Candace Owens has publicly criticized Erika Kirk for the first time, after previously avoiding direct references to the widow of Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder, in her media content.

The confrontation arose after Erika appeared on Fox News, where she condemned ‘evil’ conspiracy theorists for exploiting her husband’s murder for profit online. While Erika did not mention Owens by name, this was her initial response to the aggressive speculation surrounding her husband’s death.

Owens has been at the forefront of disseminating some of the most controversial and viral narratives regarding Kirk’s passing. Her daily podcast episodes, which are available on YouTube, have attracted up to nine million views by featuring unverified claims that Turning Point USA staff ‘betrayed’ their leader.

In a recent podcast episode, Owens turned her attention to Erika, accusing her of ‘hypocrisy’ for requesting privacy for her family while discussing the matter on national television.

“This is going to be read as Meghan Markle syndrome,” Owens remarked. “You want privacy when you want it, but you want publicity whenever you want it. That just doesn’t work.”

The reference alludes to criticism aimed at the Duchess of Sussex for conducting high-profile interviews while complaining about media intrusion.

Owens began Wednesday’s show by claiming that she’d been ‘waiting’ as she ‘wasn’t sure about Erika’. But, she added, Erika’s TV appearance ‘completely missed the mark.’ 

‘The good news is she’s now unmurking the water with her intentions with this massive political organization,’ Owens concluded.

Before airing her full episode, she previewed her attack on Erika by telling her legions of fans that the widow’s Fox interview ‘is indirect, but it’s also about me.’ 

Candace Owens for the first time explicitly targeted Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika on Wednesday night after weeks of carefully avoiding naming the Turning Point boss in her videos

Owens launched the broadside after Erika appeared on Fox News earlier on Wednesday to call out ‘evil’ conspiracy theorists profiting from her husband’s murder online

‘This is going to be read as Meghan Markle syndrome,’ Owens said. ‘You want privacy when you want it, but you want publicity whenever you want it. That just doesn’t work.’ The reference alludes to criticism aimed at the Duchess of Sussex for conducting high-profile interviews while complaining about media intrusion

Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a Turning Point event at Utah Valley University on September 10. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with murder after allegedly firing from a rooftop during Kirk’s speech.

Prosecutors say Robinson confessed via texts to his roommate, stating he ‘had enough of [Kirk’s] hatred’ and planned the attack for about a week. 

FBI Director Kash Patel has explicitly dismissed ties to TPUSA or foreign entities, finding no evidence of broader involvement. 

Owens, once a friend of Charlie Kirk’s, has told her followers that the organization is somehow to blame for his assassination – while carefully avoiding implicating Erika.

The political commentator was a prominent TPUSA speaker and director of communications until 2020 when she parted ways amid disagreements over her views going ‘too down the rabbit holes.’ 

The escalating attacks on Erika come as Charlie’s widow is stepping more publicly into her role as the Turning Point USA chief executive – the job she inherited after her husband’s death.

She appeared on Fox this week on several occasions to promote Charlie’s final book, Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life.

Erika told Fox on Wednesday: ‘Come after me, call me names, I don’t care. Call me what you want, go down that rabbit hole, whatever.

‘But… when you go after the people that I love and you’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars every single episode going after the people that I love because somehow they’re in on this? No.’

Host Harris Faulkner interjected, ‘I’ve never seen you like this.’

Erika replied: ‘This is righteous anger because this is not okay, it’s not healthy. This is a mind virus.

‘This is a duty to my husband, and it’s an absolute honor. And I will never back down. And so my message to them is to stop – to stop.’

Erika erupts over conspiracy theories in an interview with Fox’s Harris Faulkner

The couple with their two young children before Kirk’s assassination in September 

Kirk and Owens maintained a close friendship for years during the early stages of Turning Point USA

However, the attacks on TPUSA and Erika have only grown more sickening, including insinuations that they were somehow involved in the killing.

Owens’s theories have evolved from TPUSA ‘betrayal’ claims to implicating Israel, French paratroopers, Egyptian military and alleged security lapses – often based on anonymous sources or unverified claims. 

Her massive listener base allows her podcast to charge premium advertising rates, generating up to $10 million in annual revenue, according to Fortune magazine. 

Owens’s episodes on the topic have fueled her podcast’s No 1 global ranking across platforms, but they have also deepened divisions in conservative circles, with critics including TPUSA itself accusing her of profiting from tragedy. 

Despite this, only one advertiser has pulled out in the past year, with nearly 60 sponsors now on board according to Bloomberg. 

The controversy has escalated in recent days, with the Trump administration intervening to clear TPUSA of financial misconduct allegations.

It came after Owens told her audience: ‘I am making a personal plea to every well-meaning person who donated to this God-forsaken organization to request a refund.’ 

In another video, she claimed that TPUSA missed tax-filing deadlines and alleged that $8.5 million in company funds were improperly used.

The Treasury Department sent a private letter to Erika reassuring the CEO that Turning Point is not being probed, according to CBS News.

The government confirmed that all four tax-exempt organizations under the TPUSA umbrella submitted their required forms to the IRS this year ‘on time.’

‘The IRS is able to provide this type of information upon request by the taxpayer,’ a senior Treasury official told CBS.

‘And in this case, it’s hideous that malicious lies and smears obligated her to make the request,’ the official added.

Donald Trump embraces Erika, during a memorial service for her husband at State Farm Stadium in Arizona in September

The situation has also drawn in right-wing podcaster Tim Pool, who raged at Owens in a foul-mouthed rant over her conspiracy theories.

Pool, 39, claimed Owens and her supporters are destroying Turning Point USA with ‘lies’ regarding Kirk’s death, calling her ‘a degenerate c***’ who is ‘burning everything down.’

Pool, who recently reported that shots were fired at his home in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, has been increasingly vocal in criticizing Owens.

‘The organization that helped get Donald Trump elected … is being gutted by f***ing psychopaths telling people to pull their donations,’ Pool said during a livestream on Monday.

Owens responded by claiming Pool ‘is genuinely not well right now’ and encouraged her followers to offer him prayers, writing on X: ‘There is just so clearly something personal going on in his life … Pray he comes through it.’

Amid the feud, TPUSA has reported a surge in support and chapter inquiries following the assassination, with Erika vowing to continue Kirk’s mission, including campus tours and his annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix.