WASHINGTON (AP) — Turning Point representatives have made two things clear in meetings with state and local Republican leaders: Donald Trump has blessed their conservative organization to help lead his effort to win the vote, and local party officials should use the group’s new voter mobilization app.

Both prospects frighten fellow Republicans.

Turning Point rose to fame after Trump’s unexpected 2016 victory, gaining a reputation for organizing glitzy events, cultivating far-right influencers and raising vast sums of money while enriching the group’s leaders. They have had far less success in helping Republicans win, especially in their adopted home state of Arizona.

Now the organization has used its ties to Trump to expand its influence in a way that could be potentially lucrative. Turning Point has sought to lead an effort to reshape the Republican Party’s get-out-the-vote effort, based on the theory that there are thousands of Trump supporters who rarely vote but could be persuaded to do so in this year’s elections. And they’re pitching their new mobile app as essential to the success of this effort.

The Associated Press gained unvarnished insight into how Turning Point promotes its strategy by obtaining several recordings of presentations by its representatives to state and local Republican officials. In those presentations, Turning Point staffers targeted churchgoers and hunters, citing statistics that purport to show how few of each group voted in 2020. Their argument, widely questioned by critics, is that if groups like Turning Point target such groups, Republicans are likely to abandon swing states for Trump, the recordings show.

Trump’s decision to rely on untested groups like Turning Point could have far-reaching consequences for the November election. Turning Point says it is operating statewide in Arizona and Wisconsin, two must-win states for Trump. It’s also working in two competitive House districts, one in Michigan and one in Nevada, that could also help tip the balance in the presidential race.

“Their strategy is bad. They know how to talk MAGA, they know how to message the base,” said Tyler Montague, a Republican strategist from Arizona and longtime Trump critic. “But they literally don’t know what to say to a decisive voter.”

A spokesperson for Turning Point rejected such criticism, saying the group serves an important role for conservative candidates. “We did this because we knew conservatives need a way to identify and select voters,” said spokesman Andrew Kolvet.

A simple, if questionable, strategy

Turning Point staff believes there is a source of untapped conservative voters who did not support Trump in the recent election. To get Trump back to the White House, they believe that activating those voters is the best way. The strategy appears to largely ignore independents — or less hardened Republicans — because Turning Point’s far-right politics are less likely to appeal to them.

In recordings obtained by AP, Turning Point representatives fully embraced this strategy and believed it would have helped them win the last election and secure victory in November.

“If we had chased even one ounce of ballots, just in Arizona,” Republicans would have won all their races, Turning Point official Matthew Martinez said at a June event in Detroit, referring to the practice of voting people convince people to vote early. while we contact those who have not yet voted

Experts are skeptical

Experts on voting patterns doubt that Turning Point’s efforts to mobilize irregular Trump voters will do much to influence the election. Turnout in the past two presidential elections has already drawn record numbers of voters to the polls, experts noted. This means that the group of voters they are trying to convince is small and extremely unlikely to vote.

“You had the highest voter turnout in Michigan in those presidential election years than ever before. It’s doubtful they’ll get any more,” said Bernie Porn, a nonpartisan pollster who has worked in the state for more than 30 years.

‘Just download the app’

For more than a year, Turning Point has aggressively pitched its new voter mobilization app — a potentially lucrative venture that, if successful, critics say could strengthen its hold on the Republican Party apparatus. During meetings with state and local Republican leaders, Turning Point operatives lean heavily on their close relationship with Trump, who is a regular speaker at Turning Point conferences, according to the recordings obtained by the AP.

“We are now an official arm of the Trump campaign,” Turning Point contributor Luke Malace told members of the Republican Party of Michigan’s Monroe County earlier this year, urging the group to become a paying “customer.” to become.

The app was designed by Superfeed, a company with direct ties to Turning Point’s leaders. Turning Point Chief Operating Officer Tyler Bowyer sits on the company’s board of directors and previously served as the company’s chairman, company filings show. Kirk’s mother-in-law also serves on the Superfeed board.

“It’s all done internally,” Malace told the Michigan district party.

Malace did not respond to a request for comment. Superfeed officials also did not respond to a request for comment.

Kolvet, the Turning Point spokesman, said Malace mischaracterized the organization’s relationship with the app maker. Turning Point does not receive any money made by Superfeed, and the conservative group is not “financially involved” with the app maker, Kolvet said.

Turning Point’s app and data plans provoke criticism

Some Republicans told the AP that there are major problems with Turning Point’s app, which offers minimal protections to secure voters’ personal information.

Others said they liked the app and praised Turning Point’s new focus.

Turning Point is “doing the work that no one else wants to do and the party isn’t doing it,” said Matt Brown, chairman of the Yakima County Republican Party in Washington. He said he learned about Superfeed at a Turning Point event in December. In 2023, his provincial party became a Superfeed customer.

The app is seen by Republican strategists as the latest example of Turning Point focusing more on using data as a way to strengthen its own role in the party’s future, rather than helping the party now.