On the political right, the months since the death of conservative media superstar Charlie Kirk have been characterized by ever-escalating and internecine warfare between his would-be professional inheritors. In retrospect, it is now apparent that Kirk had held together a very fractious coalition.
Leadership of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the flagship political organization for young conservatives that Kirk founded in 2012, has formally passed to his widow Erika Kirk. She has faced a barrage of attacks from Candace Owens, a former friend of Charlie Kirk who has made spurious accusations that TPUSA leadership and perhaps the state of Israel were involved in his death. On one level, this particular feud seems deeply personal, and it's hard to take Owens' vendetta seriously when it's mostly backed up by outright conspiracy theories; on the other hand, she remains incredibly popular and has a massive audience.
