White fireworks shot up from the stage, music with a heavy bass boomed, and smoke billowed.
Then, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis emerged, tossing autographed baseball caps to a screaming crowd of 5,000 young conservatives in Tampa on July 22.
His appearance wrapped up the first day of the Student Action Summit, a three-day conference by Turning Point Action, part of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.
The annual gathering draws teens and 20-somethings from all over the country, and serves as a pep rally of conservatism.
A wide range of speakers, from politicians to television personalities, spent about 20-40 minutes each encouraging the young audience. They were urged to stand up for their values and truth, reject woke ideology and the efforts to indoctrinate them, get married and have children, and fight back against the overreach of government.
Most speakers poked fun at those espousing progressive and liberal ideologies and woke corporations, contrasting them against their conservative views. They urge the students to “save the country.”
Think for Yourself
Turning Point USA founder, podcaster, and author Charlie Kirk kicked off the high-energy conference on Day 1.
Then, to thunderous cheers, attendees welcomed neurosurgeon Ben Carson to the stage. Carson served as Secretary of U.S. Housing and Urban Development under former President Donald Trump.
“It’s always so good to see young people with common sense,” Carson said with his trademark calm.
He told a story about making the right decision as a young resident doctor, breaking hospital rules to perform life-saving surgery. The patient was dying, he said, and his supervisor wasn’t available to grant permission for the operation. Carson took him to the operating room anyway.
The patient survived and went on to become a psychologist, thanks to his decision to “do the right thing,” despite difficult circumstances, surgeon said.
He urged students to think for themselves and get involved in fighting Marxist policies creeping into society. And he urged them to stay hopeful.
“All this radicalism is waking people up, and that’s a good thing,” Carson said. “It’s always darkest before the dawn. And I believe that dawn is coming.”
By Nanette Holt
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