The next college activists? Retirees
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Turning Point USA has a specific brand: conservative, loud and young. That’s the image its 30-year-old founder, Charlie Kirk, has cultivated, and it’s the foot they put forward first at AmericaFest, the group’s annual flagship gathering. Per Kirk, it’s the “largest multi-day conservative event in the history of this country.” The announcement elicited cheers from thousands of college-aged attendees packed into the Phoenix Convention Center over the weekend. Moments earlier, Kirk had been welcomed onstage by flashing strobe lights, floor-shaking techno music and 12-foot-tall spark fountains.
But the country’s fastest-growing campus advocacy organization has found a foothold with a group of off-campus activists, too. Retirees flocked to AmericaFest in droves, buying up general admission passes and organizing carpool rides. While high school- and college-aged students filled the convention center’s reserved seats near the stage, many, if not most, of the middle and back seats were occupied by an older group of activists. And in the auditorium’s adjoining vendor hall, gray-haired attendees shopped at booths stocked with essential oils, back pain remedies and life insurance quotes.
Why would retirees show up to a convention geared toward teens and young adults? “Because the message is the same for us,” Gerald Lafon, 72, said. “Now I’ve got to go home, get on my Facebook page, and spread the word.”
AmericaFest was advertised as an invitation-only event, suggesting students could get passes through their school chapters. But many of the adult attendees said they ordered tickets online, and upon arrival, they were given lanyards and badges with their names, just like the younger attendees. The lone difference? At the bottom of their badges, “ADULT” was written in small letters. (Turning Point did not respond to a request for a demographic breakdown of its attendees.)
Many, Lafon included, are already spreading the word. Lafon is part of a small San Diego-based group of retirees, “Patriots 4 Freedom,” that formed during the COVID-19 pandemic to protest California’s lockdown and mask-wearing requirements. Lafon moved to Virginia last year, but he’s stayed in touch with the southern California activists, who hold small street-corner rallies each week in protest of whatever issue they feel strongly about that moment — from critical race theory and ballot fraud to California’s mileage tax.
When someone sent a message in the Patriots 4 Freedom group chat about the Turning Point event, they decided to go as a group. Lafon flew from Virginia to San Diego, where six group members met him. They split up into cars and drove the six hours to Phoenix, arriving in matching t-shirts.
Other AmericaFest attendees arrived more organically. Douglas Gregory, 81, and Barbara Briere, 80, heard about the conference during one of Charlie Kirk’s Freedom Nights, a political event hosted by a Phoenix-area nondenominational Christian church. “I’ve just been a fan of Charlie Kirk for years,” Gregory said.
If Turning Point advertised the event toward young attendees, its vendors seemed to be aware that an older crowd would also be in attendance. One booth, stocked with essential oils and other products, offered a “lifelong vitality pack.” Another advertised life insurance with “conservative values,” endorsed by Donald Trump Jr. But the longest line, by far, was to test a machine that promised to relieve back pain in 10 minutes: onlookers stepped onto a hoverboard-shaped platform, pressed a button, and tried to maintain balance while a powerful vibration left their legs, thighs and glutes pulsating.
Attendees could buy Trump merchandise at any number of other booths. Bedazzled purses in the shape of pistols lay next to “Finish the Wall” hats. Two different vendors sold “Trump Won” flags and T-shirts with Trump’s mug shot. One table offered bottled water labeled “Woke Tears,” retailing for $2.95. Another sold shirts that read, “Jesus was accused of insurrection, too.”
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But the main attraction, of course, were the speakers. Kirk spoke, as did Tucker Carlson, Mike Lindell, Ben Carson, Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Ted Cruz and Glenn Beck, among others. Of the dozen attendees I spoke to Monday, Carlson was the runaway favorite; he spoke about seeking and promoting truth. Earlier in the week, Carlson said he’s “open” to theories that the earth is flat and the moon landing was staged.
Among retirees, the next-most popular speaker was Jonathan Isaac, the professional basketball player who made headlines in 2020 after he refused to kneel for the national anthem or wear a “Black Lives Matter” shirt. He spoke to attendees about resilience and moral courage.
His wife, Takita Nicole, is a Christian rapper, and she performed a song. Her segment was less popular among the older crowd. “I don’t like that kind of so-called music,” retiree Jerry Washburn said.
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On Sunday, the conference held a “Strong Church Worship Night,” complete with a Christian rock band and a sermon from a pastor. Kirk himself delivered a sermon as well; later, others spoke about “eradicating wokeism in the church.”
“There’s so much Jesus here, that it’s incredible,” Gregory, 81, said. “There’s more Jesus here than that in the church.”
This is why Gregory comes to these events, he says — to see the next generation of conservative leaders. As he spoke to me, his eyes filled with tears. “If your generation and younger don’t pick up the cross, we’re totally lost.”
