Erika Kirk to address assassination claims privately with Candace Owens
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Erika Kirk speaks at a CBS News town hall event in which she was asked about Candace Owens' claims about her husband's death. Photo: Michele Crowe/CBS News via Getty Images
Turning Point USA abruptly postponed a highly anticipated livestream meant to rebut podcaster Candace Owens' claims about Charlie Kirk's assassination.
- Erika Kirk — Charlie's widow and the conservative group's new leader — said she would instead meet with Owens privately on Monday.
Why it matters: Owens' increasingly conspiratorial claims about Kirk's killing have become one of the most radioactive flashpoints in MAGA's sprawling civil war.
- Her massive online influence has forced other MAGA influencers to confront the controversy directly, reshaping alliances across the conservative media ecosystem.
What they're saying: "Candace Owens and I are meeting for a private, in-person discussion on Monday, December 15. @RealCandace and I have agreed that public discussions, livestreams, and tweets are on hold until after this meeting. I look forward to a productive conversation. Thank you," Erika Kirk posted on X.
- "I am very much looking forward to this discussion," Owens posted in response.
Catch up quick: Owens began spreading theories about Kirk's death soon after his Sept. 10 assassination, leading an investigation on her popular podcast that quickly gained millions of followers.
- Owens has baselessly suggested that TPUSA insiders, American supporters of Israel and the French military were part of a plot to assassinate Kirk.
- In recent weeks, Owens has also questioned the motives of Erika Kirk, who took over as CEO of the influential conservative student group founded by her late husband.
TPUSA sporadically denied Owens' claims, but avoided a prolonged back-and-forth with its former communications director and one-time friend of Kirk.
- That changed on Dec. 3, when Blake Neff — a producer on The Charlie Kirk Show and one of the few TPUSA staffers Owens hadn't singled out — issued the organization's most detailed rebuttal yet.
- Neff said TPUSA would host a livestream Monday to address Owens' claims one by one, and initially invited her to participate. When Owens suggested she had a scheduling conflict, TPUSA said the event would proceed without her.
The intrigue: Erika Kirk herself had also begun rebuking Owens in recent days.
- "When you go after my family, my Turning Point USA family, my Charlie Kirk Show family, when you go after the people that I love, and you're making hundreds and thousands of dollars every single episode going after the people that I love because somehow they're in on this, no," she said on Fox News Wednesday.
- Asked for her message to Owens at a CBS town hall this week, Kirk replied: "Stop. That's it. That's all I have to say. Stop."
The big picture: Owens — a longtime friend of Kirk and TPUSA's communications director from 2017 to 2019 — has drifted from mainstream conservatism in recent years.
- Her increasingly strident criticism of Israel and "Zionists" has included conspiracy theories that many Jewish groups and conservative figures have denounced as antisemitic.
- Owens alleges that Kirk was growing disillusioned with the U.S. alliance with Israel in the weeks before his death, and that he was facing pressure from pro-Israel donors to TPUSA.
Those claims about Kirk's views on Israel — along with her baseless conspiracy theories about his assassination — have bitterly divided the MAGA movement.
- Some MAGA podcasters like Steven Crowder and Tim Pool have piled on criticism of Owens, accusing her of exploiting Kirk's death for views, which Owens has vociferously denied.
- Other anti-Zionist and openly antisemitic influencers have defended Owens and demanded that TPUSA explain the suspicious circumstances she claims to have uncovered in her investigation.
