Candace Owens
Candace Owens has intensified her feud with Turning Point USA, accusing the group of staging an 'amateur-hour sabotage' after a leaked debate offer reignited claims that the organisation is 'crumbling' internally. Wikimedia Commons

The bitter public feud between political commentator Candace Owens and Turning Point USA (TPUSA) has escalated after a proposed debate over her conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk's assassination collapsed amid accusations of deliberate scheduling sabotage.

TPUSA producer Blake Neff announced on 3 December that the organisation would host a livestream on 15 December to address what he called Owens' 'flood of allegations' against the group's leadership. He invited Owens to participate in person at TPUSA's Phoenix studio.

Owens, who initially celebrated the invitation and offered to meet 'any time, any place,' quickly reversed course when TPUSA announced the date. The 2 pm Pacific time slot conflicts directly with her daily podcast broadcast, a scheduling clash she claims the organisation knew about.

The dispute centres on Owens' persistent and unverified claims regarding the tragic assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025. This public clash, now involving accusations of deliberate organisational 'sabotage', reinforces the narrative that the US conservative youth movement is facing severe internal division and potential erosion.

The Challenge To Debunk And Defend

The latest escalation was triggered when TPUSA, having initially maintained silence regarding Owens' claims for weeks, finally issued a public response and invitation.

Through Blake Neff on The Charlie Kirk Show, the organisation declared its intent to host a live stream in Phoenix to 'put forth its facts' and formally 'debunk' the 'flood of allegations' Owens had levelled against the leadership and Kirk's inner circle.

Owens had previously alleged that Kirk was 'betrayed by everyone,' citing suspicious actions at the scene, financial irregularities, and even alluding to the involvement of French President Emmanuel Macron and foreign entities.

Owens initially celebrated the invitation as a victory, publicly accepting the challenge and framing the confrontation as a necessary step towards uncovering the truth she claims the organisation is concealing. She emphatically offered to debate any time, any place, proposing an immediate, unscripted dialogue to guarantee authenticity. This assertion set the stage for a high-stakes showdown that many conservative observers believed would finally force a resolution to the damaging claims.

Exposing The 'Amateur-Hour Sabotage'

The high-stakes confrontation immediately faltered over logistics. TPUSA followed up by announcing a specific date 15 Decemberand a time 2 pm PT that was set, according to Owens, without any prior consultation with her team. She immediately hit back on social media, labelling the move as 'amateur-hour sabotage,' a deliberate attempt to set her up for failure.

The core factual objection was that the scheduled time clashed directly with the daily live broadcast of her own popular podcast, a scheduling conflict that Owens maintained TPUSA was fully aware of.

While she reaffirmed her willingness to appear, she insisted that the requirement for her to travel to the Phoenix studio in person, coupled with the inconvenient time slot, demonstrated a lack of good faith.

Her counteroffer to join the discussion remotely via video feed was promptly rejected by Blake Neff, who announced TPUSA would proceed with its stream without her participation. This rejection reinforced Owens' narrative that the initial invitation was not a genuine call for a debate but rather a tactical move designed to create an untenable obstacle and then publicly claim Owens had backed out.

The Crisis Of Conservative Organisation

The acrimonious public breakdown of the debate highlights more profound structural and reputational problems for TPUSA.

The organisation, founded by the late Kirk to galvanise young conservatives, now faces its most significant internal crisis, with the controversy continuing to attract damaging headlines and fuel conspiracy theories.

The organisation has reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees and public relations to combat the negative narrative spread by Owens and her allies since the September assassination.

Owens' continuous accusations of betrayal and 'verifiable lies,' combined with the public display of administrative ineptitude in scheduling a high-profile debate, suggest a severe erosion of professional control within the leadership.

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