Fake elector indictments cap a disastrous week in Arizona for Turning Point USA

It’s been a rough … some might say illuminating ... week for Turning Point USA.

First there was Rep. Austin Smith, a senior leader in the Turning Point team, racing to withdraw his reelection bid amid accusations that he committed election fraud.

Then came two Turning Point “journalists,” admitting they harassed and, in the case of one of them, assaulted a gay Arizona State University instructor last fall.

Now Turning Point Action’s Chief Operating Officer Tyler Bowyer and a key Turning Point ally, Sen. Jake Hoffman, are indicted for posing as fake electors in the 2020 presidential election.

Turning Point has alienated plenty of voters

Turning Point USA began as a hard right youth organization and now is a dominant force in Republican Party politics.

In Arizona, where it was founded, it has transformed the state Republican Party from its once-commanding role into an organization that now struggles to pay its rent.

Its founder, Charlie Kirk, seems to be on a mission to alienate anyone who doesn’t fall in line with his beliefs.

It was Kirk who orchestrated the ouster of Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

In recent days, he’s ranted about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (“MLK was awful. He’s not a good person”), Black airline pilots (“If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified’”), women on birth control (they are “angry and bitter”) and Taylor Swift (“Does Taylor Swift have any eggs left?”).

One of Kirk’s lieutenants, Bowyer, is Arizona’s Republican national committeeman.

Another, Hoffman, essentially runs the Legislature as head of the Arizona Freedom Caucus and hopes to succeed Bowyer on the RNC.

Smith wouldn't even fight fraud accusations

Then there’s Smith, who until last Friday was senior director at Turning Point Action, the nonprofit’s campaign arm.

Smith is one of the Legislature’s fiercest crusaders for election integrity, unrelenting in his quest to ferret out fraud.

Who’d have thought it would be right there on his nominating petitions, perhaps written in his own hand?

A Democratic activist challenged Smith’s nominating petitions, claiming he forged 100 of the 826 signatures.

The lawsuit included images of petition pages that Smith circulated, with every signature appearing to have been signed by one person.

Smith proceeded to run like the wind, withdrawing his name from the July 30 ballot even as he proclaimed his innocence.

If, in fact, this was some Democratic conspiracy to chase an innocent man from the Legislature, it’s curious that Smith wouldn’t defend himself. More curious still is the fact that not a single Republican legislator has called for his resignation in light of his refusal answer allegations of election fraud.

Turning Point reporter bullied ASU professor

But then, even Republicans who aren’t part of the Turning Point crowd are unwilling to take on the organization and perhaps for good reason, given its bully-boy tactics.

Consider the Turning Point goons who harassed and baited an LGBTQ+ English instructor at ASU as he walked across campus last fall.

Turning Point reporter Kalen D’Almeida and videographer Braden Ellis ambushed David Boyles as he left class. Boyles, who teaches a class on LGBTQ+ Youth in Pop Culture and Politics and is a co-founder of Drag Story Hour Arizona, is on Turning Point’s Professor Watchlist, making him easy prey for harassment.

“So if I ask you, how long you been attracted to minors or how long you’ve fantasized about minors having sex with adults … ,” D’Almeida asked, as Boyles tried to walk away, with Ellis pacing in front of him and D’Almeida walking elbow to elbow, peppering him with questions.

Kari Lake can't be bought: Except maybe with this

Eventually, Boyles lunged toward the camera and D’Almeida pushed him to the ground.

ASU President Michael Crow condemned the harassment, prompting Turning Point to warn Crow to be “very careful” of “how he tries to spin” the confrontation, noting Arizona’s projected budget deficit.

Boyer and others now face felony charges

As night follows day, the Legislature’s Turning Point contingent called for stripping ASU of its state funding.

“The professor sickly obsessed with drag queen story hour assaulted a TPUSA staffer, and Michael Crow defends the sickly obsessed professor,” Smith huffed. “ASU leadership has been embarrassing our state for an entire year. Enough is enough. #DefundASU”

On Monday, the Turning Point bullies admitted to harassing and, in the case of D’Almeida, assaulting Boyles in court.

“I do not contest my guilt in this matter because I admit that I committed the offense as charged,” D’Almeida said in a written statement that was a part of the deal to drop the misdemeanor charges if the pair complete a diversion program.

Speaking of charges, a state grand jury on Wednesday indicted Turning Point’s Bowyer, Hoffman and nine other fake electors and 16 others in the fake elector conspiracy.

Finally, those fine “patriots” who tried to steal Arizona’s vote will get their day in court to explain how they were trying to make America great again by making democracy a thing of the past.

Sadly, there’s no word on when mainstream Arizona Republicans — the ones who don’t buy into the Turning Point bluster — will try to make the party that once ruled this state relevant again.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @LaurieRoberts or on Threads at laurierobertsaz.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fake elector indictments cap a rough week for Turning Point USA