Latest news with #CharlieKirk
Fox News
21 hours ago
- Business
- Fox News
GOP ad war kicks off in heated battleground state primary: 'We've barely just begun'
EXCLUSIVE: The campaign advertising war has already kicked off in the Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary – over a year away from the August 2026 election. Turning Point PAC announced on Tuesday that they're launching a $500,000 media buy across platforms in support of Rep. Andy Biggs on "strategic cable, over-the-top, radio, and direct-to-voter placements" targeting Arizona voters. The ads will begin Tuesday and will air for the next 3.5 weeks. The ads will air on Fox News' local designated market area slots, conservative talk radio streaming services in addition to targeted digital ads. "Andy Biggs was the best Senate President Arizona has had in decades and he has been President Trump's most reliable friend in Congress. He is Trump-endorsed, Charlie Kirk endorsed, and Turning Point Action endorsed," Tyler Bowyer, COO of Turning Point Action and Turning Point PAC, said in a statement on Wednesday. "His campaign momentum is already building at an incredible clip and we've barely just begun. The media buy combined with Biggs's impressive earned media exposure shows how enthusiastic the grassroots is to make Andy Biggs the next governor of Arizona," he added. The effort's announcement comes as the group held a rally in support of Biggs over the weekend in the Phoenix area. "To see a room packed with thousands of Biggs supporters this far out from the primary was truly historic, and it's proof of the grassroots energy that is already gathering behind his campaign," TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk said in a statement. The organization is headquartered in Arizona. "There isn't a world in which voters will not be aware of Andy Biggs being on the ballot, and the more who find out, the more his double-digit lead over all other competitors will grow. Andy Biggs is ready to bring a President Trump and Ron DeSantis level of leadership and competency to governing Arizona, and Turning Point is proud to get behind his campaign," Kirk continued. In the primary, Biggs is running against Karrin Taylor Robson, a businesswoman and former Arizona Board of Regents member who sought the nomination in 2022 but lost to Kari Lake. A Taylor Robson ally said that she has been spending that amount of money weekly "talking to voters across all platforms." Her campaign recently touted a "multi-million dollar" ad buy with a commercial touting Trump's endorsement in April. "I'm proud and honored that President Trump has reaffirmed his endorsement of our campaign," Taylor Robson said in a statement at the time. "It's time that we take our message of America and Arizona First leadership to voters across Arizona. Katie Hobbs has been a disaster and has tried to stand in President Trump's way. As Governor, I will work with President Trump to build a stronger border, a stronger economy, and a stronger and safer Arizona." The Taylor Robson ally added that Turning Point's decision to spend on advertisements this early affirms that it's a competitive primary race. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that he is backing both Biggs and Taylor Robson for governor, as whoever wins the primary will go up against Gov. Katie Hobbs in what's expected to be a highly competitive general election. "I like Karrin Taylor Robson of Arizona a lot, and when she asked me to Endorse her, with nobody else running, I Endorsed her, and was happy to do so," Trump said in a Truth Social post in April. "When Andy Biggs decided to run for Governor, quite unexpectedly, I had a problem — Two fantastic candidates, two terrific people, two wonderful champions, and it is therefore my Great Honor TO GIVE MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT TO BOTH. Either one will never let you down. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" the president added. The advertising push this early is a testament to the Grand Canyon State's competitiveness, as it was one of the most widely watched swing states in November, which Trump ended up sweeping. Cook Political Report currently ranks the governor's race as a toss-up.
Al Bawaba
a day ago
- General
- Al Bawaba
Charlie Kirk: Islam is not compatible with Western civilization
ALBAWABA - American conservative political activist Charlie Kirk recently sparked outrage on X (formerly known as Twitter) after taking to his account and writing, "Islam is not compatible with Western civilization." As of recently, the far-right activist has been the subject of ongoing controversy for his political views and opinions on religion. His latest post on X is no exception, sparking a wave of division, with social media users either supporting Charlie Kirk or strongly opposing his views on Islam. Fellow X user Zhang Yong clapped back at Kirk and wrote, "Charlie your smile is not compatible with society," following a picture mocking the political activist's appearance. Another took to Kirk's defense and wrote, "This is, unfortunately, becoming more and more apparent." Charlie Kirk rose to fame after founding a non-profit organization named "Turning Point USA," which aims to advocate conservative views in educational institutions such as high schools and universities. Videos of his heated debates with students on campus garnered millions of views and followers across social media due to their controversial nature. The American conservative political activist presents himself as an individual who praises Christian nationalism and advocates for the teachings of Jesus Christ and against "Woke" culture. While he initially took a more secular and libertarian stance in politics, his views have undergone a drastic shift since then, leading to his current conservative and Christian nationalist stance.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Elon Musk slams SPLC for labelling Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA a ‘hate group'
Elon Musk has called the non-profit Southern Poverty Law Center a 'scam organization' after it included MAGA activist Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA on its signature 'Hate Map' and branded it 'an anti-government extremist group.' Kirk's Arizona-based collective was founded in 2012 and considers itself 'the largest and fastest-growing' conservative grassroots organization in the United States. It boasts a presence on 'over 3,500 campuses' nationwide. It has long been associated with President Donald Trump, who has regularly delivered speeches to its gatherings. But the SPLC's inclusion of TPUSA on the map places it in the same company as regional chapters of the Ku Klux Klan and other far-right, neo-Nazi and Islamophobic organizations. Kirk, 31, who is currently on a speaking tour of the United Kingdom and last week addressed the Oxford Union, responded angrily in a lengthy post on X by calling the SPLC's move 'a cheap smear from a washed-up org that's been fleecing scared grandmas for decades.' He continued: 'They somehow still rake in over $100 million a year peddling their 'hate map' nonsense, sitting pretty in their Montgomery 'Poverty Palace' while crying about 'hate' to line their pockets. Even former staffers called their racket a 'con.' 'Their game plan? Scare financial institutions into debanking us, pressure schools to cancel us, and demonize us so some unhinged lunatic feels justified targeting us. Remember the Family Research Council? An SPLC-inspired gunman went after them. They'd love nothing more than to see TPUSA in the crosshairs.' Kirk concluded his rant by claiming that 'nobody with a functioning brain buys their garbage anymore' and branding the SPLC 'a laughingstock, a hollowed-out husk of an organization that's been exposed as a grift time and time again' and fuming: 'They're not just irrelevant – they're a cautionary tale of how to torch your own credibility.' The world's richest man reacted to Kirk's post by declaring, 'SPLC is a scam organization. " Kirk replied enthusiastically with two 100 percent emojis, signaling his agreement. The Independent has contacted the SPLC for its response to Kirk's attack. In an essay accompanying the latest instalment of its annual 'Year in Hate and Extremism' report, published alongside the map, the legal advocacy group describes the TPUSA as 'a well-funded, hard-right organization with links to Southern Poverty Law Center-identified hard-right extremists' with 'a tremendous amount of influence in conservative politics.' It continues: 'Turning Point USA's primary strategy is sowing and exploiting fear that white Christian supremacy is under attack by nefarious actors, including immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community and civil rights activists. 'TPUSA and its spokespeople often warn their audience that their children, wives, religion, way of life and they themselves are under attack by various constructed enemies [and] exploits complicated feelings of insecurity and anxiety to manufacture rage and mobilize support to revive and maintain a white-dominated, male supremacist, Christian social order.'
The Independent
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Elon Musk slams SPLC for labelling Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA a ‘hate group'
Elon Musk has called the non-profit Southern Poverty Law Center a 'scam organization' after it included MAGA activist Charlie Kirk 's Turning Point USA on its signature 'Hate Map' and branded it 'an anti-government extremist group.' Kirk's Arizona-based collective was founded in 2012 and considers itself 'the largest and fastest-growing' conservative grassroots organization in the United States. It boasts a presence on 'over 3,500 campuses' nationwide. It has long been associated with President Donald Trump, who has regularly delivered speeches to its gatherings. But the SPLC's inclusion of TPUSA on the map places it in the same company as regional chapters of the Ku Klux Klan and other far-right, neo-Nazi and Islamophobic organizations. Kirk, 31, who is currently on a speaking tour of the United Kingdom and last week addressed the Oxford Union, responded angrily in a lengthy post on X by calling the SPLC's move 'a cheap smear from a washed-up org that's been fleecing scared grandmas for decades.' He continued: 'They somehow still rake in over $100 million a year peddling their 'hate map' nonsense, sitting pretty in their Montgomery 'Poverty Palace' while crying about 'hate' to line their pockets. Even former staffers called their racket a 'con.' 'Their game plan? Scare financial institutions into debanking us, pressure schools to cancel us, and demonize us so some unhinged lunatic feels justified targeting us. Remember the Family Research Council? An SPLC-inspired gunman went after them. They'd love nothing more than to see TPUSA in the crosshairs.' Kirk concluded his rant by claiming that 'nobody with a functioning brain buys their garbage anymore' and branding the SPLC 'a laughingstock, a hollowed-out husk of an organization that's been exposed as a grift time and time again' and fuming: 'They're not just irrelevant – they're a cautionary tale of how to torch your own credibility.' The world's richest man reacted to Kirk's post by declaring, 'SPLC is a scam organization. " Kirk replied enthusiastically with two 100 percent emojis, signaling his agreement. The Independent has contacted the SPLC for its response to Kirk's attack. In an essay accompanying the latest instalment of its annual 'Year in Hate and Extremism' report, published alongside the map, the legal advocacy group describes the TPUSA as 'a well-funded, hard-right organization with links to Southern Poverty Law Center-identified hard-right extremists' with 'a tremendous amount of influence in conservative politics.' It continues: 'Turning Point USA's primary strategy is sowing and exploiting fear that white Christian supremacy is under attack by nefarious actors, including immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community and civil rights activists. 'TPUSA and its spokespeople often warn their audience that their children, wives, religion, way of life and they themselves are under attack by various constructed enemies [and] exploits complicated feelings of insecurity and anxiety to manufacture rage and mobilize support to revive and maintain a white-dominated, male supremacist, Christian social order.'
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Case of Tory councillor's wife Lucy Connolly jailed for Southport tweet is raised with Marco Rubio at the White House
The case of a mother who was jailed for a racist tweet after the Southport murders has reportedly been raised with the US Secretary of State. Lucy Connolly, who is the wife of Conservative councillor Ray Connolly, was handed a 31-month sentence after admitting posting an online rant about migrants hours after killer Axel Rudakubana murdered three young girls on July 29 last year. The former childminder deleted the post after four hours, but was arrested in August and pleaded guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred in October. On Tuesday, her appeal against her sentence was refused by three Court of Appeal judges, meaning she faces serving another eight months behind bars. But, in a sign of hope for the 42-year-old, her case has now been raised with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to The Telegraph. It came after political commentator and Trump ally Charlie Kirk was made aware of Connolly's ordeal after a visit to the UK and vowed to get the US State Department involved in the process. Appearing on GB News earlier this week, Kirk said: 'I am going to try and get the US State Department involved. 'I'm going to bring this up to Marco Rubio. I'm going to send him a text,' he added. Kirk had been in the UK for a debate at the Oxford Union on Monday when the case of Mrs Connolly was raised. 'As of today, Lucy Connolly is going to jail for two-and-a-half years in this country for a social media post that she apologised for and deleted… That is not a free speech battle at all', he said during the debate. 'You should be allowed to say outrageous things. You should be allowed to say contrarian things. Free speech is a birthright that you gave us, and you guys decided not to codify it and now it's – poof! – it is basically gone.' Kirk appeared on GB News the next day when the Court of Appeal announced it had thrown out Mrs Connolly's case. He said: 'I am going to try and get the US State Department involved. I don't know what their bandwidth is here. 'I'm sorry, speaking as a citizen not on behalf of the US government, is this a way that a liberal democracy and ally of the United States acts? Kirk continued: 'I just find it so outrageous that she is now going to jail for two and a half years for a deleted social media post that she apologised for. As you guys (the UK) have birthed free speech to the world, you are now becoming a totalitarian country. 'I'm going to bring this up to Marco Rubio. I'm going to send him a text. This should be mentioned. It's not new.' Mrs Connolly deleted her post and blamed it on 'a moment of extreme outrage and emotion' when she was acting on 'false and malicious' information Mrs Connolly, 42, had appealed against her sentence at the Royal Courts of Justice, describing how news of the Southport murders had triggered her anxiety caused when her baby son, Harry, died as the result of a hospital blunder 13 years earlier. Her tweet, viewed 310,000 times before she deleted it three-and-a-half hours later, read: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I that makes me racist so be it.' There was serious violent unrest across Britain following the Southport murders. After Connolly's appeal was dismissed on Tuesday, her husband said: 'Lucy posted one nasty tweet when she was upset and angry about three little girls who were brutally murdered in Southport. 'She realised the tweet was wrong and deleted it within four hours. That did not mean Lucy was a "far right thug".' Mr Connolly said his wife's incarceration at HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire – nine months so far - had been 'very hard, particularly on our 12-year-old girl'. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Britain was 'losing its reputation for free speech' over people being arrested by police 'simply for something we say'. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick asked: 'How on earth can you spend longer in prison for a tweet than violent crime?' 'Shoplifters with hundreds of prior convictions have avoided prison, a domestic abuser with 52 prior offences got off with just a suspended sentence, as did a paedophile with 110,000 indecent images of children.' And Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, asked 'how can it be right for Lucy to have been condemned to spend more than two-and-a-half years in jail for a single tweet when members of grooming gangs who plead guilty to the sexual exploitation of children get lower sentences?' He said: 'Lucy should be at home with her 12-year-old daughter and husband, not rotting in jail.' It is expected that she will not be released before she has completed two fifths of her sentence, which will be in August.
