Inside the Sloppiest Brawl in TPUSA History

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Bulwark Takes

Episode: Inside the Sloppiest Brawl in TPUSA History

Date: August 26, 2025
Hosts: Sam Stein (C), Tim Miller (B), Will Sommer (D)
Theme: Dissecting the infamously sloppy brawl between MAGA influencers at a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) convention, and exploring its context, cultural meaning, and aftermath within the conservative influencer scene.

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Overview

This episode dives into the notorious "sloppiest brawl" in the history of Turning Point USA conventions—a fight between two right-wing influencers, Christian rapper Bryson Gray and "Misfit Patriot," that occurred in a gravel lot during the 2024 TPUSA event. The Bulwark team—Sam Stein, Tim Miller, and Will Sommer—break down how the incident unfolded, analyze the fight’s cultural context, and humorously comment on the world of MAGA celebrity conventions, highlighting the strange, chaotic energy of the scene.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: TPUSA’s Unique Vibe

• Cultural Contrasts: TPUSA events are described as part debauched college party, part religious revival, and part political rally. The general environment ranges from young, hard-partying conservatives to religious revival attendees and “gray hairs” seeking speeches from right-wing celebrities.

“There’s this huge age gap at the TPUSA events…you see a decent, like a lot of people walking around like videoing themselves…then a lot of gray hairs, a lot of blue hairs, people who just watch the speeches…” — Tim Miller [04:48]

• Comparison with CPAC: Unlike the more staid Conservative Political Action Conference, TPUSA attracts a younger crowd with more “fuck boys” and fitness enthusiasts.

“Even in...like the women are hotter…a lot of, like, fuck boys, you know, muscle dudes. Dudes look like they’re on the RFK regimen…” — Tim Miller [06:41]

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2. The Brawl: Who, What, Where, and Why

• The Combatants:
  • Bryson Gray: Christian MAGA rapper famous for songs like “Trump is Your President”.
  • Misfit Patriot: Mid-tier influencer with more nuanced views, described as a possible “Tim Miller of the MAGA universe” for questioning far-right figures, but still a Trump supporter.

“He’s a Trump supporter, unlike Tim, but he has kind of shreds of consciousness for a right winger...sometimes he’s like, ‘wait a minute, should we be palling around with Andrew Tate?’” — Will Sommer [02:03]

• Reason for Conflict: The fight stemmed from Bryson calling one of Misfit Patriot’s gay friends an “abomination,” leading to a drunken sucker slap by Misfit Patriot.

“He said, do you think my friend is an abomination? I said, biblically, he is an abomination. It’s just that simple.” — Bryson Gray (quoted by Will Sommer) [09:32]

• Escalation: Twitter DMs, attempts to formalize a boxing match, but settling on a spontaneous brawl in a gravel lot near the Phoenix convention center.

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3. Blow-by-Blow: Analyzing the Fight

• Fight Breakdown:
  • Sloppy, amateurish fighting with missed punches, failed takedown attempts, and comedic grappling.
  • The pivotal moment: Misfit Patriot tries to flip Bryson, but it backfires, resulting in a headfirst slam into the gravel.
• Notable Play-by-Play Comments:
  • “So he tries to pick him up and toss him, and it goes terribly wrong, basically.” — Sam Stein [11:24]
  • “He thinks he’s gonna do, like…I don’t know why he’s messed up…flip this guy over my head.” — Will Sommer [11:40]
• Infamous Ball Incident: Disputed and repeatedly referenced. Bryson claims he gets his balls grabbed; hosts replay the video to investigate.
  • “That’s the issue of the ball grab…would come up a lot in the post fight debate here.” — Will Sommer [13:03]
  • “I think that he’s claiming…I’m ruling that as a ball he grabbed.” — Tim Miller [13:15]
  • “After the balls are grabbed…that’s the spot…Oh my God.” — Sam Stein [13:20]

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4. Aftermath and Ramifications

• No Rematch: Despite Twitter-space bravado, no rematch at the convention.

“He said, I got to get a rematch or whatever…If I see him, I’m gonna have to beat him up instantly.” — Bryson Gray (quoted) [14:07]

• Bans and Bickering: Bryson Gray is eventually banned from future TPUSA events, possibly for homophobic comments as well as the fight.
  • “They banned Bryson from future TPUSA events. They haven’t banned Misfit Patriot.” — Will Sommer [15:45]
  • “Charlie Kirk really draws a hard line on any homophobic comments. Okay, one homophobic comment and you are not welcome back at TP USA.” — Tim Miller [16:05]
• Continuing Drama: The feud continues on social media, with both parties claiming victory.
• Perspective: The hosts reflect on the surreal, almost farcical nature of MAGA influencer culture and how these small-time brawlers might become national players.
  • “Misfit Patriot might end up, like, running the CFTC sometime, you know, so…it’s important to get to know these fairly.” — Tim Miller [16:35]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Age and Social Gaps at TPUSA:
  “The only people who are kind of middle aged are like, like Charlie Kirk.” — Sam Stein [05:26]
• On Sloppy Brawling:
  “It goes so fast. But he slams his head into the gravel, and then he’s just fucked.” — Sam Stein [11:50]
• On the Fight’s Pivotal Moment:
  “Is that what he did? I think that he’s claiming…” — Tim Miller [13:02]
• Relating to Other Low-level Fights:
  “As a fan fight in the stands of a preseason game between two of the worst teams in the NFL, that’s like that’s real. It’s pretty equivalent, I think, to like kind of low level MAGA influencer.” — Tim Miller [15:09]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:30 — Hosts (Sam Stein, Tim Miller, Will Sommer) introduce the episode and explain the context of the brawl
• 04:37 — Discussion about the unique “vibe” and various age groups at TPUSA events
• 09:32 — Explanation of the fight’s origins: the “abomination” comment
• 10:14 — Detailing the (failed) logistics of setting up a “real fight” at a gym
• 11:20 — Blow-by-blow analysis of the fight video and failed takedowns
• 12:39 — Discovery of the ball-grabbing incident and review of evidence
• 13:56 — Discussion of aftermath, calls for a rematch, and continued online drama
• 15:29 — Explanation of consequences: event bans, TPUSA’s response
• 16:35 — Reflections on the significance (or lack thereof) in the wider conservative movement

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Conclusion

This Bulwark Takes episode expertly lampoons the spectacle of online-right influencer culture at TPUSA, using the infamous brawl as a lens to explore the mixture of party culture, religious fervor, and performative aggression that characterizes these events. The hosts’ banter layers sharp insights with genuine amusement, highlighting both the absurdity and the real-world consequences that can spill out from these seemingly inconsequential internet beefs.

For those who want a glimpse into the chaotic crossroads of MAGA fandom, influencer drama, and performative masculinity, this episode is a masterclass in irreverent, incisive podcasting.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

VGW Group void. We're prohibited by law 21 plus. Terms and conditions apply.

[C]

Hey guys. Me. Sam Stein, managing editor at the Bulwark, here with Tim Miller and Will Sommer. I'm not going to name the F trio the stupid name that Tim has decided he wants to give the trio.

[B]

I guess it's this way.

[C]

Disgusting. Oh, good golly. All right, we're not going to do that. We're here to talk about. It's not Will's latest. Because I was gone last week. I was on vacation. I didn't have to think about this stuff. But I came back and I saw this false flag about a brawl that took place at TP USA. I think it was 2024. December 2024. So almost a year ago. No, not really. Eight months ago. Eight months ago. And Will for some reason decided he wanted to write about it. Well, look, eight months later, let's write about this.

[D]

The consequences have reverberated throughout. TPUSA is the news peg, I think. But yeah, in light of the, you know, if people watch some of our previous videos about the sort of the same sexual incident that went down in the TPUSA lobby.

[C]

You can be more explicit. What kind of incident?

[D]

You know, famously it was the, the fingering incident, you know, from which we have our name.

[C]

Yes.

[D]

And so a lot of people have said, you know, what goes down at these TPUSA conventions. And then someone highlighted this, this famous brawl. And so I thought we could maybe learn some combat moves here from this fight video.

[C]

Okay, so let's set this up. Who are these people? Why are they fighting?

[D]

Sure. So. So the people fighting here, number one, is this Christian rapper, kind of a maga rapper named Bryson Gray. I think one of his song is like, trump is your president.

[E]

Donald Trump is your president.

[C]

And if you like it or not.

[D]

Is that kind of stuff. But he's really popular. And then we have kind of a lesser influencer, a guy named Misfit Patriot who's kind of like the Tim Miller of this scene. And that he's like, somewhat. He's somewhat. You know, he's. He's a Trump supporter, unlike Tim, but he has like, kind of shreds of consciousness before these for a right winger. And he. He this kind of unflattering to Tim. I don't mean it that way, but he's. Sometimes he's like. He's like, wait a minute, should we be palling around with Andrew Tate? Things like that. And then people are like, are we like, we hate him? And so that's where they're coming from.

[B]

I didn't know that he was the me of the maga universe. He says he's hated by all the right people. Uncancellable. I'm just looking at his bio right now. Bryson Gray. Sam, I don't. I'm surprised you haven't. You haven't heard of him. I mean, we've got Gun toten, Bible thumper. 766,000 streams. Trump is your president. Aforementioned nine million two for Second Amendment.

[C]

These are songs.

[B]

Yeah. 1.9 million. I said what I said. Only 74,000 streams. For that, I should say. The Tim's Bulwark podcast songs playlist that I put at the end of my songs does have more followers than Bryson, but that's okay.

[C]

I'm going to sample some of the music. I'm sure it's unbelievable. Tim, you were at this Deep usa.

[B]

I was at it. I missed this fight. And I was in an altercation of our own. A longtime listeners of YouTube will know that I went with. I went to an event with a couple of people in the band in war room orbit because of our strange frenemy status. And we were at a bar and Kari Lake accosted me and kept telling me I'm a piece of shit over and over again. I don't know whether she was drinking. I will say her eyes did not look like they were looking at me straight on. So I don't know what. That could be anything. And then Laura Loomer de escalated and then subsequently got into a fight with Milo. Yeah, so that was like. That was my most recent one year. The year before that, you know, I was. I was live with Bannon and someone accosted me from the crowd. So, you know, usually people are pretty nice there, though, as far as, like wanting to, you know, they like sparring with me. So I've gone a few years in a row and unfortunately I missed this. It looks like I've been trying to spot it. When we put. Played the video and they're in like a dark parking lot. I try to stay around lights when I'm at the TPUSA conference. You know, I'm not really kind of, you know, traversing dark alleyways. Better safe than sorry. You never know, Kari Lake might pop out at me. I'm sorry I'm not making you happy. The other stuff is. I don't know why you're touching me. So I guess I just missed this one. But I like the watch.

[C]

Before we get to the altercation, can you talk a little bit, Tim, about what the vibe is like at these events? Because it seems like a total fucking freak show where people are just getting fingered in the lobby and freaking out.

[B]

But I don't know, it's interesting. I mean, the three of us fit in this age gap. There's this huge age gap at the TPUSA events where it's like, it's 24 year olds that are there to like party and like, you know, get laid, do their things, get hammered, you know, then there's like mega influence drivers that are there. You see a decent, like a lot of people walking around like videoing themselves, you know, you see a lot of that happening. That's, you know, also people in their 20s and then a lot of gray hairs, a lot of blue hairs, people who then just watch the speeches, you know, and then the only people who are kind of middle aged are like, like Charlie Kirk.

[C]

Is Charlie Kirk aged out of this yet?

[B]

Or like the people speaking on stage. So, you know, I don't know what's happening with the gray hairs at night. I think they're probably just having a nice little dinner there in Phoenix and heading home to the hotel to get their energy back for another big day of speeches from Michael Knowles and his ilk. But the kids party and, and I, I should also say, to be fair, the kids are bifurcated also between a party and group. And. Well, there might be some overlap here, but also there's like a religious revival aspect. So at the end of the night, some of the TPUSA folks go to a bar and get into fights and finger and others stay in the venue for some religious songs and uplift and that sort of thing.

[C]

What do we think that is this just like a drinking crowd? Are they doing like any drugs? What do we think?

[B]

Nobody offered me any drugs while I was there, so I can't speak to it one way or the other.

[C]

Maybe Will knows.

[D]

Yeah, again, I wouldn't say specifically tpusa. I don't have examples of that. I Mean, I know this crowd has perhaps had other events. I mean, famously, a few years ago in D.C. there was like, sort of a. Allegations of cocaine with the proud boys at a bar and things like that, but not this conference specifically.

[C]

It sounds like what Stephen Glass made up for cpac.

[D]

Yes, the crowd is.

[B]

I should just say the crowd is very different from cpac, having gone to CPAC for many, many years. Even in. Say that it's like the women are hotter. I can just. As a gay man, I can just say that. Like. And the guys, you know, like, there's far. There's some of, like, the nerdy blue blazer, briefcase, khaki guys. Like, some of those guys still are around. You know, we haven't gone totally extinct, the. The Alex Pete Keaton crowd, but a lot of, like, fuck boys, you know, muscle dudes. Dudes look like they're on the. On the RFK regimen of, you know, no beef tallow, but yes to h. You know, that kind of health regimen. You see a decent amount of that there.

[C]

Yeah. All right, well, that brings us a nice segue to this fight, because I guess.

[B]

Wait. Yes to beef tallow?

[C]

Yes. I was gonna say yes. No to the food dies.

[B]

Sorry. No food dies. Yes beef talent. Hgh. I. I just. We want to get that important. Facts are important.

[C]

Okay. So that brings us to this fight, and I'm like, I get. No, it's a fight. I mean, I'm not gonna deny that. To fight.

[B]

Have you ever been in a fight, too? Have you ever thrown a punch?

[C]

I threw one punch once, but I'm not. I'm not. I'm a pacifist.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I'm not a fighter.

[B]

Did it land the one punch you threw?

[C]

Yeah, it did. It did. I was drunk. I was in my. I was in a cab. I actually threw the punch in my best friend's face because he was acting ridiculous, and it landed in that. That was it. But I'm a pastor.

[B]

Well, have you ever thought I'm like that?

[D]

Oh, not since elementary school, middle school maybe.

[C]

What about you?

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I had. My crew was pretty motley in high school and college, and so there are quite a few times where, like, I threw, like, app punch and then kind of ducked and covered while my friends, like, fought, you know, like a decent. Like a decent. Like a throwing a punch and then dropping to the ground and pretending like I'd been hit while I watched my buddies get in fights. There's a lot of that happening.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

I got smoked. I got Smoked in the face a couple times. I did. My father. My father famously said one of his favorite, best lines ever was, he's like, it's in college. He's like, I'm surprised you haven't been punched more. This is assessment based on my behavior.

[C]

Well, Kerry Lake almost did it.

[B]

I can only think of one real good one I took.

[C]

Well, let's get to this. So we'll set us up here. So. And then we'll press play.

[D]

So, yeah, so we're in Phoenix, as you said, it's the TPUSA convention. It's the evening everyone has come out of the Daily Wire party, Ben Shapiro's operation. We're feeling good. Bryson Gray is talking to Jimmy Levy, who's like a MAGA singer with the voice of an angel. But he sings about boycotting Target, and then Misfit Patriot comes up to him. And again, you know, Mis Patriot is kind of on the come up at this point. People don't really know who he is. And I guess basically Bryson is a hardcore Christian guy and he had called one of Misfit Patriots buddies and who's gay, an abomination.

[E]

And he said, do you think my friend is an abomination? I said, biblically, he is an abomination. It's just that simple. And he said, well, you're a.

[D]

And so Misfit Patriot just kind of sucker slaps him.

[C]

He.

[D]

He will admit later he's like, yeah, I was really drunk and I sucker slapped him off the bar stool. And so then he runs away. And there are these Twitter DMs about like, we need to meet and fight or I'm going to press criminal charges. And so that's how they end up in this gravel lot.

[C]

Do we know what this lot is just outside the.

[D]

Well, basically. Basically, Bryson claimed he was trying to set up a real fight at a boxing gym, but then Misfit Patriot sort of dallied and all the gyms closed. And so then he's like, I have the perfect place. And then he showed up and, like, seemingly didn't really have a place. Like, he was like, well, let's just walk a couple blocks. How about there?

[B]

Yeah, I think, if I'm not mistaken, so when you're at the convention center in Phoenix, you kind of walk down past, like the train tracks and there's kind of an industrial area and then there's a bar area. And I'm pretty sure this is kind of in that, like, train track industrial area between the convention center and the bars. A Phoenix local can correct us in the comments if that's wrong, but I think that's. That's what I'm looking to see.

[C]

All right, we've teased this enough. Let's press play.

[D]

Okay, so the guy on the right missed the Patriot.

[B]

Well, that's a miss. That's two misses.

[C]

So the guy on the right. The guy on the right is Misfit Patriot.

[D]

Well. Well, now the guy. The white guy is Misfit Patriot, and the black guy is Bryson Graham.

[C]

And do we know who the guy in the white shirt is kind of hovering around like he's the referee.

[D]

I've spent a lot of effort trying to identify him. I think he has a ponytail, but no, I haven't.

[B]

Okay. It is just. Thank you for your effort, though, Will. Thank you for your effort. So, so far, we've seen two whiffs by Misfits. Patriot. Let's.

[C]

Okay, here we go. Let's press butt. Here we go. Free.

[D]

A lot of circling.

[C]

This guy in the white shirt. All right, there we go. Stop. That's key right there. Key right there. So he tries to pick him up and toss him, and it goes terribly wrong, basically.

[D]

Yeah. He thinks he's gonna do, like. Like, I don't know why he's messed up. I mean, it's not been going that well for him for either. But then he's like, I'm gonna, like, flip this guy over my head.

[C]

And he just does it and he slams. It goes so fast. But he slams his head into the gravel, and then he's just fucked.

[B]

Can I get. Can I get another look at that? Can I get a closer look at that circling?

[C]

Oh, he had him.

[D]

See, he tries to. And then. Yep.

[C]

All right, we could press.

[D]

Then they start going at it.

[C]

I press flail.

[B]

And now it's like a fish down there.

[C]

Rewind. Like a couple seconds because he lands a few blows. Yeah, right here. You're gonna see a big blow right. Boom. Right there. And he's trying to hold him down. Another blow, another blast.

[B]

Oh, you hit him in the balls.

[C]

Did he hit him in the balls? I didn't see it.

[B]

I think a lot of accusations. Yeah. He calls him a fessy. I think. I think he hits him in the balls. And I think Bryson calls him a. On my balls. On my balls.

[C]

Did he grab his balls? Oh, wait, where is that left hand? Look at his left hand. Where's the left hand?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Is that what he did?

[B]

I think that he's claiming.

[D]

That's the issue of the ball. The issue of the ball grab would come up a lot in the post fight debate here.

[E]

I was, like, hurt because I got kicked in the ball.

[D]

So I think you guys are on to something. Oh, yeah, that's.

[B]

I think. I think. I don't know whether it was. It looks intentional. I'm ruling that as a ball he grabbed.

[C]

No, he did, because he grabs his balls after the balls are grabbed. Yeah, right there. You hit the. That's the spot. Oh, my God.

[B]

Okay. And then I believe he calls him a. On the way out there because.

[C]

Tim.

[B]

So we're going to have to do a lot of bleeping.

[C]

Detective Tim.

[B]

We're going to have to do a lot of bleeping there because otherwise we're going to get demonetized. And we want to make sure that we get our ad revenue out of this very nutritious content we're providing the people.

[C]

All right, so do they fight again or is that it?

[D]

So. So then, yeah. Then the next day, Bryson releases sort of the post fight press conference video, and he says, you know, I think we're gonna have another showdown at day three of the conference.

[E]

He was crying for a rematch last night on a Twitter space. He said, I got to get a rematch or whatever. So I called Tip usa. I was like, listen, if I see him, I'm gonna have to beat him up instantly because I know he's trying to attack me.

[C]

So.

[D]

And then ultimately they don't fight, but the fight does continue on Twitter. And so there's a lot of popping up to say, you ran like a chump. I won. You. You know, I won.

[B]

It's interesting because the runner. So the runner is Bryson there. Sorry, I. I lost track. Yeah.

[D]

So basically, Bryson sort of.

[B]

It looks like Bryson had won. And then he ran so well, he.

[C]

Got his balls grabbed.

[D]

It sort of seems like he was like, I could plausibly declare victory at this point, and maybe the tables are turning, so I'm just going to. Fights over.

[B]

Got it.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Well, that's really something. I love a good fight video, I got to tell you guys. There was a fight at the preseason Saints Jaguars game here in New Orleans, and one of the gentlemen gets pantsed. And I showed this video to my daughter, which is maybe not great parenting, but whatever. We were watching it together this weekend, and she loved it. I mean, she must have watched it eight times.

[C]

An NFL player pants.

[B]

No, no, no. It was a fan fight. As a fan fight in the stands of a preseason game between two of the worst teams in the NFL, that's like that's real. It's pretty equivalent, I think, to like kind of low level MAGA influencer. Exactly.

[C]

This is. This isn't Ben Shapiro versus Charlie Kirk. All right. Are they going to be back this year or no?

[D]

Well, one of them definitely will not be. Yeah. So this is sort of the aftermath in June tpusa. You have to imagine from their point of view, this doesn't look too good. And so they put out a. Well, I mean, look, I mean, a.

[C]

Lot of fucking crazy stuff happening here.

[D]

It sounds like a good time. If I was a writer influencer, I'd be like, I got to go to this thing. And so basically they. They banned Bryson from future TPUSA events. They haven't banned Misfit Patriot. Well, one wonders. I mean, certainly he's also said some, I think, unpleasant things about gay people that may have also played into it. And so, yeah, Charlie Kirk.

[B]

Charlie Kirk really draws a hard line on any homophobic comments. Okay, one homophobic comment and you are not welcome back at TP usa.

[C]

You read that piece in the Times. The Republican Party is the party of a list gay people these days. Yeah. So there you go.

[B]

Maybe these guys should have been doing the Bobby and Pete challenge. Push up, the pull ups and the push ups.

[C]

That, that'll be this year's events. Tim, you're going to be this year.

[B]

I am. No. Yeah, every year.

[D]

All right, get ready.

[C]

Just kind of hang out in the gravel pit, wait for something.

[B]

I just, you know, I like vibing out, you know, just kind of seeing how. Seeing what happens. Like, you know, it's important to be among the MAGA people. I mean, who now knows, you know, like one of the, like, Misfit Patriot might end up, like, running the CFTC sometime, you know, so, like, it's important to get to know these fairly.

[C]

Very true. All right, well, thank you for your service documenting this stuff as always. Tim, thank you for the contributions. Appreciate it. Thank you guys for watching us as always.

[B]

Bye.