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COMMENTARY by Candace Owens — "Candace Owens Is Peddling Conspiracy Theories About Charlie Kirk’s Death—and It’s Working" (published 2026-07-27).
This is third-party opinion/analysis ABOUT State of Utah v. Tyler James Robinson — NOT the court record. It is indexed for comparison against the primary transcripts/filings. Transcript is the YouTube auto-caption track (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQHC4czh-5Y) — verbatim ASR.
It is striking to think back to where we were in September. I mean, people were getting fired, not just for celebrating Charlotte Kirk's murder or making fun of it, but for saying, you know, I didn't like this guy. I didn't like what he stood for politically. And, you know, they were losing their job. But now, all of these memes, um, that I think have really done a lot to sort of make him, you know, you want to say a mockery or sort of to make it seem less serious or to kind of puncture that, uh, that hallowed way I think that people saw it initially. uh that have really I think hurt the political capital that >> Can I take you back in time? >> Sure. >> I want to go back to September right after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I'm going to read you a headline from the Wall Street Journal. The headline goes like this. Charlie Kirk's death unites a global right that sees its movement under siege. a year or so later, has that headline aged? >> You know, I think as it turned out, that really was not the case. I think if anything, uh, the Charlie Kirk assassination really, uh, sort of set off more of a MAGA civil war, set off more divisions. Um, and I think has really, you know, looking back at it now, in many ways, it has not had the, in the moment, it seemed like such a sort of monumental thing that would unite the right, maybe even, you know, deliver the midterms to Republicans. And I think we we have sort of seen the opposite. I think it's created a lot more problems. It's so funny because it strikes me that um it strikes me Charlie's Kirk death actually has united the right in grievance but they're still figuring out who they're agrieved about. Fair. >> Yeah, I think that's that's probably true. I think um you know the there is this sense I I think it heightened the emotions certainly it had this sense of like we're under siege but as you said who are we under siege by? You know Candace Owens would say Israel. uh Donald Trump and you know kind of more mainline Republicans would say the left and you know we've got to fight these communists. So it's created I think this sense of of being under attack uh but also a lot of division and a lot of enmity within the right over that issue. >> Yeah. Um, let's go back to the trial because I think there's no better place to see how all of this is playing out than Provo, Utah, this courthouse where the case against Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin is had the preliminary hearings had been going on. Um, tell me what happened over 5 days like how did this reflect what we were just talking about these wider divisions? This was this was a hearing that was meant to establish that there's enough evidence to have a trial to get the judge to approve the idea of a full-blown trial. Um, and so as a result, they're bringing out law enforcement people involved in the investigation. They're showing documents, whether it's, you know, text messages sent by Tyler Robinson, whether it's uh surveillance footage from the Utah Valley University campus. Um, and so they're bringing out all this stuff. And I think for people like Erica Kirk, the Turning Point USA crew, I think the people who support the general and I think probably accurate theory of this case about Tyler Robinson killing Charlie Kirk not being, you know, part of a giant conspiracy theory. Uh they thought that this would be a moment, I think, to finally put these conspiracy theories down and to really say, you know, here is the evidence. You can watch this video. You can see the these this confession. Um, and that will show you uh they will fi finally put all of these uh crazy ideas to rest. >> I mean, is that what happened? >> No, it's not what happened at all. Um, if anything, I think it created, you know, these conspiracy theorists, they they're really adept at thriving on any kind of uh material they get. And so, if you tell them your idea is dumb, they'll say, "Well, you're just telling me my idea is dumb." Because maybe you're part of the conspiracy. or they look at the video. Let's say there's video of Tyler Robinson and and this is one example of him on the Utah Valley University campus talking to Turning Point USA employees apparently probably to get information about, you know, the the event and and what they could do. Um, and so he's doing all these things and people like Candace Owens and her allies look at this video and they say, "Well, you know what? This might be maybe he's in league with Turning Point USA and that's why he's talking to the employees." or is that really him in that video? That's maybe a body double. So, in a way, this hearing just created more fuel for the conspiracy theories. >> Wow. That goes that fire burns hot. You know what I mean? Like, that's a lot of work to try to explain this evidence. >> Yeah. I mean, look, I think it's it's a lucrative industry, these conspiracy theories. I think it's one that gives the people like Candace Owens and other people promoting it a lot of power and a lot of influence. Uh and and so you know I we also you know I should say I think we just sort of exist in the world and I I think Donald Trump has done a lot to create this uh where it's like nothing is as it seems. There can't be sort of a straightforward explanation. So people just have a sense that you know I yeah oh this story propagated by the FBI well Donald Trump's told us we can't trust the FBI. All of these things. It's just very hard for people uh particularly on the right to really latch on to something. >> Yeah. Um, I was thinking about this trial and the fact that if you looked at what happened in this courthouse, it was clear that what was going on was very important to a lot of people. Like Don Jr. showed up for the first couple of days, right? So that's like a sign that this is [sighs] this is an event that the right needs to engage with, right? But I think that after Charlie Kirk's murder, I might have expected these legal proceedings to feel like the trial of the century or something like that. Do do they they don't to me, >> you know, they don't really feel like the trial of the century. I mean, I it is striking to think back to where we were in September. I mean, people were getting fired not just for celebrating Charlotte Kirk's murder or making fun of it, but for saying, you know, I didn't like this guy. I didn't like what he stood for politically. And, you know, they were losing their jobs. And now there was this sense of just like total, you know, in a way sort of like cultural victory for the right over the Charlie Kirk legacy. But now it's become a meme. A lot of Gen Z, Gen Alpha kids, they'll say things like instead of low-key, they'll say low kirkinwingly. Uh, and [laughter] yeah, I mean, yeah, the low Kirk and Willie. Um, or they'll say or there are, you know, AI edits of Charlie Kirk being saved by Jeffrey Epstein. all of these memes um that I think have really done a lot to sort of make him, you know, whether you want to say a mockery or sort of to make it seem less serious or to kind of puncture that uh that hallowed way I think that people saw it initially uh that have really I think hurt the political capital that surrounded the assassination. >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I feel like the one thing that is definitely true no matter how you see what's going on in Utah is uh Charlie Kirk is sort of dying as he lived all over your feed. >> Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Um you know, and it's a Yeah, he really he remains a meme. He remains omnipresent even in death. >> Yeah. I wonder if you can just spin me through quickly what happened in Utah earlier this month and what kind of evidence was presented regarding Tyler Robinson, the alleged uh killer of Charlie Kirk, because there really was like sort of just a a variety of things that came out. Interestingly, Erica Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, wanted more things to come out. She was saying she wanted to like o really open up the floodgates, which um the judge did want not want to do. I think to basically preserve um the status of the trial in some way to give a fair trial to Tyler Robinson. So tell me a little bit about what we did see. There was video, there were recordings, right? >> Yes. So there's surveillance video purportedly of Tyler Robinson at the campus ahead of the shooting during the shooting running away. Um there there was a lot of uh law enforcement interviews, police officers who said, "Yes, you know, I I'm the one who got Tyler Robinson or I, you know, I I examined the forensics." Uh there were messages between Tyler Robinson and his lover, Lance Twigs, saying, you know, I'm the guy who shot Charlie Kirk, things of that nature. >> Yeah. There's an interview with with Lance Twigs, right, where it's like he could he was engaging with like what the officers were asking him. >> Yes. and and and so there there's an interview with Lance Twigs saying, you know, relating to how he realized that Tyler Robinson was was allegedly the killer. Um, and so you have all it's a wide array of evidence from various sources. Uh, and I think for those of us who aren't really conspiracy theoryminded, I think it should put questions to rest. Um, but at the same time, again, I I I think people, you know, remain unconvinced. Uh, you know, I think a large segment of the right >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like the one thing that I think you could see the defense was honing in on was some DNA evidence where um that was regarding the murder weapon and like whether that was clearly indicating Robinson's DNA and so they were saying there was some opening there, but everything else was really like there was a note uh that Tyler Robinson left for Twigs, Lance Twigs, basically saying I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I took it. So, so very clearly admitting guilt. >> Yeah. I mean, I it appears to be based on the evidence sort of a very well doumented assassination that there are all these things as you said there's, you know, this this towel that was found that that has the Tyler Robinson's DNA on it suggesting that, you know, this was taken from his bathroom that this isn't some random guy they plucked. I mean, I think even before this, the conspiracy theories didn't make a ton of sense. For example, people would say these text messages with Lance Twigs and Tyler Robinson, they seem a little fake. They seem a little too much of a confession or they seem uh can't. But on the other hand, are we to understand that Tyler Robinson is now going to go to trial and this like if this was all concocted that this wouldn't come out at some point that they have this psych maybe give the death penalty to um you know so even before this I don't think the conspiracy theories held much water. You can see this because Candace Owens is constantly changing what she believes. I mean, she'll say Egypt was involved or Israel was involved or maybe a B cult was involved. All of these things. >> Literally a bee cult. >> Yeah. So, and Mormons use a lot of um bee symbology. And so, in Utah, there's a there's just a lot of bee symbols around. Um and so she's she was saying, "Oh my gosh, look, you know, this guy went to a school and they they have a B in their logo and you know, a lot of bees." And so there was this idea that maybe a sort of be murder cult was involved. >> Wow. Yeah. I mean, I guess you should spin me through too how the more conspiratorial-minded folks took in this information that was presented, which as you say seemed pretty clearly to indicate Tyler Robinson was Charlie Kirk's murderer. >> Yes. Um, you know, I think they just as you know, Erica Kirk, Turning Point USA people, they wanted as much information to be public as possible. They pushed for the trial to be televised. They every step of the way they fought to keep evidence from being sealed. Uh, on the other hand, people like Candace Owens, she has a another associate named Baron Coleman who's kind of another big pillar of this. These people are very they are pouring over the information, too, and they are kind of plucking out, huh, well, that seems a little odd. Doesn't that seem a little too convenient? They are seeing this as an opportunity to make their own content. >> H Okay. Can I ask you a question that's been dogging me? Um, do we know if Tyler Robinson had some overarching philosophy that led him to kill Charlie Kirk? And I asked that because the one thing that I think connects all of the right-wing strands, whether you are Don Junior, Don Jr., her Erica Kirk MAGA or whether you're Candace Owens. Um I I think you're connected by the fact that you see Charlie Kirk's death as evidence of your own victimization, right, and vulnerability. So does the evidence in this case support that feeling that the right is under attack in a coordinated fashion? >> Well, you know, I wouldn't say coordinated. Um, but but I would say that, you know, it based on the the evidence, the the the markings on the bullet casings that Tyler Robinson allegedly did, um, the the conversation he had with Lance Twigs, I mean, it it seems as though he saw Charlie Kirk as this kind of right-wing hate figure, particularly anti-trans, anti-gay, um, and that's why he killed him. And I think that was sort of the theory everyone had right after the assassination. I mean, this is probably a guy who was killed by a liberal, unfortunately, um, because he was this big kind of Republican figure. It's kind of a classic political assassination situation >> and got a little scrambled by the fact that I think Tyler Robinson's family was not left-wing in any way and his he may [clears throat] have been partially reacting to his family with his own political views. >> Yeah. I mean it it's complex obviously because it's it's in Utah conservative state probably a pretty conservative even college campus. Uh so you have all of these things uh that are playing into it but it still looks like a pretty straightforward story. Um, on the other hand, there was also this idea even among people like Donald Trump, Cash Patel, there was this idea that this couldn't be a lone gunman situation. There had to be this is either at minimum, you know, leftists who have criticized Charlie Kirk are somehow kind of indirectly responsible for this and they could be punished in some way or that there really there was like some kind of, you know, trans Antifa, you know, cell that that was involved in this. And so there was a lot that went into saying we're going to investigate. You know, this tweet said something big's going to happen tomorrow at Utah Valley University or something like that. Um, and nothing came of it really. I mean, obviously Tyler Robinson is the only person who's been charged here. Even Lance Twigs doesn't appear to have any culpability. He hasn't been charged. So, there was this moment that was like, we're going to crush the left. And that really dissipated. >> Yeah. Yeah. What's interesting to me um about all this is that as I saw this pre-trial hearing situation play out, it seemed to me that what was going on was very important to a certain subsection of Americans, but very unimportant to a whole lot of other people. Like I I wonder if it makes sense to talk about what's happened to Charlie Kirk on Tik Tok post assassination because it's it's kind of grim to me [laughter] when you look at it like there was this AI song we are Charlie Kirk that has now become like a dance thing on Tik Tok. His final moments and the gunshot that killed him have become a meme. Like people use it to like do transition videos where they go from like I have one hairstyle to like now I have a sassy new hairstyle, but they're using the audio of Charlie Kirk's death to do that. It's kind of macob. >> Yeah. I mean, I think it's twisted. I mean, I I I I think it is sort of a classic situation of particularly young people seeking out, you know, edgy, offensive things that will kind of shock their elders. uh you know you mentioned I mean it's been used in I think there was like a rave in Asia where the moment where the beat drops is to the the we are Charlie Kirk song. Um and so yeah I mean it's become a meme and and I think as you said I mean at the point where I think Tik Tok eventually banned the use of the the gunshot audio uh you know for these moments as you said where people change outfits or get a new haircut. >> Yeah. I mean, it's interesting to me because in the weeks after Charlie Kirk's death, people who spoke out about his viewpoints were often pretty harshly silenced or even fired for doing that, like called out in some kind of way. And there would be a big pile on and these jokey parody videos, it honestly feels like people who probably don't share Charlie Kirk's viewpoints out posting him. Do you know what I mean? like finding a way to make him into a joke because saying what he had to say was wrong or abhorrent became a little unsayable online in the days after his death. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean I do think there's this sense that after his assassination there was this almost sort of like oppressive stifling however people may have seen it this sense that you know as Charlie Kirk was being deified or you know treated as a sort of secular saint figure that he you couldn't grab if you were critical of Charlie Kirk or there was this you couldn't really contest his legacy as it was because of the shocking and the the his murder. Um, and you know, as you said, people were fired and there are all these lawsuits. You know, cut to now, people are winning hefty settlements for being fired over criticizing him. I mean, back then there was like a list. You know, people may remember it was like the we're going to get everyone who criticized Charlie Kirk fired list essentially. Um, and so I think that kind of sanctimony, I mean, to be clear, I think there's a lot to that. I mean, this guy was just murdered in a really shocking way. Um, but I think the reaction to that was people saying, you know, let's make this a meme. Let's poke fun at this. Yeah. I mean, I was I was just flipping through Charlie Kirk related articles before we got on the line, and it was striking to me. I found more than one [laughter] with people basically showing how far we've come with Charlie Kirk. Like the Guardian had a story about a sculptor who spent $100,000 of his own money to make a Charlie Kirk sculpture that he he wanted to like use to make money, but now no one wants it. So, it's like that didn't work. You know, the New York Times had a story about this highway in Tennessee that they tried to rename Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway, but like the Vietnam vets who were originally memorialized by this highway are like pissed about it. It just struck me. I was like, "Oh, does this mean the circification of culture, this kind of deification moment?" It really, really is past. I mean, it really, it was striking to me when the the Charlie Kirk the gunshot meme thing was going around TikTok. It was striking to me how sort of powerful Turning Point USA had been in the immediate aftermath of the assassination um in terms of sort of getting people I think to be afraid to criticize Charlie Kirk, things like that to then a few months later and they have to be tweeting at Tik Tok, please ban this sound effect, you know, and and and so >> they don't have any special poll. >> Exactly. That sort of this whatever the Kirk assassination was sort of the cultural moment really got away from them. >> Huh. Huh. Um, you say that the cultural moment has gotten away from turning point. Have we seen that reflected in their political power? Like you and I are talking right after the Arizona primaries, right? Where I think a lot of Turning Point associated people did pretty well in the Republican primaries. So, is it worth us disagregating like their internet power or youth power or whatever from their actual political infrastructure and magnetism? >> You know, I think it's worth considering. I I do think the the Kirk assassination has really hurt Turning Point in a lot of ways. Um, it has, you know, I obviously they're facing a leadership vacuum. I think there are questions about even within Turning Point, people have been critical of of Erica Kirk saying, you know, whether she can keep keep the operation running. Uh I think also it's just because of these conspiracy theories pushed most prominently by Candace Owens. I think it's made turning point a lot more controversial within the right. You have just anecdotally I see examples of, you know, a mom's group will order Charlie Kirk shirts and then they'll say, "Well, do we really want these?" because now we've discovered that, you know, Turning Point murdered Charlie Kirk or you have >> Whoa. >> Yeah. And and so I mean those things >> comes down the rabbit hole. >> Yeah. I mean those things are sinking in with people and even if you think well maybe they didn't murder him. I think there's sort of a milder conspiracy theory that's like they covered it up. And so you know all of these things have have I think hurt the Turning Point brand with a lot of Republicans. Um you know fault of their own. I mean it's just craziness. Um, but but I think they've really struggled to respond to that and it's it's undermined them in various ways. You've seen some college chapters disaffiliating and saying kind of we're going our own way. This is not what Charlie Kirk would have wanted. You know, the Turning Point has has lost its way. >> Is anyone here winning in this battle between all these right-wing figures? There's like you've got Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Turning Point USA, all of these folks fighting about Charlie Kirk, sure, but really kind of fighting about the future of the movement here. Are any of them in a strong position? Are they all being made weaker by this? >> It's a good question. Um, I I do think it's become a real quagmire. I mean, now Candace Owens is being sued by Charlie Kirk's head of security. I mean, we'll see. I think he has a pretty strong case. Uh, you know, we'll see how much she ends up maybe paying out over that. Um, there's probably more lawsuits to come. >> Basically sued because like because of you, we've had to like do a lot more work. >> No, because No, because she had a guy on her show who said uh Charlie the the head of security and Erica Kirk were meeting at a military base the day before the assassination with a military sniper. Uh, and so >> blaming them for the murder. >> Yes. Exactly. Exactly. So, so very responsible. So, less subtle than than that. Um, and so I think there's probably more lawsuits to come, but I do think Candace Owens probably has been a big winner in this case. Uh, she has managed to go from someone who who had her own platform and had been successful with other things after kind of being kicked out of the mainstream right for anti-semitism. Um, she was kind of doing her own thing. She was already pretty big. Um, but with this, she has has really elevated her profile. She's claimed a good chunk of the Charlie Kirk legacy for herself. I would say she's sort of portrayed Erica Kirk as this um you know this usurper almost. Um and and so in that way I think she's gathered a lot more influence she's made a lot of money because she's getting huge amounts of YouTube views. So I would say she's someone who despite all this at least for now until the legal settlements come back uh has has been a winner. >> That's interesting. Um because Charlie Kirk's power of course didn't come from just accumulating power or accumulating um you know his own followers. It came from how he deployed those followers and he deployed those followers in service of Donald Trump especially in the 2024 election. Do we have any idea how Candace Owens wants to spend her power that she's accumulating? Well, you know, I I think for her a lot of it is about divorcing the Republican party from Israel. I mean, she is like extremely anti-Semitic figure. Um, and she's also very critical of Israel. And so, I think for her saying maybe Israel was involved in this, like I mean, when she first started pushing this stuff, I thought, how could she ever make this case? This is so crazy. But people have become convinced because she just adds in all these I mean, mostly she's like, look, there was a Jewish guy there, you know? I mean, she's saying, you know, Erica Kirk went to >> Okay. [laughter] Okay. Like I mean it's crazy. And so with that or she'll say Erica Kirk went to a a daycare or a school when she was, you know, an elementary school and it has a lot of Jewish teachers. Hm. What do you make of that? I mean this is >> Christ. That's like just anti-semitic >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean this is >> I'm sorry but really >> Yeah. I mean it really is that blatant. And so she has managed I think Candace Owens also because she covered a lot of kind of like celebrity news. She did the Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni lawsuit. She has an audience that goes beyond um just people on the right. And so I think she has managed to take, you know, independence, people who don't particularly care about politics, and I think they've really latched on to this Erica Kirk secret assassin theory as well. >> You know, um I was talking to my husband about the show and I was like I put to him this idea that like why isn't Charlie Kirk's trial the trial of the century kind of thing? And he pointed out that to be the trial of the century, there would need to be some tension about what the outcome would be. Do you know what I mean? Like with OJ's trial, you were wondering if he was going to be found guilty or not guilty, right, the whole time and it kept you watching. even with Luigi Manion who are all sort of waiting to go to trial like I I think very few people doubt what he did but I think there's a question of how this trial could reshape a big public conversation about healthcare and corporate greed and public anger about those things but there's only a small group of people who don't believe Charlie Kirk was killed by a single person acting alone right is this basically only the trial of the century for like Candace Owens >> I mean I think there's There's a lot of people who think that there was a broader conspiracy theory. I'll tell you what, no one no smaller a personage than Joe Kent, the former head of US counterterrorism. He claims he was investigating the alternate theories while he was in the government and he was stopped from doing it. Now, I think people were like, "This isn't really your job, buddy." >> But, you know, he has offered to testify for Tyler Robinson's defense team. And if I was a juror in a murder trial and someone said, "Hey, I'm one of the top US counterterror officials and the government stopped me from looking into this and I think there might be some other ideas." I think that would be pretty compelling. >> Wow. Um, you know, it's weird. I have very little sympathy for the noxious viewpoints of Charlie Kirk [laughter] or the noxious viewpoints of Candace Owens or Tucker Carlson. Um, but I got to say in all of this drama over his death, Charlie Kirk himself seems to have gotten totally lost like in the territorial BS, in the memeification, like he's almost not like a human anymore. >> I agree with you. I mean, I I think that, as you said, I you know, before his assassination, I had very little sympathy for Charlie Kirk. Um, but I think you know what he and his family have been through is like mindbendingly awful. I mean, in terms of the the assassination being televised and then all these people around them sort of betraying them for money and saying, you know, that you know, maybe you did it, Erica Kirk, the widow. Um, you know, I I think it is to add on to that. I think also this fight over his legacy has sort of cheapened him and revealed him in some ways that I think are very unflattering. So, for example, Candace Owens will say, "Well, Charlie Kirk was kind of falling out with his Jewish donors over Israel, and here are these emails and text messages where Charlie Kirk is saying, you know, these Jewish donors are are just bugging me so much." Or people will be saying, or she'll say, you know, Laura Loomer, who's another right-wing activist on the other side, you know, Charlie Kirk hated you. And so, she'll put up a text message saying, you know, Laura Loomer's got to stop bugging me. Uh, and then on the other side, someone will say, well, actually, Candace, he didn't like you. And then so I mean you we we can imagine, you know, if you were the subject of a high-profile assassination or something and then suddenly we got to go through your text messages, you know, I mean it it it is a way that I think also sort of makes him look very petty. This fighting over and saying, "Well, actually, he despised you and I'll show you." It's it's an ugly scene. >> Yeah. Okay. So, for now, the hearings in Utah, they're on hold. Uh the judge is going to, I think, have the next hearing in September, which is right around the anniversary of Charlie Kirk's death. Given what we've just seen, how do you expect all that to go down? >> I think I mean it could potentially be a circus. I mean, I I I think we'll see how much the defense wants to play into these conspiracy theories. So far, they don't seem interested in it. Uh they they seem to be, you know, kind of doing a pretty straightforward defense. On the other hand, you know, we saw Don Jr. there. We saw Jack Bovic, the conspiracy theorist, roll up in a like a red Corvette or like a red convertible. Um, you know, very bizarre thing to wear to drive into your friend's uh the murder trial of your friend. >> He's not the prom guy. >> Yes. Exactly. Good way to put it. Um, so I I think it's, you know, it's going to get a lot of attention and and and again, but you know, let's say Tyler Robinson pleads guilty or he's found guilty. Um, you know, I think ultimately that this is because it's there's so much energy in in the right into this case. Um, I think it's going to these conspiracy theories will still persist and the fight over Charlie Kirk's legacy will continue. Will, I'm really grateful for your time. Thanks for coming on the show.