Fox News’ relationship with Turning Point USA is 'basically over': report

11 July 2023

Ever since radio host Charlie Kirk, now 29, and the late Tea Party activist Bill Montgomery founded Turning Point USA in 2012, the group has been encouraging young Americans — first Millennials, now Generation Z — to not only vote Republican, but also, to vote for the GOP's most extreme members. TPUSA had strong Tea Party leanings in the beginning and later embraced Donald Trump's presidency and the far-right MAGA movement wholeheartedly.

Fox News and its sister channel Fox Business gave TPUSA plenty of favorable coverage in the past. But according to Daily Beast reporter Justin Baragona, Fox News "appears to have distanced itself" from the group — although not out of the goodness of its heart.

A Fox News insider, presumably interviewed on condition of anonymity, told the Beast, "Fox's relationship with Turning Point is basically over. They don't want their talent associated with them anymore."

Baragona describes Turning Point's past events as "Fox-heavy affairs" that featured speeches from Laura Ingraham, Jeanine Pirro, Jesse Watters and other Fox hosts. But Fox News is distancing itself from TPUSA, according to Baragona, because it is "wary about letting its stars appear at conservative events with known election deniers and conspiracy theorists in the wake of Fox's massive $787.5-million settlement" with Dominion Voting Systems. That includes the 2023 Turning Point Action Conference, abbreviated ActCon.

After the 2020 presidential election, Fox News promoted the false, thoroughly debunked claim that Dominion's equipment had been used to help now-President Joe Biden steal the election from then-President Donald Trump. Dominion responded with a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit, and Fox News avoided a trial by agreeing to pay the company $787.5 million. Fox News is still facing a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion competitor Smartmatic.

"Further suggesting a link between Dominion and Fox's break-up with TPUSA is the fact that ActCon 2023's keynote speaker is Donald Trump, whose election lies directly led to Fox's Dominion mess," Baragona reports. "Trump will appear this weekend on Fox's air, however, in a more controlled environment, via a sit-down interview with Maria Bartiromo."

The Beast reporter adds, "Other 2020 deniers and January 6 organizers scheduled for ActCon speeches include Mike Lindell, Patrick Byrne, and Steve Bannon. Furthermore, Kirk himself has been outspoken in his belief that the 2020 vote was 'stolen' from Trump."

Read the Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).

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