Candace Owens has leaked a conference call of Erika Kirk talking to Turning Point USA employees around two weeks after her husband, Charlie, was assassinated.
The conservative provocateur told viewers Erika is ‘extraordinarily upbeat’ and criticized the widow for laughing as she pushed her conspiratorial agenda against the mother-of-two, repeatedly branding her ‘weird’ and ‘strange.’
Owens, who hosts one of the largest podcasts in the world, attacked Erika for discussing merchandise sales and donations following Charlie’s memorial in Phoenix, Arizona.
‘We are not even two weeks after watching your husband be assassinated. We’re talking about numbers and metrics that have been hit,’ Owens said, claiming she had spoken to employees who said they found Erika’s tone ‘off-putting.’
Erika, who had been newly appointed as chief executive and chairman of TPUSA, summoned employees for a motivational Zoom meeting to praise their hard work after the memorial, which was attended by Donald Trump and broadcast around the world.
She told staff she was optimistic about the future, while acknowledging that her enthusiasm might sound odd in the tragic circumstances.
‘Since [Charlie’s] assassination, we have just shy of 100,000 chapter requests, over 300,000 new donors, over 50,000 new hat orders. And I’m listing these because I want to put it into perspective because we’re not just sitting there looking at the wall trying to figure out what we’re doing,’ Erika said.
‘It’s weird to say that I’m excited. I really hesitate saying that. It’s a really weird thing to say. But I think it comes from a space of peace knowing that God’s using this and we’re humbly witnessing the gospel in real time.’
Candace Owens on Tuesday leaked a conference call of Erika Kirk talking to Turning Point USA employees around two weeks after the assassination of her husband Charlie
Erika on stage at the memorial for her husband, which was attended by Donald Trump
Owens said in response: ‘All of this makes my skin crawl.’
Erika said at the start of the call: ‘Wow. I don’t even know where to begin. The fact that we were able to pull off an event of a century, like, it’s just insane. We had over 275,000 people attend, stadium overflow, Westgate – insane, you guys.’
The 37-year-old praised her staff for working 20-hour days for a week in the run-up to the event while ‘grieving the loss of my husband.’
Erika urged employees to come together and put aside any personal differences and to take time off if they needed to grieve.
‘If you guys have any beef with each other from the past or have any issues, please put it to rest. Like my husband’s dead. Like I’m not trying to be morbid, but he’s dead, and it puts life into perspective of how short life is,’ Erika said.
‘If you do need additional time to grieve, please continue to use Turning Point USA’s network of counselors. And if you need additional time off, please talk to your director about using paid time off.’
Owens targeted Erika over this aspect of the call, claiming it would put employees in an uncomfortable position because they would compare their grief to the widow’s.
‘Imagine you’re the employee. You’re like, ‘Okay, well, this is his wife saying this, so am I weird? Would I be like, I would be pretty weird if I needed to take time off and his wife is saying she’s full steam ahead?” Owens said.
Charlie and Erika Kirk with their children in a social media post celebrating their son’s first birthday
Erika greets JD Vance during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025 in Phoenix
During the call, Erika said that Kirk was watching TPUSA from heaven and would be proud of their achievements.
‘We have so much to do which is exciting,’ she told the employees. ‘Charlie in heaven is like, you guys thought you had a busy schedule then just you wait.
‘And he’s doing some awesome things with Jesus in heaven right now, but there’s so much work to be done.’
Owens claimed that this was ‘very strange’ and criticized Erika for her laughter during the call.
‘It’s very strange. It is even kind of using this idea of Charlie being in heaven looking down and the laughter. I don’t know. I feel like the rest of you and I feel uncomfortable.’
Owens’ criticism of Erika on the call is the latest in an onslaught of public attacks that has seen her podcast rake in extraordinary viewing figures, with tens of millions tuning in every week.
She has accused the widow of using Charlie’s legacy to promote and enrich herself, and take TPUSA in a direction its late founder never intended.
Erika has not directly responded to Owens’ repeated attacks, but last month slammed ‘evil’ conspiracy theorists for making spurious claims linking TPUSA to Kirk’s assassination.
She pointedly told Fox News on December 10: ‘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.’
Erika also held a face-to-face discussion with Owens that appeared to result in a truce, which has since proved short-lived.
A spokesman for Owens told the Daily Mail on Wednesday: ‘Erika violated the “truce” when she and Andrew Kolvet [Executive Producer of the Charlie Kirk Show] got caught, red-handed, orchestrating PR attacks against me recently. That’s how we arrived at this moment.’
The spokesman alleged that Erika had ‘fired employees, without cause, after moving management to press them about their perceived loyalty to her.’
Owens’ camp further clamed that the TPUSA chair had avoided responding to ‘meaningful criticism regarding her executive actions and behavior.’
Kirk was shot dead during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on September 10. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with his murder.
The Daily Mail has contacted TPUSA for comment.
