Charlie Kirk and Vivek Ramaswamy argue with Georgia State students at tour stop supporting Trump – WABE

Charlie Kirk and Vivek Ramaswamy took the stage Monday at Georgia State University in downtown Atlanta, a decidedly liberal setting for two famous conservatives, to hold court with college students.

Within minutes, Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur seeking the Republican presidential nomination this year, and Kirk, the professional provocateur, squared off with students about their decisions in the Nov. 5 presidential election.

“What is Kamala Harris’ greatest achievement?” Kirk briefly questioned two students who accused Donald Trump of being “un-American” and wanting to override the Constitution.

Kirk, 31, is playing a prominent role in this year’s election. He is using his online presence and the organization he founded, Turning Point Action, to make himself one of the country’s best-known conservatives and a central part of Trump’s operations. The former president is placing particular emphasis on courting younger men, the “bro vote,” and is trying to reach them through podcasts, social media and influencers like Kirk.

Kirk is hosting a pro-Trump rally on Wednesday in Duluth, Georgia, part of the vast swath of metro Atlanta where Trump underperformed in his re-election campaign four years ago, losing to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump will also appear at a religious town hall in Zebulon on Wednesday. Kirk and Trump are scheduled to appear at a rally in Las Vegas on Thursday evening.

Harris will attend a concert and campaign rally with former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen in Atlanta on Thursday.

Monday’s meeting in Atlanta was part of the “You’re Being Brainwashed Tour,” with stops at college campuses in the swing states that will decide the presidency.

Kirk’s Turning Point is promoting state and local Republican officials to campaign in Arizona, Wisconsin and elsewhere. Critics question the group’s claims and its use of an app that offers minimal safeguards to protect voters’ personal information. In a recording of a meeting obtained by The Associated Press, a staff member of one group said: “We are now an official arm of the Trump campaign.”

More than the fieldwork, Kirk’s “Brainwashed” tour has become perhaps his most visible presence in the final months of the campaign.

Trump and his aides argue that his populist nationalism appeals to younger voters frustrated by an inflationary economy and rising real estate prices.

At Georgia State, Kirk attracted a remarkable group of young men wearing Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” cap.

“I’m definitely voting for Trump because he reflects my values ​​as a conservative and a Christian better than Ms. Harris,” said 25-year-old Jean Pierre. He credited figures like Kirk and Candace Owens with “helping me realize that I’ve always been a conservative.”

Still, Pierre appeared to be significantly outnumbered by the crowd of students who were there to defend themselves against the host or simply to observe the fighting that ensued.

As Turning Point staff walked through the crowd handing out free “MAGA” hats, some students rejected them while others donned them and mocked the idea. One student frantically walked around trying to give it away: “Please, could some straight white man take this hat!”

Jason Evans and Tyler Hill appeared in “White Dudes for Harris” costumes.

“I definitely have some questions for Charlie and Vivek,” said Evans, a junior from New York, although he never got to ask them.

Hill said, “I’m just here for the show.”

Ramaswamy repeated some of the pitches he used in his own election campaign. He accused Biden’s administration of censoring online speech. He defended Trump’s protectionism as he told students that China was the top supplier to the US military.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

Kirk was deeply concerned with spurious claims and conspiracy theories.

He repeated Trump’s false portrayal that Harris was solely responsible for immigration policy and said the vice president was the decision-maker on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the U.S. response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kirk doubled down on the falsehood that 325,000 children were “lost” at the border during Biden’s term.

Kirk also defended the Trump supporters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, as Congress was meeting to certify Biden’s election.

Ashli ​​Babbitt, who was shot by a Capitol Police officer in the Capitol, was unarmed, Kirk said. He asked rhetorically whether the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer in 2020, was acceptable. This drew ridicule and more than a few curse words.

Kirk, who is white, continued: “Black people in America are being put last, which seems to have been a theme for the last 60 years that Democrats have governed.”

The crowd, reflecting the racial and ethnic diversity of Georgia State’s enrollment, was largely unresponsive. Turning Point employees and local conservatives cheered.

Kirk received the biggest applause, at least from many students wearing red hats, when he quoted from the New Testament. “We are all sinners,” he said. “We all fall short of the glory of God.”