BY HANNAH GOLDFINGER
HGOLDFINGER@
OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
AUBURN — Between a call from President Donald Trump, updates from Sen. Tommy Tuberville and a visit from Lara and Eric Trump, the Neville Arena was bursting with applause last week at the Turning Point USA event on Auburn’s campus.
Students and community members alike attended the event held by Turning Point USA. Speakers included Benny Johnson, political commentator, Tuberville, Eric and Lara Trump and Jared Isaacman, the nomination for NASA’s new administrator.
Isabel and Alexandra, both freshman at Auburn University, said they are both “big republicans” and were excited to be at the event.
Alexandra said she comes from Wisconsin and that it’s nice being in Auburn because it’s normal to be a Republican here.
“I’ve never been to anything like this before,” she said. “And I just feel like it’s so cool that we’re all just here together, coming together … very unifying.”
Isabel said that she’s spent a lot of time around both Republicans and Democrats.
“It’s nice to have a reminder that there’s so many people that share the same thoughts with me that I can really connect to,” she said.
Alexandra said that in Wisconsin she felt nervous to attend events like this or share thoughts.
“It’s so refreshing,” she said.
Isabel described Alabama as “Big Time Republican Country” — and the crowds around the two students seemed to agree as they screamed and cheered throughout the event.
Many waved posters of Charlie Kirk, screaming his name.
Tuberville opened the official event joking that “I think I’ve been here before.”
“We’re here for all of you young people here tonight,” he said.
A lot of the topics of the night were aimed at the younger generations.
“One thing that [Charlie Kirk] wanted to do was bring knowledge to young people,” Tuberville said.
Tuberville encouraged the young men in the arena to find a wife, stay married to her and have children.
He said that the two most important things Kirk shared about after faith were marriage and family.
He asked the young men in the room to “step up” and run their households.
“The only thing this country owes you is an opportunity,” Tuberville said.
He also praised Kirk and the values he shared.
“[Kirk] was waking up millions of young people at a time,” Tuberville said. “… He was waking them up because he was telling them the truth.”
Tuberville praised Kirk’s faith.
“He was a true evangelist,” he said. “He really studied the Bible. He thought it was the ultimate source of truth.”
During his time, Tuberville also Addressed national issues like the country’s debt, Zohran Mamdani’s election, DEI and abortion policy.
Following Tuberville, Auburn’s president of the Turning Point chapter, Jacob Roose spoke.
Roose shared about his personal experiences with Kirk.
“I know he’s looking down right now on all of us, seeing how many people truly care about the country and that’s you guys right in front of me,” he said.
Johnson opened his section to loud applause, exclaiming “this is MAGA country.”
He hosted Lara and Eric Trump on the stage for a discussion, along with questions from the audience.
Eric and Lara Trump shared about the recent media frenzy surrounding rumors of Donald Trump running for President again with the slogan they came up with “Trump 2028: Re-Write The Rules”.
“It’s easier to troll the media … than it is to manipulate my six-year-old son,” Eric Trump said.
The three of them also shared a surprise phone call with President Donald Trump.
“Auburn’s a special place,” he said.
He shared how special Erica and Charlie Kirk are.
“We should never have allowed this to happen, one of the greatest people we have ever known,” he said of Charlie. “… we know Charlie is looking down on us right now, all of us.”
He shared the country is “doing great” and thanked everyone in attendance.
As the call concluded, everyone in attendance shouted “USA USA USA.”
“This is a group, this is a spirit, that’s going to save the United States of America,” Eric Trump said. “It’s this heart, it’s this soul, it’s this movement.”
