TPUSA campus tour draws first-time conservative students at North Dakota

Multiple students told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the latest Turning Point USA gathering was their first conservative event, another sign of the growing fervor on the right in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination last month.

The University of North Dakota was the latest stop on the conservative group’s “This Is The Turning Point” campus tour. Fox News Digital spoke to attendees of the event about whether they had prior involvement in the conservative movement, and if conversations and debate needed to be prioritized over “owning” liberals.

During the TPUSA event that took place this week at Montana State University, Vivek Ramaswamy made comments regarding conversations that conservatives ought to aim for, and students were asked to respond. 

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“Own the libs” has been a popular slogan in conservative circles over the last decade, but Ramaswamy believes that mindset is a thing of the past. 

“We don’t care about owning the libs. Not anymore,” Ramaswamy said.

Students were asked whether they believe the most effective way to win over Americans is through debate and conversation rather than confrontation.

“I don’t think that the conversation should really be about owning anyone, or it shouldn’t be like attacking, either side attacking each other. I think we should… try to have productive conversations to get towards our end goal,” said Brandon. 

Easton said, “I’d say each group has felt like they’ve owned the other one during times, but I wouldn’t ever say that the conservatives have owned the liberals.”

Abbie pointed to Kirk, who founded TPUSA in 2012, as an example of how conversations ought to be done. “I think that’s what Charlie was the best at, that he wouldn’t kind of try and one-up them. He would try to respect them and just say the facts on why their opinions were wrong, I guess.”

Andrew said, “It’s obvious after the death of Charlie Kirk that… there’s factions in this country that don’t want to solve issues with debates and constructive arguments.”

Zach said, “They’re [liberals] honestly kind of so crazy at this point, they’re owning themselves.”

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“When you choose violence, you’re already losing regardless… the best thing we can do is kind of honestly follow like Charlie Kirk’s model. You know, just talk to them, no matter what they spit or shout at you,” he added.

Easton didn’t hold back.

“Obviously, they don’t want gun violence, but that’s kind of what they turn to when they feel like they’ve been wronged in a way. So I’d almost agree with that statement to an extent,” he told Fox News Digital.

Several students discussed attending the event as a first for their involvement in the conservative movement.

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“This is my first conservative event. I really just, I’m just going to check it out though,” Brett said.  

“I didn’t know much about Turning Point before the passing of Charlie Kirk,” Jace said. “And so I kind of wanted to just see what it was about.”

Andrew said, “I’m really just curious to see what their stance on Israel is.”

Zach, Cooper, and Devin, almost in unison, shared that the event was their first official conservative gathering.