In a recent turn of events, Candace Owens has shifted her focus directly onto Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, marking a departure from her previous approach of not naming the Turning Point USA leader in her commentary. This development followed Erika’s appearance on Fox News, where she condemned the ‘evil’ conspiracy theorists exploiting her husband’s murder for personal gain. Although Erika did not specifically mention Owens in her interview, she addressed the harmful claims circulating online. Owens has been at the forefront of disseminating some of the most controversial content regarding Kirk’s death, including allegations that the Turning Point USA team betrayed their leader, garnering significant attention with up to nine million views on her daily episodes.

During a segment aired on Wednesday night, Owens targeted Erika directly, criticizing her for seeking privacy for her family while appearing on national television. “This is going to be read as Meghan Markle syndrome,” Owens remarked, drawing a parallel to the criticism faced by the Duchess of Sussex for her media appearances despite desiring privacy. Owens argued that such behavior reflects a desire for publicity on one’s terms, a notion she deemed inconsistent.

Opening her show, Owens admitted she had been ‘waiting’ to see more of Erika before making a judgment, but claimed Erika’s television appearance did not align with her expectations. “The good news is she’s now clarifying her intentions with this massive political organization,” Owens stated. Before airing her full episode, Owens teased her critique by telling her followers that the widow’s Fox News interview, though indirect, was also about her. This declaration set the stage for a broader discussion among her viewers, further fueling the controversy surrounding her remarks.

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.’

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 Kirk 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.

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 [expletive]’ 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 [expletive] 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.