"You were lied to": Candace Owens has "full confidence" that Charlie Kirk was "betrayed" by TPUSA leaders

Candace Owens, a conservative commentator and former Turning Point USA (TPUSA) communications director, has increased public scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk by claiming that donors and supporters were intentionally misled.

In an X post on December 2, Candace Owens urged donors to request refunds and announced that new information had “put the final pieces together” for her. Owens told her followers they had been misled about what she described as “internal failures and omissions” within TPUSA’s leadership, a claim she said is supported by details she plans to share publicly. A part of her tweet read:

"I now can say with full confidence that I believe Charlie Kirk was betrayed by the leadership of Turning Point USA and some of the very people who eulogized him on stage. Yes I will be naming names and providing evidence for my claims."

Owens’s remarks come amid national coverage of Kirk’s death on September 10, 2025, when the conservative activist and TPUSA co-founder was shot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. Initial official statements described the incident as a “targeted attack.” The alleged shooter, a 22-year-old named Tyler Robinson, was later arrested.

Emerging allegations surrounding Charlie Kirk’s death and Candace Owens’s claims

Before her post on December 2, Candace Owens publicly made several allegations about TPUSA and Charlie Kirk’s death. In a November 13, 2025, episode of her podcast, Candace Owens said she had compiled a list of ten “verifiable lies” allegedly spread by TPUSA following Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

An automated transcript of another episode titled They Are Lying About Charlie Kirk captured Owens saying:

“I don’t like little lies… when there is one lie, there’s 20.”

She reinforced her claim of broader internal deception. Episode notes for her show further indicated she accused TPUSA figures of making “verifiable lies” in public statements following the shooting.

Candace Owens, who previously served as TPUSA’s communications director, claimed that she received information indicating that the day before the shooting, Kirk sent a warning message to a TPUSA staffer, stating, “They are going to kill me.”

She said that this message and other internal communications she claims to have obtained were never made public. She also raised questions about security protocols, the attack route, and the possible concealment of information.

However, so far, none of the evidence Candace Owens claims to possess has been independently verified by journalists or law enforcement authorities.

TPUSA, the organization co-founded by Kirk, has in recent years become one of the most prominent conservative youth-activist groups in the United States. Its stated mission is to “identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government.”

By the time of the shooting, the group reportedly had an active presence on thousands of college campuses, with hundreds of staff and significant fundraising efforts. In the wake of Kirk’s death, widespread public shock followed. Prominent political figures mourned him publicly, while campus authorities and law enforcement launched investigations into security failures.

While the facts regarding Kirk’s assassination, such as the location, date, arrest of a suspect, and involvement of security professionals, are confirmed, theories of betrayal, internal conspiracy, or organizational negligence remain unproven.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Edited by Shreya Das