Candace Owens has intensified her criticism of Turning Point USA, likening their resistance to critique to the tactics of liberal entities such as Black Lives Matter. Owens, who was once close to Charlie Kirk, has insinuated that the organization bears some responsibility for his murder, yet she has notably avoided mentioning Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, by name. After Erika’s vehement response on Fox News earlier this week, Owens launched a scathing tweet directed at the entire TPUSA, now under Erika’s leadership.

“It is utterly RIDICULOUS to suggest that a $150 million organization cannot be critiqued simply because its CEO claims they are like a family dealing with grief. This mirrors the emotional manipulation used by BLM after George Floyd’s death when I criticized their questionable financial activities. I refused to accept it then, and I absolutely reject it now,” Owens expressed. Erika Kirk, who assumed leadership of the non-profit after her husband’s assassination, has cautioned Owens against allowing her colleagues to become targets for online harassment. Owens further remarked, “I must have some learning disorder since, after all these years, I still can’t emulate those political hypocrites who condemn David Hogg and BLM for using tragedy to stifle scrutiny, yet now consider it WRONG when it involves TPUSA.”

Owens’ remarks are part of a broader series of conspiracy theories, including allegations of financial misconduct that the Treasury Department has dismissed. The Daily Mail has sought comments from a representative of Turning Point USA. Owens, who was a notable speaker and director of communications for TPUSA until her departure in 2020 due to disagreements over her increasingly controversial views, has since intensified her claims of internal “betrayal” within the organization. She disputes the official account of the lone shooter in Kirk’s death and has been challenged by TPUSA to a public debate via livestream. Continuing her assertions, Owens recently claimed that the late conservative commentator was romantically involved with another woman before marrying Erika.

The firebrand podcaster made the claim during the latest episode of her show in a moment that many viewed as a slight toward Erika, a frequent target of her attacks. Owens said she ‘missed’ Kirk’s bachelor days and recalled how she served as his ‘wing-woman’, mentioning one date on which he was especially smitten. She showed a text exchange with Kirk sent as he was preparing to take out the mystery woman, saying it was ‘one of my favorite text messages between me and Charlie when he was getting ready to go on a date’. ‘He didn’t date many people and he was just kind of in love with this girl,’ she added. The texts showed Kirk asking Owens if he should change out of a Turning Point USA-branded shirt before his date, to which she responded: ‘Yes, and throw it away if you can.’ ‘It’s so sweet,’ Owens continued in her podcast monologue. ‘He was so young.’

Erika, who did not name Owens specifically, told Fox News 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.’ 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. However, TPUSA and Erika have faced sickening claims online, including insinuations that they were somehow involved in the killing. Owens is spearheading some of the most viral and incendiary content about Kirk’s death, including claims that top brass at the organization sabotaged their boss. The incorrigible shock jock is raking in up to nine million views on episodes which air about Kirk’s assassination every day. 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 Godforsaken 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.