Ron DeSantis Announces Plans to Install Turning Point Chapters in Florida High Schools Weeks After Charlie Kirk’s Death

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is partnering up with Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by Charlie Kirk.

During a news conference in Sarasota on Monday, Oct. 27, DeSantis, 47, announced that, through the partnership, high school students across Florida will be able to start their own chapters of Turning Point USA, known as Club America.

“We want to make sure… anybody in a high school that wants to start a Club America chapter will be able to do so,” DeSantis said in his speech. 

“There shouldn’t be any impediments to that and certainly no discrimination. We’re not going to allow that. And any school or school district that does try to discriminate, that man right there will probably first send you a nasty gram and then drop the hammer. So that will happen,” he added, seemingly referring to President Donald Trump. 

According to its website, Turning Point USA claims to educate “young people about the importance of limited government, free markets and freedom.” DeSantis said that Club America is a “new student-led organization” created to “mobilize high schoolers to advocate” for the same values.

“You’re starting to see more young people take an interest and be educated, and now they want to get involved. So they’ve had a huge groundswell of interest ever since that tragic day,” he added, per the Tallahassee Democrat, referring to Kirk, who was shot and killed during a Turning Point event on Sept. 10.

DeSantis’ announcement comes over a month after Fla. Attorney General James Uthmeier shared in a post on X that his office planned to “take legal action” against “any schools or districts that are preventing TPUSA clubs from existing on campus.”

“We’ve been hearing reports up and down the state [about] public schools not allowing TPUSA organizations to be formed on campus. This is discriminatory–It’s wrong, and we will not stand for it,” Uthmeier said in the video message.

“Our AG’s Office of Parental Rights will be bringing legal action where necessary to ensure we are protecting the rights of students to organize, associate, and engage in speech and debate,” he added.

Turning Point USA has seen a large increase in interest since Kirk’s death. The organization announced last month that it received more than 120,000 inquiries from people wanting to start new campus chapters, per Fox News.

DeSantis also revealed during his speech on Oct. 27 that he planned to award the winner of the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative (FDCI) speech and debate championship with a prize that was renamed in honor of the right-wing political activist.

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“The champion of the next FCDI state championship, to be held at New College of Florida in April 2026, will take home the Charlie Kirk Prize—renamed in honor of a young man who embodied the principles of patriotism, civil discourse, and open debate,” he wrote on X. 

“The generous scholarship awards for the winner and other top competitors will be a great memorial to Kirk’s legacy,” he added.