Last week, Tennessee Republicans gathered a crowd at the state Capitol to demonstrate how behind the times and disconnected from young conservatives they are by announcing that they’re partnering with Turning Point USA to start Club America chapters in nearly every school in the state.
According to a story from the Tennessee Lookout, first published by the Chattanooga Times Free Press:
“I’m proud to be here on behalf of Gov. Lee to make this very, very special announcement,” [state Senate Majority Leader Jack] Johnson said at the event. “Today, we are announcing that the state of Tennessee is forming a partnership with Turning Point USA, with a shared goal of establishing Turning Point chapters at every high school, every college, every university campus in our great state, in honor of Charlie Kirk.”
This is just the greatest thing. I think Tennessee Democrats should all support this. And more! This may be the only time I openly support AI, but Democrats should develop a chatbot that is fed everything Charlie Kirk ever said and require that each Club America meeting start with the club president prompting the chatbot to play any random 15 minutes of Charlie Kirk’s own words to the kids.
Woo! Fun! Will we get the Charlie Kirk who sounded like a faith leader, or the Charlie Kirk who sounded like a Klan leader? Let’s find out!
Second, Dems need to invest all their party funds in hair bleach and hair extension stocks, because those are about to go through the roof. Did you see the picture Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson posted that’s at the top of that Tennessee Lookout story? I count 30-ish men (and one fool who embarrassed his whole family by wearing a baseball cap in the state Capitol). Otherwise, it’s all longhaired, mostly blond women.
So you know by looking what this is: something to keep the women busy and make them feel like they’re doing something important, while, in essence, they’ve been handed babysitting duties. Tale as old as time. Consider how many ambitious, faithful women in Christian churches in denominations that don’t accept female pastors end up Sunday school directors. This is the same dynamic, just with politics. That’s good enough for some, I guess. I personally am waiting for Riley Gaines to realize that the niche she’s been put in is, in essence, the substitute teacher who tries to make sure everyone in study hall is actually doing what they should be doing when the kids don’t know her name, let alone like her. That will be funny.
The senator and gubernatorial candidate has called for the dismissal of several professors who were critical of Charlie Kirk
But Republicans better hurry up with this. Those Club America chapters need to start in January, because Candace Owens is the most listened-to political podcaster on the right. And she thinks TPUSA, or factions therein, were behind Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
This is a game of chicken. Or maybe it’s the same game of chicken we’ve been in for a while — conservatives see just how much they can openly support before it blows up in their faces.
Throwing in with TPUSA right as Owens’ conspiracy theory — or theories — dominates the public discourse is an interesting choice. Now, to be fair, it’s not clear the scope of who Owens is accusing of doing what. From what I’ve been able to gather, Owens believes that Israel and TPUSA factions are linked to Kirk's killing, and a bunch of people in red shirts helped them? Meanwhile, a French Foreign Legion assassin and a Mossad assassin are hanging out here in Nashville trying to kill Owens? And this is all because the president of France’s wife is actually his father and was having an affair with Israel, and Kirk found out about it and was about to expose the whole thing, I think? It’s not very coherent, but definitely what’s breaking through is that, if you respect Charlie Kirk, Candace Owens thinks you should be casting wary glances at TPUSA.
Republicans can try to argue that this is a fringe theory, but Owens is their most popular media figure at the moment. So she can’t be that fringe. Young people know who she is and what she’s saying.
So how do Tennessee Republicans imagine recruiting kids for Club America is going to go?
“Hey, are you a Charlie Kirk fan?”
“Hell yes.”
“Do you want to join a TPUSA club?”
“Hell yes.”
Because I suspect the answer to the second question might be “The people who killed him? No.”
Tennessee Republicans are embracing the trend just as it’s fading. That’s hilarious.
But I wonder how Candace Owens will respond. She lives here. She’s a Tennessean. And to see the politicians who are supposedly on her side making such a public stand with the people she believes are linked to killing her best friend?
If this leads to U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson somehow being caught up in this conspiracy/conspiracies, I’m going to be so tickled. I mean, has Candace Owens considered that Jack Johnson is wearing a red striped tie in his official photo on the legislature’s website? Is he signaling to the scarlet shirts present at Charlie Kirk’s assassination that he’s with them?
I truly thought that my favorite bit of nonsense on the right was that Alex Jones, a man who has worked in radio for three decades, believes that he can predict what time it is because of God-given superpowers, and not because someone in radio has to develop an inherent sense of what time it is.
But Candace Owens deciding that it’s weird that so many people at a conservative event were wearing red — which must indicate something nefarious — may be even better. Why oh why might so many people who vote Republican be wearing red to an event with a famous conservative speaker? Truly a mystery for the ages.
I get why Republicans want Club Americas (or would that be Clubs America?) in schools. Finding ways to excite people young about politics and activate them to vote and motivate others to vote is the Holy Grail of any political movement. But I’m just not sure they’re reading the moment correctly, and it’s not clear that fans of Charlie Kirk are excited about TPUSA without him.
