BLACKSBURG, Va. – Turning Point USA, the political organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk, visited Blacksburg in September 2025. In response, National Ground Game, which promotes itself as the counter to TPUSA, held an event at Virginia Tech just prior to Election Day.
The event encourages people to share their opinions and engage in high-energy debates with speakers on the tour. That has led to some confrontations, generating millions of views on social media and earning coverage from various news outlets.
The tour’s recent stop at Virginia Tech’s Drillfield featured debates on hot-button issues like abortion, immigration and Election Day.
“Originally, we were going to come to Virginia Tech while Charlie was still alive. Because we set up next to Charlie to have that lively debate. Because we want to have opposition. But then after he died, obviously there was a lot of fear around should we come out. And we decided that we are going to do it anyway especially because Virginia is such an important state for what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
Zee Cohen-Sanchez, Founder National Ground Game
Their next event will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, on Dec. 20 and 21, right across the street from Turning Point’s biggest event, AmFest. WSLS reached out to Virginia Tech’s Turning Point USA chapter, but we have not yet received a response.