Student Union
Arizona Trump Rally Focuses on Youth Vote
Classic rock music, red Make America Great Again hats, and Republican leadership punctuated President Donald Trump’s rally Tuesday in Phoenix, Arizona, for conservative youth.
The rally — the president’s second since the COVID-19 flu outbreak — began with Donald Trump Jr. lauding his father’s “tough” stance on China and taking issue with Black Lives Matter protests.
“That’s why it’s so awesome for me to see young people like yourselves in this room here and engaged,” Trump Jr. said. “They are doing what they can to silence you. They are doing what they can to oppress you. They are doing what they can to intimidate you,” Trump Jr. said to the hall of students at the Dream City Church.
“But you don’t have to be. You can go out there and do what’s right, you can go out there and fight for your country,” he said.
Tuesday’s event was assembled for members of Students for Trump (S4T) and its parent organization, Turning Point Action.
The youth vote is expected to make a major impact on the 2020 election. That voting bloc — a combination of millennials and members of Generation Z — has outgrown the older baby boomer generation in potential votes.
The crowd was estimated at 3,000 young conservatives who are part of S4T and supporters of the president’s reelection. Broadcast and streamed online, the rally’s only camera shot focused on who was talking on stage.
Rep. Matt Gaetz just spoke to a packed house at a "Students For Trump" event in Phoenix. I spy 4 people with masks on from crowd shot. Arizona health officials say ICU beds, ventilators, impatient beds, cases all just reached new daily highs. pic.twitter.com/hERQa1URBy
— Eric Shackelford (@ABC7Shack) June 23, 2020
Students for Trump — founded in 2015 by Campbell University students Ryan Fournier and John Lambert — aims to reelect Trump in 2020 and is and “fueled by freedom,” according to S4T’s website.
In July 2019, the movement was acquired by Turning Point Action, a nonprofit that espouses conservative positions. Later in 2019, S4T became “the official chapter-based, pro-Trump student group on hundreds of college and high school campuses across America,” according to its website.
There are 47 million 18- to 29-year-olds who are eligible to vote in the 2020 election, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civil Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
Fifteen million of them have turned 18 since the last presidential election, according to CIRCLE.
“You guys keep doing what you’re doing, stay engaged, stay in the fight,” Trump Jr. said near the end of his speech. “Get out there, do it, keep fighting, I promise you we’ll be back in the action again.”
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk also spoke.
“Now is the time for courage, now is the time for all of our young students out there to fight like we have never fought before,” Kirk said. “Now is time for us to say … that our country is the greatest country to ever exist in the history of the world.”
He introduced Trump as “God Bless the USA” played in the background. As the song ended, the crowd chanted “USA” in a cheer to the president.
“I’m thrilled to be in Arizona with thousands of patriotic young Americans who stand up tall for America and refuse to kneel to the radical left,” said Trump.
Trump reminded the young crowd to vote for him in November and to speak up against mail-in ballots.
Jack Bishop, a student from North Carolina State University, took to the podium to express his fears about “conservative censorship,” which he said was “happening all across the country, all the time.”
“It’s our duty as conservatives to stand up and to fight for our rights and to fight for our nation and to fight for our guy,” Bishop said. “We’re going to win this election, we’re going to take back the House, we’re going to keep the Senate and we’re going to get four more years of the best presidency of my lifetime.”
Those watching the rally online expressed their comments in sidebars and on social media.
“Honored to watch the next generation of American patriots,” tweeted Twitter user @Tiffany_Shedd. “I am awed by your courage, convictions, and love of America. @TrumpStudents #GodBlessAmerica”
Honored to watch the next generation of American patriots. I am awed by your courage, convictions, and love of America. @TrumpStudents #GodBlessAmerica pic.twitter.com/LvtzRfaUE5
— Tiffany Shedd (@Tiffany_Shedd) June 24, 2020
“Growing up, my idols were either Ronald Reagan, or George H.W. Bush, Teddy Roosevelt, or F.D.R. … as these kind of all embodied the ideas of statesmanship and what I understood a president to act like,” said self-described conservative Preston Brailer in a video for @Republican Voters Against Trump. “They didn’t allow their egos to get in the way of creating a more perfect union,” he said, describing the leaders he admired.
“President Trump goes counter to pretty much everything I just said. … He generally, from what I gather, serves to sow division at every turn in order to galvanize his base. I personally don’t think our country will be at its best, nor do I think it will be allowed to heal and kind of recover from the political discourse and division that we suffer from all too often today.”
Young conservative @PrestonBrailer (CA) knows Donald Trump is not fit to be president
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@RVAT2020) June 24, 2020
"I don't think our country will be at its best, nor do I think it will be allowed to heal ... from the ... division that we suffer from ... until President Trump is out of office ..." pic.twitter.com/drKc2ZETkK
See all News Updates of the Day
Harvard recommends gap year as a strategic move
While some students and parents see the gap year as a waste of time, others see the break in academic studies as valuable for developing maturity, earning money or focusing goals.
MSN.com explains some of the reasons why Harvard – and other prestigious schools in the United States – are recommending that students take a gap year. (December 2024)
Student dilemma: Financial aid applications can expose undocumented parents
Many students in the U.S. rely on financial aid to attend colleges and universities, but as Julia Barajas reports in LAist.com, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid could cause a dilemma for students with an undocumented parent.
If students fill out the application, they will share their parents’ financial information – and potentially raise questions about their immigration status -- with the federal government. If they don’t fill out the application, they won’t get federal financial aid. (December 2024)
FDA: College students using ‘honey packets’ to enhance sex put themselves at risk
With TikTok videos promoting “honey packets,” the supplements marketed as sexual enhancements have become popular on college campuses.
But as Charles Trepany reports in USA Today, the Food and Drug Administration has warned that ingredients in the supplements could be potentially dangerous. (November 2024)
Some universities encourage Chinese students to return before inauguration
Some colleges and universities are encouraging international students to return to the United States – or stay in the country over winter break – to make sure any White House travel restrictions don’t impede their return, the South China Morning Post reports.
Chinese students in the United States have expressed concerns about being allowed back in the country after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. Trump has promised sweeping immigration reforms and mass deportations. (December 2024)
Seven charged in social media drug ring at Rutgers University
An undercover narcotics investigation at Rutgers University in New Jersey led to the arrest of seven people, NBC News reported.
Investigators say they found large amounts of marijuana, LSD, cocaine, psilocybin mushrooms, Adderall and Xanax. The drugs were offered on a menu circulated on a private social network of individuals affiliated with school, authorities said. (December 2024)
