Dr. Frank Turek defends TPUSA at UC Berkeley against fascism claims

Charlie Kirk’s mentor and friend, Dr. Frank Turek spoke with Fox News Digital last week before embarking on his recent Turning Point USA (TPUSA) “This is the Turning Point” tour at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Turek is the author of many books, including “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.” CrossExamined.org It travels the country presenting evidence of Christianity in churches, high schools, secular college campuses and on the Internet, according to the organization’s website.

In early 2020, Kirk reached out to Turek to learn more about engaging students when it comes to Christianity.

“He just wanted to get better at presenting evidence for Christianity and answering questions… So he reached out to me and said, ‘I’ve seen a lot of your work. It’s really helped me do the work that I do. Can we get together?’ “And so we became fast friends from that point,” Turek told Fox News Digital.

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Turek said he helped Kirk prepare for TPUSA’s “The American Comeback” tour, which was renamed “This Turning Point” after Kirk’s assassination in September.

“We spent a lot of time together last year or so… so he could prepare for this tour, which started on that day, September 10th, which was the day he was killed,” Turek told Fox News Digital.

He told Kirk that the stop he wanted to attend was the UC Berkeley stop.

“If I could go to any event with him, this would be it. I wanted to go to UC Berkeley because their views were very progressive and liberal, and I wanted to provide evidence that Christianity was indeed true,” he said.

Turek claimed that Berkeley had moved from supporting free speech to suppressing it. “Fascists, Zionists, Out!”, referring to the upcoming event. Posters saying this were hung in various places around the school.

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“Berkeley in 1964 and 1965 played a very important role in getting rid of the suppression of free speech on college campuses. And now it turns out that many people on the Berkeley campus wanted to suppress free speech,” Turek said, before noting the irony. he said.

“I find it ironic that people who claim to be all about inclusion, tolerance and diversity do not include and tolerate people with different views. This is pure hypocrisy,” he added.

A spokesperson for Berkeley told Fox News Digital that the posters are not affiliated with the university.

Berkeley Asst. Vice Chancellor Dan Mogulof told Fox News Digital.

“It is not one of our more than 1000 Registered Student Organizations. Our university has made it clear: Our student organizations have the right to invite whomever they wish to events on campus. As always, together with our law enforcement forces, we will take any precautions deemed necessary to make the event safe and successful.”

When it comes to discussions and debates, too many people rely on slogans rather than evidence, Turek said.

To critics of TPUSA who accuse the group of being fascist, Turek emphasized that Kirk and TPUSA allow critics to ask questions at their events, while fascists try to silence speech they disagree with.

“Having a conversation with someone and telling people who disagree with you to come to the front lines so you can plead your case is not fascism. No, a fascist is someone who shoots someone like that,” Turek said.

“It’s the conservatives who want to talk and engage with people and listen to them. There seem to be a lot of people — not all, we can’t say all — but a lot of people on the left want closure. They want to cancel debate. They want to cancel Q&A. They want to cancel logic instead of questions being asked and asked and answered, so we can all learn from each other,” he continued.

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Charlie Kirk speaks before he is assassinated during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday, September 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Desert News via AP)

Turek encouraged Christians to be bold, not be afraid to defend their values, and not hesitate to get involved.

“If you are worried about expressing your religious point of view and living your religious point of view, [politics] “Because the laws made in Washington, in your state and in your local governments, can affect whether you can speak out and practice your faith,” he said.

“We need to do the right thing and leave the consequences to God,” Turek said.

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Fox News’ Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report