The Daily Signal - Virginia School Reverses Decision to Pull Plug on Part of Turning Point USA Event

Episode Date: September 30, 2025

Many times over Charlie Kirk’s life those that opposed the idea of anyone hearing his message would threaten disruption on College Campuses where Turning Point USA was attempting to hold an event. This would give the administrators just enough cover to pull the plug under concerns for ‘disruption.’ As the movement grew that became less frequent and as the “Prove Me Wrong” events welcomed opposing viewpoints it had seemingly gone the way of the dodo. Well, it came back. This time it was the Turning Point USA chapter at Western Albemarle High School that became the focal point of the threat as they scheduled Victoria Cobb, President of the Family Foundation, to visit with them on October 1. At first, the school pulled the plug citing, that’s right, concerns over ‘disruption.’ Not that the TPUSA meeting was going to be disruptive, no. That the ‘counter protest’ would be. It’s a classic. Then, just a 30 hours before her talk was scheduled to have taken place, the school reversed it’s position saying in a statement, “Following discussions with the student leader, and with agreement on expectations to ensure the event is orderly, respectful, and concludes within the lunch period, the principal has determined that the Turning Point USA chapter at Western Albemarle High School may host its guest speaker during a regular lunchtime meeting,”  Victoria Cobb visits with us to talk about the grander landscape of potential return of the ‘cancel culture’. Keep Up With The Daily Signal   Sign up for our email newsletters:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.dailysignal.com/email⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠     Subscribe to our other shows:    The Tony Kinnett Cast: ⁠https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL2284199939⁠ The Signal Sitdown: ⁠https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL2026390376⁠   Problematic Women:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL7765680741⁠   Victor Davis Hanson: ⁠https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9809784327⁠     Follow The Daily Signal:    X:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://x.com/intent/user?screen_name=DailySignal⁠ Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/thedailysignal/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Facebook:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.facebook.com/TheDailySignalNews/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Truth Social:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://truthsocial.com/@DailySignal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠    Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk, business. Thanks for listening to this bonus episode of the Daily Signal podcast. I'm your host, Joe Thomas, Virginia correspondent for The Daily Signal. Before we dive into today's interview, I want to thank you for tuning in today. If you're a first-time listener, The Daily Signal, brings you fact-based reporting and conservative commentary on politics, policy, and culture. And I hope you join our band of regular listeners to our podcast. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and also take a

moment to rate and review us wherever you get your podcast. You can find additional content at DailySignal.com. Now, let's get started with today's conversation right after this. Late Monday evening, after considerable pressure from community organizations and parents, Western Albemarle High School just west of Charlottesville, Virginia, changed its policy and allowed the Turning Point USA chapter assigned to the school to host a guest Victoria Cobb of the Family Foundation. We spoke to Victoria in abstract about the idea of canceling her by means of being concerned of protests against her. How are you doing this morning? I'm doing well. Thanks so much for having me. Yes, it is a little disappointing to not be able to

be part of the event they had planned as they had planned it. It's challenging when we run into administrators that literally create a situation that's almost the textbook example of viewpoint discrimination, exactly what I think our First Amendment is intended to protect against. It was noted in some of the coverage of the story that the LGBTQ club at the same high school meets during their lunch hour as well, and nobody has told them they can't hold their meetings because it causes a disruption. And in the wake of Abigail Spanberger and Fairfax saying, let your rage fuel you, is this still this almost French revolutionary rhetoric of, you know, we need to tear down all these establishments with, and I know they all decry the violence until it happens and it works in their benefit. And then they, you know, ring, ring their hands and say, oh, gosh, that was too bad all the while cashing the metaphorical paycheck of the violence and the silence that it causes.

Well, yeah, this is the thing. I mean, they do have a gender and sexuality alliance that meets during lunch times during the school day. And I was set to talk about two genders, one truth. So the topic apparently rather controversial, although you'd like to think that's what's being taught in a biology class. down the hall at the same time. If it's not, I'm a little concerned. So yeah, you wonder if they, if they are claiming that my message would be too disruptive or if they're, yes, if they're aware that they would have, they would have, you know, reaction to my existence and they are unwilling to handle that. It's unclear. They offered an after-school time, but the reality is,

kids go home. Kids go to sports. They go to jobs. That isn't the same. And you can't platform differently. You can't say, oh, we'll still let you have your free speech, but it's over there in the corner where no one can hear you. That's not what our nation was founded upon. Well, and we see this in college campuses all the time. You know, oh, we have a free speech zone now. Isn't that great? And then you have to get, you know, permission from the school, you know, administrator to use it after you tell them what you want to say.

Yeah, there's no question. There's been those exact cases where colleges have done that. And, you know, they're told people, I mean, we had an example of a kid that, you know, he wants to preach the gospel and he's told, okay, you can do it in this one little square. That is not free speech. And so it's sad that we have to educate educators on free speech. And sometimes we have to educate by way of, you know, presenting them with a legal letter. Sometimes we have to educate by going all the way to a lawsuit. But the reality is we don't want this. It's really not about this particular talk or me in the Family Foundation in particular, but it's we've got to stop behavior like this

from by school administrators. You can't have the same conversation down the hall and claim that mine is going to be. And I actually use the term, you know, the mature content of the speaker. And I thought, well, you don't really actually know my content. But also, if two genders is too mature, then can we stop talking about 20 million genders in the kindergarten level with the books? That's so well said. And you'd think that the biology class might be then too mature for them as well. And maybe that's the point.

I'm hoping. I'm just wondering what they're teaching down there in that biology class. I'm a little concerned because again, you know, it's not like I submitted content and they looked at it and went, oh, this is over the top. Right. You know, can we see a text of your address? Victoria Cobb is on with us from the Family Foundation. We are four years removed, almost to the day, actually, four years in a day or so removed from Terry McCullough's political suicide on that stage, on TV when he told everyone that he didn't believe parents had any say in what was being. taunt in their kids' school, yet here we are watching the same thing play out. We've watched school board after school board stick their hands in their pocket and tell Governor Yonkin, no, go ahead, make us, and ignore his directives regarding what's being taught in the school. I know Charlie Kirk and the Turning Point USA group said, don't be afraid of making this about who's elected to office.

and I know that there are very strict rules about 501C3s and such. But without political party inserted into it, Victoria, you know, as John Locke said and then Thomas Jefferson parroted, to ensure these, to secure these rights, governments are instituted amongst men deriving the just powers from the governed. And the concept has to be that we do need elected officials that will defend. and with voting already going on, I've got to say people need to think about this as they head to the polls, don't you? Oh, I don't think there's any question. And, you know, our Family Foundation action side, which is a little more political side of what we do, I mean, they're out knocking doors and texting folks with really a concern because we have a governor candidate on the Democratic side that can't define what a woman is and has been very clear that she is unwilling to back ensuring that boys can't play in girls sports. when you, I mean, you know, she's had every opportunity.

She tried to dodge the question for the whole first part of her campaign. Eventually it catches up with you. I mean, she literally seemed to be avoiding reporters about it. But eventually it catches up with you. She's voted that way in Congress. So it's not really that complicated. So people need to understand what we're dealing with here. If we don't know what gender is, we don't want, you know, I mean, we certainly, we got

school systems, we got to deal with. We don't want a governor that doesn't have a clue what this is or doesn't understand that our parents have rights. Unfortunately, in the lieutenant governor race, Senator Hashmi has been anything but supportive of parental rights in the Senate. I mean, literally maybe one of the strongest voices against parental rights when bills came before her subcommittees on education and health. It was always the school knows better. You know, trust the school, trust the teachers. Well, we don't. And this is what today's situation in Western Albumaro is why we don't

trust administrators. Victoria, as this goes on, and I know that you're a deeply faithful woman as am I, well, I'm not a deeply faithful woman, that we could go back to the original point. What's the fine difference here? I self-identify as. But as people of faith, one of the things that we believe in is helping those who need help. And one of the constructs of my position on LGBTQ and especially trans is that if a child is telling me they hate who they are and they want to take these extreme measures to do something about it, I think that we're failing them if we don't say to them, let's help you through the underlying issue, which is, why are you in so much pain? What has caused you to have this level of displeasure with yourself? Am I wrong about that?

Because I feel like that's what Jesus would do. He wouldn't sit there and say, well, we'll let you be whatever gender you want. Just join my church. he would say, let's work on what's really in your pain. And I feel like that's the way we should be dealing with us. And I think that's what Charlie Kirk would have said as well. There's a reason we don't let 10-year-olds get in behind a wheel of a car and drive themselves off a cliff because we love them. Even if they feel like doing that, even if they're happy doing that, even if they're confused, but they can't do that. And the reality is we've got situations where kids are hurting deeply. And if we can't come beside them and help them get to what is good and true, we are

harming them. And in fact, in Virginia, we had a statewide policy that said therapists, counselors were not legally allowed to help these kids. So if a kid walked into a counselor's office from 2020 until just this past July, if they walked into a counselor's office and they said, I am confused about my gender, the counselor could do everything in their power to help them go all the way to changing, transitioning to a different sex in their biology, even to the point of encouraging them to go get surgery. And there were hospitals that would have been happy to do it for them in Virginia. But they weren't allowed. They were legally going to lose their license. If they said, let's get your mind square. Let's get your emotion square with what your body is, how God made you.

That was illegal until our law center was able to bring a lawsuit on behalf of some counselors and actually get that thrown out. And so it's tragic. And I'm just glad at least the counselors are back in play this time. Hopefully, you know, and again, that's what's on the ballot this November. As Nick Freitas told us last week, you know, this agenda, this attitude is on the ballot in November. And right now, as so many Virginians are voting, Victoria, well, you can speak here freely anytime because I really don't have much in the way of bosses to tell me you can't. So, you know, whenever you need to speak, you tell me and,

We are there with every microphone we can muster for you at the Family Foundation, Family Foundation.com.org. What do you guys have coming up? Anything big to share with us? Well, we're just days away from our big gala. So we had Charlie Kirk scheduled to come. And now we'll have McFratus and we'll have Officer Brandon Tatum and a young kid named Brylon Hollahan who, you know, is mentee of Charlie Kirk.

So, yeah, we've got some fun stuff around the corner. and always with new litigation around people who are losing their founding freedom. So, you know, every day is a new day. Any seats available for that? Because, man, I'm not only just a huge nitratus fan, but I used to carry Officer Tatum's radio program on my station. And I think he, all the way back through Blexit, but, man, he can really hit a home run. So that's quite a lineup.

Are there still seats available? Yes, we can squeeze a few more in. It is pretty tight, but we're, yeah, so I think you just hit up our website. I think it's all up. If it's not, folks can connect me directly and I'll try to figure out how to get them in. We'll set you up in the hallway just to listen. It's a great lineup, Victoria Cobb, the Family Foundation. Thank you so much, and you have a great day. And thank you for everything you do and the founding Freedom's Law Center that you is adjunct to you. And have a wonderful day. And thanks for visiting with us. Thanks for having me. That'll do it for today's show. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button, so you never miss out on new episodes from The Daily Signal. Every weekday, you can catch top news in 10 to keep up with the day's top headlines in just 10 minutes. And every weekday afternoon catch Victor Davis Hanson's thoughtful analysis for the Daily Signal.

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