Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk opened America Fest 2025 with a rousing speech rooted in reflection and celebration.
Kirk opened by reminding attendees that on Jan. 7, 2021, the media was declaring the MAGA movement dead. President Joe Biden took office and threw Jan. 6 protestors into prison. The administration mandated the COVID vaccine. The border was wide open.
“We were seeing our country disappear and vanish from us,” Kirk said.
Instead of a funeral, what came next was a political revival that, as Kirk said, “defies any sort of human reason.” Despite the Democrat lawfare and Big Tech bans of President Donald J. Trump, they couldn’t make him disappear.
“You can put Donald Trump in exile at Mar-a-Lago, but you can’t make 75, 80 million people disappear,” Kirk said. “It was difficult. We were told that this was never going to happen – that the Democrat Party was immovable. We cannot take credit for what happened on Nov. 5. The person, or more importantly, who deserves credit is God Almighty for saving this country and giving us four years of Donald Trump.”
While every other “gutless” politician would have accepted a deal not to run for President in exchange for getting rid of the indictments, trials and 700-some years in prison, Trump chose to do the right thing, Kirk said.
And what followed was more than a political shift, it was a cultural one. In 2016, wearing a MAGA hat in New York would have resulted in an “open hunting season.” Wearing one in 2021 would have made them come after you, he added.
But this time around, Kirk couldn’t keep up with the demand for MAGA hats on college campuses. He handed out 5,000 at the University of Georgia.
“This MAGA hat that all of you guys own went from a symbol of those people are terrible Nazis to the coolest, most desirable thing that one can wear in American politics,” Kirk said. “We refused to accept the names they would call us and we kept on wearing the hat.”
The MAGA hat became a symbol of strength, resolve, grit and American masculinity.
Kirk said that while Democrats may have outspent Republicans in the race for the White House, Republican activists outworked them.
“We wanted it more,” he said.
Now, after Trump’s victory, Kirk said it is important Republicans from deep red states recognize the reality of the situation.
“If you are a Republican from a deep red state and you voted for Joe Biden’s nominees and you’re giving Donald Trump a hard time about his nominees, we will primary you and remove you from office immediately,” he said. “We are not going to take a Republican Party that gets in the way of the will of the people. We want a Republican Party that fights to win.”
Kirk said any Republican senator who doesn’t vote to confirm Trump’s entire cabinet will face a primary challenger.
“We want a Republican Party that is as conservative as its voters,” he said. “We want a Republican Party that is responsible to all of you. We want a Republican Party that actually listens to what you want.”
Later, Kirk discussed the fact that young men in America are the most conservative they have been in 50 years. The reason why, he said, isn’t complicated.
“Young men want to be part of a political movement that doesn’t hate them,” he said.
Instead, Democrats have tried turning America into a feelings-based culture.
The political power dynamics have changed, and now conservatives are in charge.
“They are the radicals and they have been the radicals for quite some time,” Kirk said. “We are the media now. Their power is fading and waning. No one reads their stuff. Their subscriptions are going down. CNN has less viewers than Hallmark movie re-runs. They are increasingly irrelevant.”
It is important conservatives do not squander the opportunity they have been given, Kirk said, calling this a “once-in-a-many-lifetimes opportunity” to fill the government with “change makers.”
“We have a team that is ready to change the world and bring America back to greatness,” he said.
