories ironically pushed some typical left-wing priorities, including bodily autonomy, the global climate, public healthcare and, of course, government transparency. 

Across the political spectrum, concern arises in different forms when these things seem jeopardized, and on the far right, it manifests into fear and suspicion.

Chapman’s Turning Point USA therefore serves as a great allegorical diorama for the wider conservative population in America, and a great social opportunity for conservative students looking to kick it on Wednesday nights.