It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
While the Liberals Income Trust leak a year ago benefited their pals on Bay Street the Tories Income Trust Halloween surprize rewarded their pal Gwyn Morgan. It is more than likely that it was Encana's plans to become an Income Trust, moreso than either Telus or BCE , that forced the Tories hand. The haste by which the Tories made the decision to smack down the Income Trusts was due to their insider knowledge courtesy of Mr. Morgan. They knew Encana's plans. They sacrificed consultation and breaking an election promise to act to benefit their insider, Gwyn Morgan. Now will the RCMP investigate this Income Trust leak as they did with the Liberals leak?
It's certainly a theory that got some traction yesterday, as EnCana Corp. made the stunning admission that it wanted to convert about 40% of itself -- worth $20-billion -- into an income trust.
What lent credence to it is that Mr. Morgan, the founding chief executive of EnCana -- and the company's heart, mind and soul until he resigned abruptly exactly a year ago -- publicly criticized the trust model as bad for Canada even as his proud creation was on the verge of doing the deed.
Plus, there were these head-scratchers: His resignation as CEO happened two months after EnCana put in motion the trust plan, hiring legal, tax and financial advisors and seeking a tax ruling from the Canada Revenue Agency.
And despite his 30-year history with EnCana and its predecessor, Alberta Energy Co., two weeks ago Mr. Morgan stepped down from the company's board, just days before the federal government announced it would put an end to trusts in Canada.
Here are exerpts from Gwyn Morgans speech to the Fraser Institute. He says more, on immigration, crime, coloured folks, etc. But this is his anti-union rant.Oh and in being anti-monopoly he is of course not speaking of corporate monopolies, but of the public sector.
Which reminds me of when Michael Walker of the Fraser Institute at a Labour Arbitration Conference in Calgary referred to unions as parasites on the back of workers. Really I thought the parasites were the bosses and the ruling class. But then as I told Mr. Walker he really was a wannabe Ayn Rand in drag.
Tonight, I will follow the Fraser Institute's example of calling a spade a shovel by looking at facts. Now that I've got the shovel out, let's dig down to the root cause of some key issues.The first one is the relationship between unionization and economic competitiveness. It has been demonstrated time and again that private sector unionization eventually leads to an uncompetitive business. One only has to look at the union vs. non-union auto plants in North America and the rest of the world for proof of this ... The highly unionized auto sector in Germany is in deep trouble, while auto plants in eastern European countries are thriving. The former industrial heartlands of the United States in upstate New York and Michigan are in deep trouble, while non-union plants in the Carolinas thrive. The "big three" unionized auto manufacturers in Ontario are in trouble, burdened by uncompetitive cost structures and rigid work rules. The downward drift into the abyss continues, while union leaders and politicians focus only on the symptoms. It's sad to see people who have put in decades of dedicated service put out of a job, when their own unions have made their employers uncompetitive. How can an organization that is fighting with itself compete with organizations where everyone is aligned to outperform the competition?The reason that the private sector has become less and less unionized is because a lot of unionized businesses fail ... Unions thrive on monopolies. Monopolies rarely go out of business — they simply pass on their increasing costs and inefficiencies. And the public sector is, by definition, brimming with monopolies. So we see the phenomena of spiralling public sector costs combined with inefficient and low-quality public sector services. Now let's get our shovel out again and dig into another issue that is crucial to both Canadians' social stability and productivity — the immigration system.
Presto Manning was on CTV Question Period this morning shilling for Big Oil and whining about the Alberta Royalty compromise produced by Eddie Stelmach.
Presto was following up on criticisms he made earlier this week in a comment piece he wrote in one of them 'damn eastern newspapers'; the Globe and Mail, aka Canada's National newspaper. Preston Manning: The Stelmach royalty uncertainty principle Which of course is owned by the same folks who own CTV. Presto has upset folks even on the right like Neil Waugh at the Edmonton Sun.Whose side is Presto on? Presto engaged in some political prestidigitations on Question Period about how this will hurt Eddie in the polls when the election comes. And as usual with the rose coloured glasses of the Calgary right wing he predicted that it won't benefit the Liberals or NDP or even the would be right wing rump parties, but rather it would be because conservatives will stay home.
"I don't see votes going to the Liberals or the NDP, I think their biggest danger is another 150,000 people staying home who voted Conservative the last time," he said.
Well at least they have homes. It's not just the royalty deal that is driving a stake in the heart of the Tired Old Tories it's stories like this Halloween surprise.
"The province needs to step in. Every other province has some form of rent control," said Rob Picard, angered by his skyrocketing rent.
On Halloween night, Picard was spooked by an 86% increase to his rent. The three-month notice means the rent on his two-bedroom 700-square-foot apartment in the River Park Glens, also known as the Syncrude Towers, is jumping from $1,425 per month to $2,650.
"I work for Suncor. I make good money, but I can't afford this. The illusion that this is Fort McMurray and everybody can afford this is just wrong," said the heavy equipment operator.
He's not the only one complaining.
Gunner Antos has a two-bedroom apartment in the same building and will see his rent go from $1,500 a month to $2,700. Those prices could even drive highly paid workers away.
"They're crying for workers and they're raping us," said Antos.
"You've got people who have jobs living in tent cities. They have people with jobs living in the bush."
Service Alberta spokesman Eoin Kenny said the government is not looking at rent controls at this time.
"With this type of hit, even though I work for Syncrude, I may be forced to take a room this late in life," said Gerald Morrison, who has lived at the complex for more than 20 years.
"I always thought Fort McMurray was fair and square, but they're gouging now."
The landlords left a note on apartment doors Wednesday afternoon saying the change will be effective Feb. 1.
Mr. Morrison said his three-bedroom apartment is going from $1,800 a month to $2,950 - without utilities - despite a leaky roof, carpenter ants and unpainted walls. Two years ago, his rent went from $1,100 to $1,500, and then to $1,800 last February.
David Campkin said the one-bedroom apartment he and his wife share rose to $2,250 from $1,450. He said the unit's condition is "absolutely appalling" with a carpetless concrete floor and none of the promised security.
The provincial Residential Tenancies Act passed in April requires landlords to give tenants three months' notice before raising rent once a year. River Park Glen appears to have met the conditions.
There is no ceiling on rent increases in Alberta, where a sizzling economy is attracting workers from outside the province and making affordable housing scarce. A government-appointed committee suggested rent controls to Premier Ed Stelmach earlier this year, but he rejected the recommendation.
Lets do some quick math shall we. 500 units X $1500=$750,000. Rolling in the dough while not providing tenants with repairs. Can you say high rise slum lord. Another whiner from Alberta is Harpers pal the ex-CEO of Encana, Gwyn Morgan who also published a comment attacking the royalty compromise in that same eastern rag. The irony is that populism was what got Presto elected and made the Reform/Alliance/Conservative party possible. And Gwyn makes the same case that Presto does in attacking Farmer Ed.
From Monday's Globe and Mail October 29, 2007 at 6:30 AM EST
Experience has taught me that populist politics are seldom principled. It's not that populists don't want to do what's right and best; it's just that if a choice has to be made as to which has priority, what is popular wins.
The second matter of principle Mr. Stelmach's government has violated is reneging on oil sands royalty commitments under which capital has already been invested. Except in the case of Syncrude and Suncor, the money was invested without a contract binding the government to honour the terms.
Nonetheless, investors rightly see this unilateral change as a clear case of doing what is popular rather than what is right. And in terms of doing what is best, the damage to Alberta's reputation certainly illustrates the wrong choice.
Industry is still in shock, but the computer models used to compare before and after investment feasibility are grinding away. Companies with investment opportunities outside Alberta will be looking at them a lot closer. The natural gas drilling and development service sector was already suffering, so expect an even worse downturn. New project decisions in the oil sands will have to factor a much higher government take into a business already replete with risk.
Mr. Stelmach states: "I'm confident we've made the right decisions for today and for Alberta's future."
As for me, I continue to believe that populist politics are seldom principled.
Populism is what kept Ralph in power for years. Of course in Ralph's case that was populism that benefited the oil boys in Calgary. So that was principled.
Which includes a link between former Encana President Gwyn Morgan and Anderson consulting. Anderson of course was involved in the Enron scandal and years before that was involved in Bernie Cornfelds mutual fund swindle, which operated out of Ontario in the 1960's. Under Mike Harris Anderson returned to Ontario to work as an advisor on contracting out public services, as did Gwyn Morgans other company, Acceture. Both cost taxpayers millions in cost overruns. Something about a tiger not changing its spots me thinks.
That being said one has to wonder why the Liberals continue to lie about Harpers donors? Rather than expose them. Oh right cause they also donate to the Liberals. Makes it kinda hard to expose them as bad guys, right.
The idea perhaps originated in the PMO after last election. Being a minority government who knew when King Stephen might get kicked from office. So lets find a legacy project for Steve. And viola what should appear on the horizon but the National Portrait Gallery. And as I pointed out here suddenly it was being moved out of Ottawa, lock, stock, and special atmospheric preservation equipment, to the Calgary riding of the PM.
Until last week when the whole idea was shelved, cause Calgary no longer looked like a shoe in for best P3 deal.
In a scathing editorial in the National Post entitled Portrait of Incompetence it is all made painfully clear. The P3 bid opened up to other cities was a mere fient, the fix was in for Calgary, until Edmonton put in two bids both lower than the Calgary costs.
The thoroughly depressing history of the project has been covered exhaustively -- but here is a capsule summary. Sheila Copps' original 2001 brainwave for a permanent centre at the old U. S. embassy in Ottawa ran headlong into cost overruns, belt-tightening in the national capital district and a new Liberal regime that was none too keen on building an expensive legacy for its leading critic. Paul Martin's government vacillated, and when it was ousted by the Conservatives, they seized upon the opportunity, first engaging in backdoor negotiations to find room for the gallery in downtown Calgary, and then opening the whole thing up to private-public bids from major cities across the country. Edmonton threw a spanner in the works by coming up with not one but two bids that would have been extremely easy on the public purse; this led to the deadline being quietly extended so that Calgary could improve the terms of its proposed deal. Meanwhile, Ottawa's partisans put on a full-court press, arguing chauvinistically that the right place for a national gallery could not possibly be anywhere but the national capital. These master logicians told an ostensibly pretty story about the Portrait Gallery serving as a locus of educational tours of the capital, but failed ever to mention the real truth -- that in downtown Ottawa the building would probably remain a poor cousin to Parliament Hill, the National Gallery, the Museum of Civilization and other competing sites. The nation's capital Ottawa may be, but not many schools can afford to send children on the week-long field trips that the city perhaps deserves.
And speaking of Shelia Copps she has her own take on this mini-boondoogle.
The decision of Stephen Harper's Conservative government to cancel the National Portrait Gallery was a smart move to get out of a poorly conceived plan to build the museum as a public-private partnership, says former Liberal heritage minister Sheila Copps. "I think that was a bit of a way of getting themselves out of a pickle that they'd created," Copps said Saturday. Heritage Minister James Moore announced on Friday that the gallery would be cancelled. Moore said none of the proposals submitted by developers in a nationwide competition was acceptable and the government must act prudently in a time of economic instability. But Copps said she didn't buy that excuse. She described the competition as "poorly thought-out" and a "no-win" political situation that would pit the losing cities against the government.
This was always about Calgary. It was a sop to Encana, and the ideology of P3's. Encana of course is the company that Gwyn Morgan used to run. Harpers old political/business pal whom he tried to get appointed as the newly created Federal Government Appointments Commissioner after the 2006 election. But that too failed to pass.And like the National Gallery cancellation the post of Appointments Commissioner was never filled.
Encana was also a victim of the Harpocrites about face on Income Trusts so having the National Gallery in Calgary built by Encana was simply payback.
This was about moving a National Gallery to Calgary to show that political power had shifted west, to the Petro Bay Street of Canada. It was also about selling off the Gallery to Encana. Thus Canada's National Portrait Gallery would have been the Encana National Portrait Gallery of Canada.
The new Conservative government killed that project in 2006 and tried to forge the EnCana deal. When that failed in the face of withering criticism from Ottawans and others, the government resorted to the bidding process. Now cities across the country have spent money preparing bids and $11 million has been wasted renovating the U.S. embassy location. The machinations surrounding the gallery have been a sorry display of government inefficiency and inept politics.
Once again the neo-con ideology of Privatization bites the bullet.
Almost a year since the first national rail strike was called, another series of stoppages loom. Passengers who have been spared the usual round of disruptive bank holiday engineering works this weekend won’t be so lucky in the second half of the half-term break. Strikes by drivers and crew will more or less wipe out services on Wednesday and Saturday, shred schedules on Friday, and add a bit of scattergun disruption in between.
This time in 2022, the mere prospect of the biggest rail strike in decades was causing consternation. Now, though, the latest guaranteed upheaval has not even produced a round of talks between unions and industry – let alone ministers – to try to head off the disruption.
A gloomy stalemate has taken hold in recent months, and it is hard to see from where any imminent change will come. The one tectonic shift in a year of attrition was the settling of a 9% pay deal with staff at Network Rail in March: a moment that both deprived the biggest union, the RMT, of its greatest leverage in strikes, and also fuelled belief in government and the industry that a similar deal could be done at train operators.
Instead, a pay offer that the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) negotiators made to RMT general secretary Mick Lynch crumbled, whether due to duplicitous legalese in the written detail (as the union maintains) or because Lynch could not persuade a hardline union executive (as the train companies maintain).
The RDG and ministers have refused to budge, and demand a referendum of union members. But the deal in detail holds even less for the train operators’ staff, and union members have voted for another six months of potential strikes, starting with Friday’s.
Since then, some informal contact is understood to have taken place between industry and union – but Lynch’s recent call for a summit with government was met with a scathing RDG rejoinder that the only summit the RMT needed was “between its negotiating team and its executive committee”. This is a political dispute created by the Tories. Any chance of resolving it may only come from a change of governmentDave Calfe, Aslef
The union is likewise reballoting for another six months of strikes in England – while announcing a whopping deal for drivers in Wales, a 20% rise over the next two years to £71,000, when a further guaranteed inflation-linked increase applies.
The Welsh bonanza, according to the union, delivers what the government claims to want – changes to terms and conditions, extra productivity and “modernisation”, not just gold-plated pay.
But while driver delegates in Cardiff this week for Aslef’s annual assembly will have been toasting their hosts, it’s hard to see any kind of similar resolution elsewhere.
At Westminster, ministers have freely admitted that any pay deal is now seen in the context of wider public sector pay disputes with nurses and teachers – even if the rail staff are employed by private firms. For some in government, the £1bn-plus in lost revenue is worth it to cap wider pay; for others, some suspect, in latter-day Thatcher versus the miners mode, victory over the unions is all.
The irony in the ideological dispute is that train drivers, backing renationalisation, have seen pay soar under privatisation. And in normal times, with their own money at risk, private train operators would rather shell out for drivers than face them down and lose much more in stoppages.
In Cardiff, Aslef’s president Dave Calfe told drivers to “keep the faith”, adding: “This is a political dispute, created by the Tories, and any chance of resolving it may only come from a change of government, which is still 18 months away.”
Both sides might want to be careful what they wish for. Much-needed passengers, meanwhile, might simply be careful not to rely on the train for a long time yet.
Monday, December 22, 2025
ALL WHITE KIRK KULTISTS
Here's what you missed at Turning Point's chaotic convention
JONATHAN J. COOPER and SEJAL GOVINDARAO Updated Sun, December 21, 2025
TOPSHOT - Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk, widow of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, speaks during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona on December 18, 2025. (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)(OLIVIER TOURON via Getty Images)
PHOENIX (AP) — When Turning Point USA's annual AmericaFest convention reached its halfway point, Erika Kirk tried to put a smiling face on things.
“Say what you want about AmFest, but it’s definitely not boring,” said Kirk, who has led the influential conservative organization since her husband Charlie was assassinated in September. “Feels like a Thanksgiving dinner where your family’s hashing out the family business.”
That's one way to put it.
Some of the biggest names in conservative media took turns torching each other on the main stage, spending more time targeting right-wing rivals than their left-wing opponents.
The feuds could ultimately define the boundaries of the Republican Party and determine the future of President Donald Trump's fractious coalition, which appears primed for more schisms in the months and years ahead.
Here are some of the most notable moments from the four-day conference.
Shapiro criticizes podcasters
Ben Shapiro, co-founder of the conservative media outlet Daily Wire, set the tone with the first speech after Erika Kirk opened the convention. He attacked fellow commentators in deeply personal terms, saying some of the right's most popular figures are morally bankrupt.
Candace Owens “has been vomiting all sorts of hideous and conspiratorial nonsense into the public square for years,” he said.
Megyn Kelly is “guilty of cowardice" because she's refused to condemn Owens for spreading unsubstantiated theories about Kirk's death.
And Tucker Carlson's decision to host antisemite Nick Fuentes on his podcast was “an act of moral imbecility.”
Shapiro's targets hit back
Barely an hour later, Carlson took the same stage and mocked Shapiro’s attempt to “deplatform and denounce” people who disagree with him.
“I watched it,” he said. “I laughed.”
Others had their chance the next night.
“Ben Shapiro is like a cancer, and that cancer spreads,” said Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser.
Kelly belittled Shapiro as a marginal figure in the conservative movement and said their friendship is over.
“I resent that he thinks he’s in a position to decide who must say what, to whom, and when,” Kelly said.
Owens, who has spread unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk's death, wasn't welcome at the convention. But she responded on her podcast, calling Shapiro a “miserable imp."
A schism over Israel and antisemitism
Israel came up repeatedly during the conference.
Some on the right have questioned whether the Republican Party's historically steadfast support for Israel conflicts with Trump's “America First” platform. Carlson criticized civilian deaths in Gaza in remarks that wouldn't have been out of place in progressive circles.
Some attendees dug deep into history, highlighting Israel's attack on the USS Liberty off the Sinai Peninsula in 1967. Israel said it mistook the ship for an Egyptian vessel during the Six Day War, while critics have argued that it was a deliberate strike.
Bannon accused Shapiro, who is Jewish, and others who staunchly support Israel of being part of “the Israel first crowd.” Kelly said criticism from Shapiro and Bari Weiss, the newly installed head of CBS News, “is about Israel."
Vance says loving America is enough to be part of MAGA
In the conference's closing speech, Vice President JD Vance declined to condemn extremism or define a boundary for the MAGA coalition. The movement should be open to anyone as long as they “love America," he said.
“I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to deplatform,” Vance said Sunday.
“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said on the first night of the convention. Vance would be the 48th president if he takes office after Trump.
Turning Point is a major force on the right, with a massive volunteer network around the country that can be especially helpful in early primary states.
Newsom is political enemy No. 1
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a leading Democratic presidential contender, was a favorite punching bag.
“It looks like they’re going to nominate a California liberal who’s presided over rolling blackouts, open borders and unchecked violent gangs,” Vance said. “They’re just trying to settle on whether it’s going to be Gavin Newsom or Kamala Harris.”
Rapper Nicki Minaj, who made a surprise appearance, belittled the California governor, using Trump's favored nickname for him, Newscum.
“Please tread lightly," Minhaj said during an on-stage conversation with Erika Kirk. "That’s what I would say to Gabby-poo.”
A representative for Newsom did not respond to a request for comment.
MAHA teams up with MAGA
The Make America Healthy Again movement had a big presence at Turning Point, signaling its quick rise in the right-wing ecosystem.
MAHA is spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy, who leads the Department of Health and Human Services. However, there has been friction with other parts of the Make America Great Again coalition, particularly when it comes to rolling back environmental regulations.
Wellness influencer Alex Clark, whose podcast is sponsored by Turning Point, asked the crowd whether the Environmental Protection Agency is “with us or against us?”
“Big chemical, big ag and big food are trying to split MAGA from MAHA so things can go back to business as usual, but we don’t want that, do we?” Clark said.
Clark and others have asked for Trump to fire EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who responded by reaching out to MAHA activists. The EPA also said it would release a MAHA agenda for the agency.
Erika Kirk greets Vice President JD Vance during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest 2025, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)(ASSOCIATED PRESS) CEO and Chair of the Board of Turning Point USA Erika Kirk (L) speaks with US rapper Nicki Minaj during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona on December 21, 2025. This year's conference commemorates the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on a Utah college campus in September, sparking an outpouring of grief among conservatives and prompting President Donald Trump to threaten a crackdown on the "radical left." (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)(OLIVIER TOURON via Getty Images) Conservative political commentator and podcast host Tucker Carlson speaks at Turning Point's annual AmericaFest conference, in remembrance of late right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, Arizona on December 18, 2025. Kirk was shot dead on a Utah college campus in September, sparking a wave of grief among conservatives, and threats of a clampdown on the "radical left" from President Donald Trump. (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)(OLIVIER TOURON via Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 21: Erika Kirk interviews surprise guest Nicki Minaj on the final day of Turning Point USA's annual AmericaFest conference at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 21, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona. Minaj spoke about her frustrations with California Governor Gavin Newsom, and about why she has embraced the conservative movement. (Photo by Caylo Seals/Getty Images)(Caylo Seals via Getty Images)
A prerecorded message from President Donald Trump is displayed on a screen after his son Donald Trump Jr. called him from the stage to address the audience by phone during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona on December 21, 2025. This year's conference commemorates the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on a Utah college campus in September, sparking an outpouring of grief among conservatives and prompting President Donald Trump to threaten a crackdown on the "radical left." (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)(OLIVIER TOURON via Getty Images)
First Turning Point USA conference without Charlie Kirk exposes rifts in Christian right
PHOENIX (RNS) — At AmericaFest — where ICE merch is sold beside ‘Jesus Won’ T-shirts — the idea that conservative values are God-ordained may be the biggest unifying factor.
Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk and now CEO of Turning Point USA, takes the stage during AmericaFest on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
PHOENIX (RNS) — On a stage framed by glinting red-white-and-blue lights, Michael Knowles, a podcaster for the political outlet The Daily Wire, recalled Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the New Testament’s signal call for mercy and hope.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God,” Knowles read on Thursday (Dec. 18) at opening night of AmericaFest, the annual conference of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth activist organization co-founded by Charlie Kirk.
There was no doubt that Kirk, who was assassinated in September, was the peacemaker Knowles had in mind. He was one of several speakers at the Phoenix Convention Center in the following days to paint Kirk as a spiritual unifier who connected disparate parts of the American right and reached out to progressives.
If Kirk had that power, this year’s AmFest, which closes on Sunday, has brought home how badly U.S. conservatism needs that kind of uniting presence. The movement’s cohesion has been tested in recent months by Tucker Carlson’s controversial interview with antisemitic internet influencer Nick Fuentes and by disputes over American support for Israel. It’s also been shaken by ongoing revelations tying Trump world figures to sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein and by roiling conspiracy theories, such as former Trump adviser Candace Owens’ suggestion that TPUSA is complicit in its own co-founder’s murder.
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, acknowledged these rifts in her opening speech to the conference, saying: “We’ve seen fractures. We’ve seen bridges being burned that shouldn’t be burnt.”
Her warning went largely unheeded at AmFest, judging by speeches made from the stage, where Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro, Carlson, former White House strategist Steve Bannon and journalist Megyn Kelly all used their speaking slots to swipe at each other.
Attendees record photos and videos during a speech at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Arizona. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
On the floor, however, the college and high school students who make up the rank and file of Turning Point USA remained optimistic. Roughly one-third of the 31,000 who came to Phoenix for AmFest were students. Many said their campus chapters, which go on door-knocking campaigns ahead of elections and man tables to promote conservative values, are gaining traction in the wake of Kirk’s death.
Two Generation Z attendees, one from California and another from Louisiana, said they joined TPUSA chapters in response to Kirk’s assassination. In her speech, Erika Kirk told the audience that more than 140,000 students have applied to get involved with TPUSA Sept. 10, when Kirk died, bringing its student membership to more than a million. The organization is getting help from states such as Florida and Texas, which are working to make it easier to establish TPUSA Club America high school chapters.
Sixteen-year-old Sage Tousey, president of the Hamilton Southeastern Club America in Fishers, Indiana, told Religion News Service that her chapter swelled from 20 students to nearly 50 since Kirk was shot and that it has become more religious in outlook as it focuses on service projects such as placing wreaths on soldiers’ graves.
Tousey, a nondenominational Christian, suggested that religion is a more cohesive force than politics. “We will always say Christ first, politics second,” she said.
Attendees arrive for AmericaFest on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
On Thursday’s warm, sunny morning in Phoenix, conservative politics and faith seemed to live side by side, with pro-Immigration and Customs Enforcement T-shirts being sold beside ones reading “Jesus Won.” And while Kirk’s death hung over the meeting, the young conservatives, their blue lanyards bright against the brown and gray streetscape of downtown Phoenix, were volubly excited for the sold-out event.
“It’s a bit of a homecoming,” said Jackson Heaberlin, 18, who serves as the outreach chair of the Clemson College Republicans at Clemson University in South Carolina. “You have all these months of very upsetting news, story after story of a left-wing radical violence, and then now you’re insulated in an environment of conservatives who are young and passionate.”
Even the disagreements among the headliners were taken as a sign of health. Attendees contrasted the sniping from the podium with cancel culture, which they see as standard procedure on the left. “In the conservative movement, we will not always agree on things, but we know that we can always come together under religion,” said Tousey.
Though TPUSA does have an arm that organizes pastors, TPUSA Faith, the core organization isn’t explicitly Christian — it describes its purpose as organizing students for limited government and free markets. Still, AmFest was saturated with religion. Attendees raptly listened to British comedian Russell Brand, who was baptized in 2024 and faces rape charges in Britain, urge the audience to build a Christian nation. Shapiro, who is Jewish, said the idea that God imbued humans with “creative capacity and the power to choose” is the “essence of conservatism.”
Kirk himself seemed to deepen his faith over his decade and more in the spotlight, and observers were watching the rhetoric at AmFest to see how much the organization will burnish its Christian brand moving forward.
“They want to promote this kind of above-politics thing with Charlie’s legacy,” said Matthew Boedy, a professor at the University of North Georgia who has studied TPUSA. Boedy pointed to a “clear divide” between the Christian ethic shown by Erika Kirk, who emotionally forgave the killer at Kirk’s Sept. 21 memorial service in nearby Glendale, Arizona, and Trump’s stating flatly on the same day: “I don’t forgive my enemies.”
Merchandise booths sold a variety of t-shirts, hats and other products during the AmericaFest event hosted by Turning Point USA on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Arizona. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
In an interview last week, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat asked Andrew Kolvet, who has taken over as host of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast, whether conservative politics could use more “of the Erika Kirk spirit” than “Trumpian attitude.” Kolvet advocated for “a more conciliatory tone at times than our president,” while saying he appreciates Trump’s unapologetic approach.
At AmFest, the Rev. Lucas Miles, senior director of TPUSA Faith, described Erika Kirk as a “well-discipled” Christian, and Trump as a newer believer. “I think we’re just seeing a spectrum of … maturing in Christ and being conformed in the image of Christ,” he said.
The divide echoed a related debate among conservative Christians about guarding against empathy for immigrants — a theme that has puzzled even some prominent evangelical Christians as counter to Jesus’ teaching.
“The toxic empathy is getting so exhausting,” said Katie Turnbull, 25, who attended AmFest with her husband. “You hear huge pastors with huge churches preach to their congregations that love is love, and that we get to define love as opening the floodgates of our borders and bringing in the Third World.”
Attendees at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Dec. 19, 2025, in Phoenix. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
Some of those who addressed the conference, on the other hand, argued for making room for difference in U.S. society. On Friday, Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican candidate for president now running for Ohio governor, pushed back on the anti-immigrant sentiment that was in the air at the conference. A Hindu and the child of immigrants from India, Ramaswamy told the audience that normalizing hatred toward any ethnic group has “no place in the future of the conservative movement.”
These kinds of sentiments were a minority view, however. While at times critical of Trump’s tone, most attendees viewed the president’s aggressive anti-immigrant policy as above reproach. Several younger attendees hoped for broader restrictions even on legal immigration and combined concerns about immigration with broader fears about the rise of Islam, which they view as vehemently anti-Christian.
Gwyn Andrews, 22, who founded a TPUSA chapter at the University of West Georgia, expressed concern about the “Islamic faith issue that has been infiltrating our cities, our colleges,” adding that “a big issue for me personally is to make sure that people truly understand the Islamic faith and how that directly ties to socialism, as we’ve seen in New York City with Mamdani,” referring to New York’s Muslim mayor-elect. She said that for American society to thrive, Muslim immigrants need to assimilate, a word that cropped up consistently at AmFest. “The goal is for them to understand that when you assimilate here, you can’t go to Dearborn, Michigan, and turn the entire place into a Third World country and then try to implement Shariah law,” she said.
Anti-Muslim sentiment is nothing new to TPUSA. Kirk long argued that Islam is not compatible with the West and that to be American requires that you “worship God, not Allah.” In a recent episode of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” Jewish conservative political commentator Josh Hammer argued that to be considered an American, one ought to “publicly assimilate into the Protestant-majority inherited culture.”
But in Phoenix, Miles framed assimilation as a faith question, saying God instructed his followers to welcome foreigners passing through, but stressed that those who stayed, like the biblical figure Ruth, chose to assimilate. Those wanting to “keep their own identity and maybe usurp and take advantage,” he said, “the Hebrews were warned … to keep them at bay.”
Alex Clark takes the stage at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Arizona. (RNS photo/Kathryn Post)
AmFest’s insistence on Christian dominance over national policy, said Christina Littlefield, associate professor of communication and religion at Pepperdine University, veers into Christian nationalism, the idea that the government should privilege a particular vision of Christianity at the cost of democratic pluralism.
Portraying Kirk, who often argued that America should be a Christian nation, as a martyr is “radicalizing” for many conservatives, said Littlefield, co-author of “Christian America and the Kingdom of God” with Richard T. Hughes, a dynamic she called dangerous. “Someone killed him because they did not like his political beliefs, which I condemn, but he did not die as a martyr for the faith.”
While TPUSA is openly mourning Kirk’s death, it’s also leveraging his story to rally Christian pastors and recruit voters. Miles told RNS that TPUSA Faith’s network jumped from 4,200 member churches prior to Kirk’s death, to 9,500, and is now planning a “Make Heaven Crowded Tour,” hosting faith events at churches in more than 25 cities. A new, free curriculum, First Truths, examining the fundamentals of the Christian faith is already available, and next year, the group will release another curriculum critiquing Islam.
At AmFest, Miles and other speakers appealed to faith to end the infighting seen on the stage, imbuing the organization’s political power with spiritual stakes.
“If we don’t unify as the body of Christ, then we are in a position where we are vulcanized, we’re fractured,” Miles told attendees at a breakout session. Christian unity, he said, is needed to hold the line “when it comes to Marxism, when it comes to Islam, when it comes to progressivism, when it comes to abortion.”
Former European Council President Charles Michel tells Euronews that Rutte's "flattering approach" towards the US President will lead to "total failure."
NATO chief Mark Rutte should stop being an "American agent" and unite the fraught military alliance in the face of the United States' "hostile rhetoric" and "intimidation", former European Council chief Charles Michel has told Euronews.
"I want to be clear, Mark Rutte is disappointing and I'm losing confidence," Michel, who helmed the Council for five years up until 2024, told Euronews' morning show Europe Today on Friday.
"I'm not expecting Mark Rutte to be an American agent. I'm expecting Mark to work for unity within NATO," Michel added.
Rutte, who famously called US President Donald Trump the "Daddy" of the NATO alliance, has gained a reputation as a Trump whisperer. He also provided an off-ramp for Trump to climb down on his recent threats to trigger a trade war with European countries over Greenland.
Michel told Euronews that Rutte's "flattering diplomacy will not work" and could lead to "total failure."
"We face intimidation, we face threats. What is going on with Greenland is not acceptable and I expect Mark Rutte to be a strong voice to defend the unity between NATO," he said.
He added that the EU is a "very loyal partner" to the US and "doesn't deserve" Trump's recent "behaviour", referencing the US President's threats over Greenland, his attempts to give "legitimacy" to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and sanction former EU officials.
The US administration recently slapped sanctions on Thierry Breton, France's former European Commissioner and the tech tsar responsible for crafting the EU's digital rulebook.
'Possible' for Ukraine to join EU by 2027
Michel also weighed in on negotiations on a future peace settlement for Ukraine, saying leaders such as France's Macron and Italy's Meloni are "right" to demand direct face time with Putin.
"We need to be around the table because today (we are not). That's very sad. That's even a bit shocking," he said. "Who is defending the European interests around the table? Not the United States, not Russia."
He floated his successor António Costa as a possible envoy to the talks, saying he has the "legitimacy" to speak on behalf of the EU's 27 leaders.
Asked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's target for his country to join the EU by 2027 as part of a peace plan, Michel said: "It's absolutely right and that's possible," calling for Kyiv's integration into the European bloc "as fast as possible."
(EurActiv) — Europe is largely opting to stay on the sidelines as Donald Trump convenes his new intergovernmental organisation, the Board of Peace, in Washington for the first time this week.
The inaugural session is expected to focus heavily on Gaza’s post-war governance and reconstruction. The initiative was first floated in September as Washington’s 20-point ceasefire plan for Gaza, but it has since been recast as a broader platform for international conflict resolution.
Across European capitals, the reaction has been cool, with countries opting for observer status and, in many cases, outright scepticism. Only Hungary and Bulgariahave signalledplans to fully join the scheme. Italy, Romania, and Cyprus will attend as observers. Some, including Denmark never received an invite.
The European Commission has likewise stopped short of membership, choosing instead to dispatch Commissioner for Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica, a relatively junior figure within the Berlaymont hierarchy.
Positions of EU countries
Austria: Unlikely to join. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said his country had no plans to become a member. “There is already an organisation created for such cases, the UN … and I am not in favour of parallel structures”.
Belgium: Not joining, and not invited. Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot was forced to deny claims from the White House that Belgium had signed up last month. National broadcaster RTBFreported that the Americans had confused Belgium with Belarus. Belgium wants the EU to reach a common position on this, Prévot said.
Bulgaria: Looking to join. Caretaker Prime Minister Rossen Jeliazkov sat next to Trump when the initiative was officially launched last month in Switzerland, but the decision is still pendingratification in parliament.
Croatia: Not joining. Both Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and President Zoran Milanović – normally political rivals – appeared aligned on rejecting the invitation.
Cyprus: Observer status. Both Athens and Nicosia said they have open channels with Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Czechia: Unlikely to join. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said Prague wants to coordinate with other EU countries.
Denmark: Not invited. As relations with the US are at a low point after Trump put heavy pressure on Copenhagen and Nuuk to give up Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, Denmark was the only Scandinavian country not to receive an invitation.
Estonia: Not invited.
Finland: Not joining. President Alexander Stubb said the board “is a good initiative”, but addedthat Finland wouldn’t join in the current form. “We have a common European policy, and we’ll stick to that,” he told Finnish media Yle last month.
France: Not joining. France was among the first countries to indicate it would not join, criticising the board’s potential overlap with the UN, incompatibility with its international commitments, and a focus beyond Gaza.
Germany: Unlikely to join. So far, the German government has responded cautiously to the board. While it broadly supports efforts to achieve peace in Gaza, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has repeatedly pointed out that the UN already exists as an established international body to solve conflicts.
Greece: Observer status. Greece initially opposed the board, insisting it be limited to Gaza, fearing UN sidelining and potential challenges to its maritime dispute stance with Turkey. Still, the Greek government said that the board must adhere to UN Security Council resolutions.
Hungary: Joining. A close ally of Donald Trump, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said his country would join the initiative as one of the founding members, “because Hungary needs peace in order to continue to grow and develop”.
Ireland: Not joining. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris said last month the initiative raises “very serious red flags.” “Anything that Putin is considering joining with the word peace in it doesn’t sit well,” he said, according to local broadcaster RTE.
Italy: Observer status. Foreign Minister António Tajani said it was “appropriate” for Rome to participate as an observer at the first meeting on Thursday, as Cyprus had made a similar decision, currently holding the Council’s rotating presidency. “We are Europeans and, following this decision, we deemed it appropriate to send a delegation as observers.”
Luxembourg: Not invited, and wouldn’t join. Prime Minister Luc Frieden said his country would probably not take part, even if it had been invited. He complimented the initiative to create peace in Gaza, but said he preferred existing multilateral organisations, like the UN, to deal with the matter, according to local media Paperjam.
Malta: Undecided. Prime Minister Robert Abela said that his country wasn’t officially invited to join, but the government has received an “informal” invitation. Abela has also criticised the board’s format.
Netherlands: Invited, unclear if it will join. Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed last month that his country had received an invitation to join the initiative, but said that any final decision had still not been made. The incoming government, led by Rob Jetten, has yet to make any announcement on the issue.
Poland: Not joining. While the Polish President Karol Nawrocki, an ally of the conservative opposition party Law and Justice and Trump himself, has signalled support for the initiative, the decision ultimately lies with the government. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that Poland will not join “under the current circumstances”.
Portugal: Will only join if the focus remains on Gaza. The government has yet to accept the invitation, Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said last month, but his country would be open to joining the initiative “if it is confined to Gaza,” according to local media Publico.
Romania: Observer status. President Nicușor Dan announced on Monday that he will attend the Washington meeting as an observer.
Slovakia: Declined. Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government will not accept the invitation to join. One reason the government cited is that it couldn’t afford the $1 billion fee to secure permanent membership.
Slovenia: Declined. Prime Minister Robert Golob declined to participate, saying in late January that it “seriously encroaches on the broader international order” and that its mandate, going beyond Gaza, was too wide.
Spain: Declined. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said last month that he rejected the offer, although his country “appreciates the invitation”. He framed the move as a way of staying consistent with Spain’s “commitment to the multilateral order, the UN system and international law.”
Sweden: Not joining. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he will coordinate with other EU countries, but that his country will not join the initiative as “as the text currently stands,” according to Swedish media Aftonbladet.
And Brussels?
The European Commission confirmed that Mediterranean Commissioner Dubravka Šuica will travel to Washington for the Gaza talks. “We are not becoming a member,” chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said on Monday. “Šuica will be there in her capacity as commissioner responsible for the Mediterranean, representing our commitment to the implementation of peace in Gaza.”
Pressed on whether the EU would attend as an “observer,” the Commission declined to adopt the term.
Senior EU officials have voiced reservations about the initiative. “We have serious doubts about a number of elements in the charter of the board related to its scope, its governance and its compatibility with the UN Charter,” European Council President António Costa said after the informal gathering of EU leaders last month.
The’s diplomatic service has raised similar concerns. “The charter … raises a concern under the EU’s constitutional principles,” according to a European External Action Service document seen by Euractiv and drafted last month.
Ines Fernández-Pontes, Natália Silenská, Sarantis Michalopoulos, Nicoletta Ionta, and Björn Stritzel contributed reporting.
France leads backlash against Commissioner Šuica's Board of Peace trip
European Commissioner Dubravka Šuica is under fire for attending the first formal gathering of Donald Trump's Board of Peace, whose expansive mandate has raised serious concerns among member states.
The European Commission's surprise decision to dispatch Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica to the first formal gathering of the Board of Peace in Washington has sparked outrage among several member states, with France leading the charge in voicing both institutional and political objections.
During a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, critics argued that Šuica's participation, which was not communicated to capitals beforehand, lacks the necessary mandate and risks being interpreted as a collective endorsement of the contentious initiative, several diplomats told Euronews, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Member states were up in arms" in the meeting, a diplomat said.
Šuica's trip is taking place despite persistent concerns over the Board of Peace inaugurated by US President Donald Trump in January. Initially conceived to guide Gaza's post-war recovery, the board has since vastly expanded its mandate and is now designed as a shadow structure to the United Nations, with Trump as lifelong chairman.
France, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Portugal were among those who raised strong objections on Wednesday.
Germany also voiced reservations, though more measured.
According to diplomats, France set the tone by arguing that Šuica's attendance was in breach of the EU treaties because the Commission is not entitled to set foreign policy, which is conducted based on unanimous positions agreed by member states.
Critics pointed out that Šuica, as Commissioner for the Mediterranean, is a political representative and therefore her presence in Washington carries substantial weight. The fact that the EU, as an organisation, is not a member of the Board of Peace was also mentioned to discourage Šuica from travelling.
In a statement, a Commission spokesperson defended the decision as a way to remain "closely engaged on all aspects relating to the peace process and the reconstruction in Gaza". The spokesperson insisted the Commission would not join the board.
The backlash was intense but not equally shared inside the room, exposing the stark divisions caused by Trump's bold attempt to challenge the multilateral system.
Hungary and Bulgaria are the only two member states that have expressed their intention to sit on the board permanently. But seven other capitals have signalled their intention to participate as observers in recent days.
Among those attending the formal gathering on Thursday are Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Romanian President Nicușor Dan, as well as senior diplomats from Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Italy, Greece, Poland and Slovakia.
The Commission has repeatedly raised questions about the board's "scope, governance and compatibility with the UN Charter," of which all 27 member states are signatories, and asked the United States to amend the wording, to no avail.
Still, as the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, with a total contribution of €1.65 billion to the territories since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas on 7 October 2023, Brussels does not want to be sidelined in the process.
The debate will continue next week when foreign affairs ministers gather in Brussels. Ministers will be joined by Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, appointed by Trump as High Representative for Gaza and tasked with linking up the Board of Peace with a technocratic Palestinian committee responsible for running its day-to-day business.
