Inside Turning Point’s women’s summit, faith sold to singles

At Turning Point USA’s first annual Women’s Leadership Conference since Charlie Kirk was fatally shot last year, influencer Alex Clark tried to soften Kirk’s hard-edged message about marriage—while the ballroom in San Antonio buzzed with MAHA wellness pitches,

Two jets of pink smoke erupted on either side of the stage in a San Antonio hotel ballroom as Christian wellness influencer Alex Clark strode to the podium in a filmy white dress. Behind her, a screen displayed the words “faith over feminism” in cursive.

Turning Point USA had kicked off its first annual women’s leadership summit—its Women’s Leadership Conference—in San Antonio, Texas, since the group’s cofounder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot last year. Clark was about to give what she framed as a makeover to Kirk’s most offensive words about women.

She began by cueing up video from last year’s conference. where Kirk—sitting on stage with his wife. Erika—lectured 3. 000 young women to focus on finding a husband. In the video. Charlie Kirk said. “If you’re not married by the age of 30. you only have a 50 percent chance of getting married. and if you don’t have kids by the age of 30. you have a 50 percent chance of not having kids.” Erika interjected. “To add on to that. to the women who are getting married after 30. that’s OK…. God is good.”.

This year, about 2,000 people sat watching. The word “young” had been dropped from the conference’s title, and many attendees were well over 30. When the video showed Charlie and Erika together, some laughed—treating the exchange like a gentle, family reprimand.

Then Clark moved the focus from the joke to the wound. She said Kirk’s words had hurt because she is in her early 30s and still unmarried. “I’ll be honest, I was sitting in the audience, and it stung a little bit,” Clark said. The laughter stopped. “But I also knew Charlie.” She acknowledged that even if he could be blunt. he “wasn’t wrong about the statistics on marriage. ” adding. “They’re actually worse. ” drawing another beat of attention as the room absorbed what came next.

From there, Clark advised “her fellow single ladies” on how to have a “God-honoring single season”—a period when young women were described as free to pursue careers and buy “as many throw pillows as they wanted while waiting for a husband.”

For some, it wasn’t easy to relive last year’s moment. Ann Dailey Moreno said she was in the audience in that earlier conference, unmarried and 28. She described starting to cry in her seat after Charlie Kirk’s comments. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’m not welcome,’” Dailey Moreno told MISRYOUM, choking up again at the recollection. “That was disgusting. I’m sorry. I love Charlie Kirk but that was not the right thing to say.”.

Roselle, 26, who is president of the Turning Point chapter at her California state university, said she also took offense. “Literally not every woman has kids,” she said. “Like. they either can’t have kids. or they might love kids. but their job takes them elsewhere.” She added she agreed with women who criticized him.

It was a kind of tension that hung in the room: even women who help power the conservative movement were struggling with how brazen the message could be. The broader ecosystem surrounding the summit was full of misogyny-related flashpoints. from the mainstreaming of “brazenly sexist influencers” like Nick Fuentes to chants of “Your body my choice. ” and the “naked pro-natalism” of the Trump administration’s Moms.gov website. The article also notes how an attempt to revive a 1980s-style marriage panic has pushed some young conservative women “to the left. ” amid a gender gap that has widened as women ages 18–29 identifying as liberal have surged in recent years.

Even Charlie Kirk, the report says, was being gently rebuked for sexism by his own organization’s summit.

Clark framed the shift as both preservation and correction. She said the combination of Charlie and Erika last year worked because Charlie could be “a little direct,” while Erika was “always this sweet, soft-spoken one,” able “to tie up everything in a really nice bow.”

This year, though, Erika’s role came off more like figurehead than constant presence. Kirk was described as leading Turning Point now, but she was “scarcely present at the summit beyond her opening speech.” In her place, Clark was the central onstage personality.

Erika Kirk kicked off the conference by declaring: “At its core, feminism is a worldview that treats many of the things that make women uniquely women as obstacles to overcome rather than divine gifts to embrace.”

Kirk joined the report’s account as someone positioned to deliver the message in the language of tradition and Christian motherhood—even as the summit’s content drifted into the distinctive “crunchy” territory that Alex Clark has built since joining Turning Point in 2019. Clark now hosts a conservative wellness show called Culture Apothecary and is described as blending warnings about microplastics and mouth-breathing with claims about hormonal birth control being “falsely” bisexual.

That mixture defined the event’s atmosphere. The exhibit hall carried the typical conservative-right range—policy shops like the Heritage Foundation. anti-abortion groups like 40 Days for Life. and Christian education institutions like Hillsdale College—but it was overlaid with wellness and conspiracy-adjacent product spectacle: prenatal vitamins. toxin-free toothpaste. organic makeup. wheat mills. blue-light-blocking glasses. and seasoning made from cow brains.

Women in floor-length skirts were shown “shaking violently side-to-side on vibration boards intended to burn calories and reduce joint pain.” The Let Freedom Bling Boutique sold sequin tank tops. A booth labeled Stacked with Purpose promoted bracelets intended to unlock a “prophetic identity.” The XX-XY athleticwear company was raising money to help athletes who defend women’s sports “by keeping trans women out.”.

Attendees were treated to samples and shopping with an explicit worldview baked in. The report says the author was offered a sample of guava-grapefruit-flavored electrolytes. bought PFAS-free dental floss. and was encouraged to host a “book club. but for policy” discussion on taxes or education. The author picked up a Rosie the Riveter sticker that said “Voting is My Superpower. ” a brochure on biblical femininity from the conservative alternative to Girl Scouts. and a Students for Life postcard that read “Will You Go Green?”—with a warning on the back about the dangers of contraception.

There were also pitchlines about cures and identity. A purveyor of bread mills claimed their products could cure Celiac disease. A vendor of tins of cow organ dust suggested the mix could help reintroduce meat into a vegetarian diet. The author declined group Pilates because they were in a dress and followed an official conference “look book” described as heavy on florals and cream.

Even the programming and the mainstage speakers reflected an attempt to build sisterhood out of grievance. health optimization. and a softer version of the marriage-and-babies message. The account describes women finding community through complaints about the “woke left” (especially trans women framed as threatening womanhood). through fertility- and longevity-focused personal health routines. and through a conservative route that still points toward marrying young.

Speakers ranged across conservative femininity: political figures like Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. and marriage influencers like Savanna Stone. who believes women shouldn’t have the right to vote. Millicent Sedra. described as a Christian influencer from Australia. denied evolution from the stage and urged women to stop complaining about being “servants” to their husbands. telling them to “start serving with gratitude.” On the other end. Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins described working 15 hours a day and said she found the linen-wearing. sourdough-baking “trad wife” influencer image unattainable.

What unified them was a warning to steer clear of feminism, the report says. During a segment. Savanna Stone said dramatically. “Allow me to share with you some quotes from our feminist icons. ” before reading a quote about abolishing the nuclear family from a feminist icon she called “Shula Smith Firestone.”.

The event’s design leaned into spectacle too. There were pyrotechnics and stickers cut to fit escalator sides and hotel columns and windows spelling out the conference title: “Curated for H.E.R. ” standing for Holistic. Empowered. Redeemed. The report says there were illustrations of Clark and former competitive swimmer Riley Gaines as paper dolls—Clark with heels and Gaines with a dumbbell.

Drama also appeared in the form of conservative-media battle lines. The report says conservative radio host Dana Loesch read Bible verses about the need to defend widows at a rapid-fire pace as a subtextual rebuke of podcaster Candace Owens. who has told millions of followers that Erika Kirk killed her husband. The story describes Erika’s response when she stood on stage alone as Charlie’s career heir.

Erika met Charlie in 2018 when she interviewed for a job at Turning Point. during which he reportedly told her. “I’m not going to hire you; I’m going to date you.” Her “shining moment” came when a protester interrupted her to shout. “Erika Kirk protects pedophiles!” before spraying a container of urine on a security guard. Erika responded calmly, “It’s important to remember that happiness comes and goes, and I pray that you find it.”.

The report connects the “pedophiles” reference to conspiracy theories promoted by Owens, and it describes how the interruption heightened attendees’ sense that a violent left wants them infertile and in cubicles, with coworkers and friends “canceling” them.

Outside the hotel. more than 100 activists rallied to protest the gathering with signs including “Pro-life is a lie if you don’t care when people die” and “San Antonio will not stand with Turning Point USA and their racist. hateful. transphobic rhetoric.” The report says protesters clashed with police and engaged with right-wing content creators. helping generate camaraderie inside.

Caitlin Watters. an attorney from Tucson whose husband paid for the conference as a Mother’s Day gift. told MISRYOUM she found the protests motivating. “These women have really inspired and empowered me. ” Watters said. sitting with new friends while drinking a glass of white wine. “Seeing the protests outside inspires me more.”.

For all the focus on femininity. the report says the protests underlined that the conference was still a political gathering. even if politics wasn’t often spoken aloud. There were stickers reading “No Voter ID. No Vote” over a picture of a pink envelope sealed with a lipstick kiss. There was also a touchscreen map of the United States scoring states on a “tyranny” scale; the woman leading that demonstration described herself as one of four staffers who run the scorecard. and she couldn’t find the author’s home state of Massachusetts.

The story returns to that political edge through Alex Clark’s own framing. A Saturday afternoon panel with Riley Gaines. titled “How to Be Brave. ” drew a capacity crowd. while outside an attendee who couldn’t get in “wept openly.” The report says both Gaines and Clark offered glimpses into tensions within President Donald Trump’s coalition—between Christians and MAHA.

It describes Clark’s relationship with Trump’s administration as strained. saying Clark had drawn ire for rallying “crunchy” moms against policies that shield pesticide companies from lawsuits. Clark said. “I was getting uninvited by the White House. ” adding that Erika Kirk was getting phone calls such as. “How are you going to shut up Alex Clark?”.

The report says MAHA moms claimed a win when a pesticide liability shield was stripped out of the federal farm bill, and that Clark has continued to criticize federal agencies for lax regulation of pesticides.

Clark also made her political pitch directly. “The president has some people around him that I believe are giving him bad information. and so when I come out with these criticisms. it’s not because I’m attacking the admin; it’s because I want us to freaking win. ” she said. “I want us to crush in midterms; I want us to crush in 2028. and I believe that MAHA is the way that we can get there.” She added. “My job. first and foremost. is to keep the MAHA moms happy and enthused. and that they feel like they can trust us as a party. because MAHA moms are not beholden to the Republican Party.”.

The report states that Clark’s followers—people “want[ing] a life free from pesticides and vaccines”—voted for Trump expecting help detoxifying their food, only to see him sign an executive order protecting the pesticide glyphosate as crucial for national defense.

Gaines offered her own moderated critique. saying she agreed with “99.5 probably percent of things” the administration was doing. but that she objected when Trump’s social-media account shared an AI-generated image that seemed to show him as Jesus. The report says Trump responded that he was “not a fan” of Gaines. and Gaines laughed it off: “What’s not to love?”.

For some attendees, the political value of the summit was tied to ambition. Zuriel Balares. a junior at UC Riverside. told MISRYOUM that the Christian evangelical movement often ties a woman’s value to marriage and to how many kids she has. and can also be “very anti-career. ” which she said doesn’t feel relatable to a lot of people. She said Clark offered evidence that “you can, you can have both.”.

Ireland Daniel. a UCLA student. described a personal question she had been carrying into the weekend: “Am I contributing to feminism by going to work?” She also wondered if entering politics as a woman meant she was “doing the wrong thing.” Daniel said the conference reassured her that for now it was OK to pursue her next step as a field organizer for Turning Point.

On the second evening of the conference, Clark posed in front of a ring light posing for photos with her fans. The line to meet her snaked around the foyer and down a hallway, with a camera crew revving attendees to cheer.

One of those women waiting was Nikki, a 25-year-old nurse from Illinois. She told MISRYOUM she liked Alex’s podcast and believed she was “changing a lot of lives.” Nikki said she had changed her habits—eating healthier. buying organic foods. and decreasing toxic beauty products so that “there’s” no fragrances in her products anymore because of the show.

The report says MAHA followers as young as 19 packed into an eight o’clock session called “Built to Thrive: Optimizing Your Hormones. Fertility. and Metabolism at Every Life Stage.” It was presented by Geviti. described as a blood-testing company that sells supplements and AI analysis of your biomarkers. with an annual membership priced at $1. 529.

Many of the women interviewed were raised in conservative Christian homes. but some described coming to the movement later after becoming disillusioned with “wokeness.” Dailey Moreno—who cried during last year’s marriage comments—told MISRYOUM she had been in New York City studying theater in 2020 during Black Lives Matter protests and Covid lockdowns. She said she voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and was dabbling in conservative content by 2020. but still felt judged by liberal friends. She described being told she was a “white supremacist” because she listened to Candace Owens’s podcast about Black Lives Matter.

Dailey Moreno said she had told her liberal friends. “If you’re gonna call me white supremacist just for. like. listening to Candace Owens’s podcast about Black Lives Matter. or whatever. first of all. she’s Black. that doesn’t make any sense.” She said she wasn’t sold on voting for Trump in 2020 and had only been “questioning it.” She said the response she got was that if she was “considering it” or “questioning this. ” then she was a “white supremacist.”.

Even after arriving at the summit, Dailey Moreno “still hadn’t swallowed the whole conference package.” She said she wasn’t sold on MAHA messaging and still took ADHD medication, even though Clark opposed it.

Late in the weekend. the report describes the mood shifting in a moment that combined personal surprise with the event’s promise of everything. The night before. Dailey Moreno watched as Clark coached women like her about how to spend their single season while waiting for a husband—saying Clark herself had been spending her “waiting season” listening to podcasts about baby formula. parenting philosophies. sleep training. Then a “final reveal” came: the lights went dark. music played. and a photo appeared on a screen of Clark embracing her surprise fiancé. Vance Voetberg. whom she said she had kept off her social media until then. The report says she offered a hand with a ring and displayed a message: “Ladies, you can have it all.”.

Dailey Moreno said she felt happy for Clark, but that the ending also undercut the message. “The whole speech was about it’s okay to be over 30 and not married, and then she ended it with, like, ‘I’m getting married,’” Dailey Moreno said. “It’s like… great.”

At 29, Dailey Moreno said she still felt caught between two worlds. She described a left that she felt expected her to have a glamorous career by now. and a conservative movement that wanted her married by 30. “This is, like, the Women’s Leadership Summit,” she said. “And I still don’t feel like I can have it all.”.

The conference. in the end. offered a version of conservative womanhood that tried to stay soft without abandoning its edge: faith framed as an answer to feminism. “God-honoring” singledom framed as preparation. and MAHA wellness framed as a political vehicle for midterms and 2028. But the reactions inside the ballroom—laughter turning to hurt. empowerment meeting grief—showed how difficult it is to repackage a message that still lands. for many women. like a bruise.

Turning Point USA Alex Clark Erika Kirk Charlie Kirk Women’s Leadership Conference San Antonio MAHA Christian conservatism feminism marriage Riley Gaines glyphosate pesticide liability shield Moms.gov No Voter ID anti-abortion groups