Bill Montgomery, founder of the pro-Trump student group Turning Point USA, has died of complications from COVID-19. Montgomery’s death was announced on Twitter this Tuesday by the group’s chairman Charlie Kirk, Business Insider reports.
On the same day of the announcement, the group deleted a tweet that mocked the wearing of face masks following Montgomery’s death, according to the report. The tweet featured an image of actor Nicolas Cage and the message “me not wearing a mask while a leftist screams at me from their car from across the parking lot at whole foods.”
Kirk’s own messaging on safety during the coronavirus era has been mixed. While he has urged people to wear masks, Kirk has also said that mandating them is wrong. “Do not force me to wear a mask. It’s that simple,” he said on his podcast this Sunday. “I’m not going to do it. I’m not.”
Another tweet critical of masks was posted by TPUSA last Wednesday and still remains up on the group’s timeline.
The photo shared by the group appears to show Montgomery without mask at the Trump Tulsa Rally.
An American hero died today.
Bill Montgomery passed away at 80. He believed in me. He poured his heart & soul & time into me. He took a risk on me and without Bill Montgomery, there is no @TPUSA
He touched the lives of thousands of young Americans and I will miss him greatly. pic.twitter.com/hfJpCrLC6d
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 28, 2020
