Candace Owens
Candace Owens speaking with attendees at the 2018 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Candace Owens has not directly said Donald Trump killed Charlie Kirk, but her latest comments about Trump and the Epstein files have fuelled that interpretation online. Laura Loomer seized on the post and accused Owens of implying Trump was responsible, even though the wording she cited does not make that accusation outright.

The row stems from a New York Times report by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan saying Trump called Charlie Kirk after a Turning Point USA event became, in their words, an 'Epstein grievance fest.' The report said speakers had attacked Pam Bondi over the handling of the Epstein files, and that Trump was unhappy enough to ring Kirk and scold him.

Owens reacted to that reporting on X and wrote, 'Absolutely wild to learn that Donald Trump called Charlie and reprimanded him about his coverage of the Epstein Files. On July 12th—the day after I keep insisting a made a decision to kill Charlie according to our timeline,' in a post that was widely read as darkly insinuating, but not a direct accusation. It is that line, and not an explicit allegation, that sent the post ricocheting across social media.

Laura Loomer Turns Up the Heat

Loomer then fired back, posting, 'Wait, so now @RealCandaceO says Trump killed Charlie Kirk? 🤡 I thought it was the Israelis... and then @MrsErikaKirk... and then Charlie's security team.... Lmao what is it?' Her framing sharpened the argument, but it also stretched Owens' wording beyond what she actually wrote.

Owens did not, in the text cited by Loomer, say Trump killed Kirk. She referred to Trump allegedly reprimanding Kirk and tied the remark to her own ongoing theory, which remains unproven. If nothing else, the exchange shows how quickly a suggestion on X can harden into a claim before anyone has bothered to check the exact words. Messy stuff, really.

Charlie Kirk and Epstein Fallout

Kirk's death remains the backdrop to the feud. He was shot and killed at Utah Valley University in September 2025 while speaking at a Turning Point USA event, an attack that led to a manhunt and a criminal case against Tyler Robinson, who was charged with aggravated murder and related offences.

The Epstein angle is what keeps dragging the story back into Trump's orbit. Reuters and other outlets have reported that the controversy around the files rattled the White House and energised parts of Trump's base, while the Times article suggested Kirk's own events became a pressure point over the administration's handling of the issue. That is the thread Owens has been tugging at. Whether it leads anywhere solid is another matter entirely.

The online reaction has split along familiar lines. Some users repeated Loomer's interpretation, while others argued Owens had never directly accused Trump of assassination and was being taken too literally. A few defended Owens' broader suspicion, saying the timeline felt off, while others said she was pushing yet another outlandish theory.

As of late, neither Donald Trump nor Erika Kirk has publicly responded to Owens' post, and there is no verified evidence that she directly accused Trump of killing Charlie Kirk.

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