Lt. Gov. Pam Evette praises Turning Point USA and its high school chapters, Club America, during a news conference at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C., on Friday, April 10, 2026. (Photo by Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — Several South Carolina GOP officials said Friday that all high schools should have a student chapter of Turning Point USA, the conservative group founded by Charlie Kirk.
South Carolina’s not doing anything to require or incentivize chapters of Turning Point USA’s Club America. But as encouragement, Gov. Henry McMaster designated Friday as Turning Point USA Day.
During a news conference at the Statehouse, the governor, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Superintendent Ellen Weaver praised the nonprofit and Kirk, who was shot to death at a Utah college last year.
It served as an unofficial campaign event two months before the June 9 primaries. Evette is in a seven-way GOP race for the nomination to replace McMaster, whose tenure ends in January.
Evette, who received McMaster’s endorsement in February, praised Turning Point for promoting conservative values.
“I want people across South Carolina to know the governor and I stand behind these clubs, making sure that our young people have a forum to talk about what’s important, to critically think,” she told reporters, noting that Turning point reached out to her.
South Carolina has around 80 chapters already, Evette said at the governor’s lectern, with about 20 students standing behind her. Those include public and private schools, as well as groups of homeschooled students, according to the organization’s website.
Seeing state leaders promote the club can encourage students afraid of facing backlash from their peers or school district to start their own groups, said Andrew Sypher, a Phoenix-based field officer for Turning Point USA.
He couldn’t name any specific instances of South Carolina school districts discouraging students from starting their own groups.
“Sometimes, (students) just need to be able to see how their state leaders are acting,” Sypher told reporters.
Weaver, who doesn’t have any GOP opposition, pointed to Turning Point USA as promoting students’ engagement in politics. Having varied groups on campus is one way of “ensuring students learn full, fair and honest history,” Weaver said.
A Democrat who hopes to oust Weaver in November criticized the encouragement. Ahead of the news conference, Syliva Wright’s campaign sent out an email saying the candidate “sounds the alarm over Weaver’s support” for Turning Point.
“I believe that endorsing a program tied to a politically active organization risks introducing partisan influence into classrooms, potentially undermining the neutrality that public education strives to maintain,” Wright said in the email. “We should be empowering students to think for themselves — not indoctrinating them to messaging that could be perceived as partisan or one-sided.”
SC House votes to name roads after Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, over Democrats’ protests
She and Lisa Ellis are competing in the June 9 primaries for the Democratic nomination to challenge Weaver.
Last month, the House voted to name part of a highway and a bridge after Kirk over Democrats’ opposition.
Kirk frequently visited college campuses and invited students to debate him as part of a series he called “prove me wrong” debates. Supporters said Kirk was holding open discussions on controversial topics, but critics have called that disingenuous, pointing to comments many consider hateful.
Sypher and the Republican officials standing in the Statehouse on Friday described Turning Point as a way of promoting discussions and different viewpoints on school campuses. McMaster’s proclamation highlighted the importance of free speech and promoting civic engagement.
For Turning Point USA, a large part of promoting different viewpoints means making sure conservative voices are heard. Tate Sargent, a junior at Palmetto High School in Williamston (in uber conservative Anderson County), told reporters he started his school’s chapter after seeing “liberalism quietly slipping in” to everyday life.
Previous moves by Weaver criticized by Democrats include partnering with conservative media group PragerU to provide optional classroom resources.
“I encourage schools across this state to welcome student-led organizations like Turning Point USA, because when students are given the opportunity to engage in open, respectful dialogue, they grow as thinkers, as leaders and as citizens,” Weaver said.
Turning Point USA Day 2026Courtesy of South Carolina Daily Gazette
