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By Marni Rose McFall
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Conservative influencer Candace Owens has pushed back after Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk called her out in a video in which she addressed the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
In the video, Kirk hit out at headlines about her, slammed a recent comedy sketch by the comedian Druski, and criticized Owens.
"Every morning I wake up to a new headline lying about me. I have comedians dressing up in white face, I have people saying I’m not fit to be CEO, and I have Candace Owens claiming I murdered my husband," she said in the video.
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By way of response, Owens, who has frequently been critical of Kirk in the months that have followed the assassination of her husband, Charlie Kirk, wrote that Kirk’s video was "uncomfortable to watch," and "painful." She also denied ever having made the claims Kirk alluded to, saying: "Of everything I’ve said about Erika she chooses to respond to something I never said."
In a statement shared with Newsweek, Owens said: "Erika’s address yesterday was an unmitigated disaster. Demanding retribution for comedic skits, followed by a bald-faced lie about what I have accused her of, only furthers the public sense that she is untrustworthy and, frankly, dangerous."
Newsweek has contacted Turning Point USA and a representative for Druski for comment via email outside of regular working hours.
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Why It Matters
On Saturday, April 25, the White House Correspondents' Dinner was cut short after a gunman opened fire near a security checkpoint at the event. The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen, was charged in court on Monday with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States.
President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other key members of the Trump Cabinet were in attendance at the event, as were many members of the media and Kirk. She was seen breaking down in tears shortly after shots rang out. In a post on X after the event, she wrote that it was "yet another traumatic example of the evil in our country and the continued rise in political violence."
The incident at the dinner comes at a tense moment politically, amid rising fears around political violence. It also came only months after Kirk’s husband, the prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk, was shot during a speech at an event at Utah Valley University in September 2025. Tyler Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder in his death.
What Did Erika Kirk and Candace Owens Say?
In her video, Kirk referenced both the criticism that has been leveled at her directly and a broader culture of political polarization.
"This culture we’re living in, absorbs disagreement as a form of personal betrayal. It turns having an opposing viewpoint into a moral crime worthy of punishment," she said.
"And here’s what I’ve realized through this, truly, having lived through quite literal hell these past seven months, if you strip someone of their humanity long enough, you will arrive at the chilling conclusion that they don’t deserve to exist at all," she added.
Kirk was thrust into the public and political spotlight after her husband’s assassination. The killing sent shock waves through the U.S., and she was at first met with near-universal sympathy. However, in recent months, she has become the subject of viral jokes, commentary and criticism. These include a comedy skit from Druski, where he appeared to dress up as Kirk, but did not directly reference her. Kirk’s reference in her video to comedians in white face appears to be a reference to that sketch.
Her reference to Owens is the latest development in what is becoming a longstanding feud between the two conservative voices.
Owen's post on X in response to Kirk’s video read: "A speech CLEARLY written by someone else. Objectively terrible so they will now pay for people to tell us otherwise. Also, of everything I’ve said about Erika she chooses to respond to something I never said. They always lie."
Andrew Kolvet, spokesperson for Turning Point USA then responded to Owens with what appears to be a screenshot of a text exchange between a former employee of Turning Point USA and Owens. That screenshot appears to show a message from Owens where she said, "I’m asking EVERYTHING," and then, "First question: why did you murder your husband?" followed by a laughing emoji, a shrugging emoji and a frowning emoji."
Kolvet shared it in a post where he wrote, "You said exactly that to my former employee Aubrey. Yes, Aubrey took a screen grab of your chats and bragged about it to her friends."
Owens then said in a response to Kolvet that the remark was "an OBVIOUS joke mocking the absurd neocon notion (at that time) that any body who had a single question toward Erika was guilty of accusing her of murder."
In a statement shared with Newsweek about the exchange, Owens said: "Like the majority of people in the sensible world, I find watching TPUSA’s perpetual PR blunder to be excruciating, to say the least. At its core lies an underlying narcissism that they have enough money and political connections to shift public opinion
"Andrew’s embarrassing attempt to salvage the immediate backlash by pointing to an out-of-context private joke (mocking Bari Weiss and Ben Shapiro, to be clear) is par for their disastrous course."
The Feud Between Erika Kirk and Candace Owens
After the death of Charlie Kirk, Owens began to share conspiracy theories about his death. She and Charlie Kirk had been friends and Owens was working for Turning Point USA when Charlie and Erika Kirk first met in 2018. She has questioned the events and narrative around his death, as well as voicing broader criticism of Erika Kirk and Turning Point USA.
The relationship between Owens and Kirk has since turned adversarial. In December, Kirk asked Owens to "stop," during an interview with CBS. The two later met in what Erika Kirk said was a "very productive conversation." But Owens said afterward that she does not believe that the person charged for Charlie Kirk’s murder is solely responsible and has continued to share conspiracy theories online.
The Latest in the Investigation into Charlie Kirk’s Murder
Robinson, 23, has been charged with a range of offenses, including aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice in the case.
He is currently awaiting trial. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for May, which would allow prosecutors to show if they have enough evidence to proceed to trial. The defense has argued it cannot proceed until federal law enforcement agencies turn over more details about the DNA analysis of the evidence.
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