Turning Point USA, which was newly approved as a student organization at Saint Mary’s College, held their first official event in collaboration with the Leadership Institute. Retired staff sergeant Joey Jones, a Fox News contributor and Fox Nation host, delivered a lecture titled “The American Military Under the Trump Administration” on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Regina Hall
Jones spoke to the roughly 100 audience members about his life leading up to a 2010 IED explosion during his time as an explosive ordnance disposal bomb technician in the Marine Corps, from which he lost his legs and injured his arm.
Senior Mary Gunnell, president of the College’s TPUSA chapter, opened the event by thanking the audience and chapter leaders for their attendance, along with the College for their approval of the chapter. She then provided a brief introduction to Jones’ life growing up, his service in the Marine Corps, the 2010 incident, the position he currently holds in Fox News and his status as a New York Times bestselling author.
In an interview with The Observer, junior Sabrina Olivarez, treasurer of TPUSA at Saint Mary’s, shared the purpose of the TPUSA chapter at Saint Mary’s, which was founded in 2021 and approved a few months ago.
“As far as I'm concerned, we just wanted to have a conservative body on campus, no better than a veteran of our United States. It was fabulous to have him speak today,” she said.
Jones began the lecture speaking about his upbringing in Dalton, Georgia, discussing working with his dad to make carpets and the advice he gave him throughout his childhood. He decided to join the Marine Corps after a few semesters at Dalton State College, reflecting upon wanting to prove he could be more than what others thought of him despite his low socioeconomic background.
“The Marine Corps specifically spoke to a guy like me. Spoke to someone who, at some level, wanted to go through something difficult because it was better for other people,” he said, adding that later, he realized he’d become part of something bigger than himself as he navigated the trials and tribulations of bootcamp with the help of others.
He shared that former President Barack Obama’s handling of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan made him pay more attention to politics.
He discussed losing one of his fellow soldiers, Daniel Greer, during Operation Roadhouse II on Aug. 6, 2010 in Safar Bazaar, Afghanistan. Two days after the tragedy, Jones shared, the nurse attending to him had a response to his grief that changed his outlook on life.
“She washes my face off now. And I say, ‘Hey, where's Greer? Is he here?’ And she looks at me, she kind of smiles and her response to that question was, ‘Don't worry hon, you're going to walk again,’” Jones said.
He shared his appreciation with the audience for attending the event.
“Most of you are here because you agree with what I had to say. Some of you are here because you don’t, but you’re here because you care, because you have passion for life and what’s in front of you,” he said. “You’re here because you know whatever it is you’ve gone through or are going through, it will not defeat you.”
He also spoke on what he sees as the patriotism found in the America’s ideals and values, along with the people who choose to live here.
“This place that's so unique … [made up of people] that come from somewhere else, that speak a different language, pray to a different whoever, that vote different, that eat different food,” he said. “But somewhere in our DNA, we're truly American. So in our DNA, we know that when we wake up in the morning, we open the door, we walk outside and we see someone trip and fall, it’s inherent in us to walk over to them, pick them up, dust them off and say, ‘Don't worry hon you’re going to walk again.’”
Jones reflected upon the podcast he did with Mike Rowe days before the shooting of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10. Rowe asked Jones what scared him most and he said that it was not being there for his kids one day.
Jones tied this sentiment to Kirk’s passing, saying, “A light bulb came on and I said, ‘You know what? That’s true, but there are people in this world who have overcome that and doesn’t worry about what kind of world we're leaving for our kids. They’re excited about what kind of world our kids will build.’ And that’s to me what Charlie did. Two days later, I had to figure that it makes sense.”
In the following Q&A session, junior Elysia Morales, vice president of TPUSA at Saint Mary’s, asking anyone to come forward if they disagree with the thoughts shared by opening the floor to them. When no one spoke up, it was then opened to any general audience member.
One student asked how to have an honest dialogue to build bridges in exchanging ideas with no false narratives attached to them.
Jones said, “You got to have an opportunity to respect the person in front of you before you even have a conversation.”
Answering further questions about political polarization, including one asking him to comment on Zohran Mamdani’s election and the “evils of socialism,” he shared that he prefers showing people his political viewpoints rather than fear-mongering or forcing people to a certain side.
“It's not my job to tell you how ‘effed up’ you are because you disagree. It’s my job to tell you how great it is over here where I’m at and hope that you find your way here,” he said. “That’s how I feel about it. Maybe that’s a little bit passive, maybe that’s a little bit too much [of a] pacifist or whatever you want to call it, but it's where I’m most comfortable.”
In an interview with The Observer following the event, Jones shared how important speaking to young people is to him as well as his own personal viewpoints on the current political and social climate.
He shared that he chose to partake in the Leadership Institute’s Free to Speak national campus tour because of the opportunity to directly engage with students. Following his lecture at Saint Mary’s, Jones will also speak at the University of Cincinnati.
“I was asked by the Leadership Institute and Turning Point and I don’t get a chance to speak to young kids a lot. Most of the time I’m speaking to older audiences, like at a military charity or a corporate event or a Republican event,” he said. “And so I felt like this was an opportunity for me to learn as much as speak to them.”
He emphasized that the main message from his talk is to for students to feel empowered and note they can build a better future.
“I believe it’s incredibly important that we build up our youngest generation, not tell them how screwed up they are, even if we don’t understand them,” he said. “I don’t think we can understand them because we’re not in their position. We didn’t grow up in the world they grew up in.”
He hopes that schools across the country are more open to lectures and organizations like Turning Point USA for further dialogue.
“I hope that every school out there opens their doors and their minds to an organization like Turning Point and doesn’t make things hard and difficult for groups that may be more conservative to have opportunities to have lecturers or speakers come,” he said. “I think that the conservative movement encompasses more than partisan ideas, it encompasses people of all walks of life that have been through a lot and have a lot to share, and that's what I hope I brought.”
Five Saint Mary’s students protested outside of Regina Hall during the event, holding signs commenting on larger principles of TPUSA.
Freshman Sydney Wells said she protested due her belief that TPUSA does not align with the College’s inclusivity values.
“I saw that they were hosting an event with Turning Point USA and I’m standing out here today because I don’t believe in anything that they stand for and I don’t think that they really should have a place here,” she said. “Because we are taught that Saint Mary’s is a place for inclusivity, diversity and just a place to belong and I don’t think it’s a really welcoming thing to see.”
