PHOENIX — What was meant to be a unifying gathering for the future of President Donald Trump’s political movement instead descended into a confusing and openly hostile spectacle Thursday, as Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson delivered sharply opposing messages from the same Turning Point USA stage — barely an hour apart.
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The dueling appearances underscored the deep fractures now running through the MAGA movement and raised questions about what, exactly, Turning Point USA now represents.
🚨 Ben Shapiro goes SCORCHED EARTH at TPUSA on “frauds”, “grifters”, and “charlatans” Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens
He blasts Megyn Kelly for her “cowardice” for refusing to stand up for the truth and condemn Candace’s conspiracy theories and lies
Watch every second of this pic.twitter.com/j7LvZFBDJN
— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) December 19, 2025
Shapiro, speaking early on the opening night of the four-day youth conference, launched a blistering attack on figures he accused of misleading conservative audiences with conspiracy theories and moral nihilism. Without naming him at first, Shapiro made clear he was targeting Carlson, later criticizing the former Fox News host directly for giving airtime to known antisemite Nick Fuentes.
Shapiro called the interview “an act of moral imbecility,” warning that platforming extremists corrodes the movement from within and betrays the values Charlie Kirk — Turning Point’s founder — once championed.
Less than an hour later, Carlson took the same podium and mocked Shapiro’s remarks, ridiculing what he described as an effort to “denounce and deplatform” dissenting voices.
“I watched it,” Carlson said of Shapiro’s speech. “I laughed.”
The back-to-back speeches created whiplash for attendees and laid bare an ideological civil war over the meaning of “America First,” antisemitism on the right, and who will inherit Trump’s political machinery when he leaves the stage.
The infighting threatened to overshadow efforts to honor Kirk, who was assassinated in September while speaking at Utah Valley University. Despite repeated invocations of his name and slogans declaring “We are all Charlie Kirk,” the conference quickly became a venue for airing grievances rather than unity.
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow and Turning Point’s new leader, warned in her opening remarks that the movement was splintering.
“Since the assassination, we’ve seen fractures,” she said. “We’ve seen bridges being burned that shouldn’t be burned.”
Those fractures were on full display.
Carlson rejected accusations of antisemitism and argued that hatred against white men was more pervasive and damaging than antisemitism — remarks that drew quiet discomfort from some attendees and sharp criticism online. He also dismissed talk of a civil war within the Trump coalition as manufactured drama, insisting the real fight is over control of the movement’s future.
“This is about who gets the machinery when the president exits the scene,” Carlson said.
Awkward silence from the audience at @TPUSA’s opening night of AmFest tonight as @TuckerCarlson used his speech to recruit people into supporting Islam. Tucker was met with virtually no cheers as he made excuses for Muslims, said Islam and Muslims are “mostly good” and that its… pic.twitter.com/eOkolPq4Vo
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) December 19, 2025
The conference was further destabilized by ongoing controversy surrounding Candace Owens, a former Turning Point figure who has spread conspiracy theories alleging Israeli involvement in Kirk’s killing — claims authorities have explicitly rejected. Erika Kirk has publicly urged Owens to stop, warning that such rhetoric could jeopardize the prosecution of her husband’s accused killer.
Shapiro condemned those conspiracy theories outright. Owens, in turn, doubled down, accusing Shapiro of prioritizing Israel over American interests — a clash reflecting broader divisions on the right over Israel, Gaza, and the boundaries of acceptable discourse.
The discord marked a stark contrast from Turning Point’s previous AmericaFest, held shortly after Trump’s election victory, when optimism and triumphalism dominated the mood. Now, with Trump constitutionally barred from running again and midterm elections looming, the movement appears increasingly fragmented and leaderless.
Despite the turmoil, thousands packed the convention hall, where the atmosphere still resembled a political rock concert — complete with music, influencers livestreaming from hallways, recruiting booths for conservative causes, and law enforcement displays, including an armored vehicle inside the exhibition space.
Vice President JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr. are scheduled to speak later in the conference, as organizers attempt to steer attention back to political organizing and away from the public feud that has already come to define the event’s opening act.
What remains unclear is whether Turning Point USA can reconcile its competing factions — or whether putting Shapiro and Carlson on the same stage was less a show of unity than proof that the movement no longer knows what it stands for.
In case anyone thought that antisemetism was only endemic to the left. No ideology is resistant to generating extremism and hate. The same way our robbonim have been warning against the extremes in tolerance on the left (Rav Avigdor Miller has since the 80s!), we need to be cautious of the extremes of populism and nationalism on the right. Even if frum yidden are publishing books celebrating nationalism and tribalism… It’s ridiculous for yidden to play into right- left binaries. The only binary is Torah vs sheker.
What did Shapiro expect, going into a room full of MAGA and criticizing their own Nazi bretheren???
Of course there’s antisemitism on the right. The difference is that most right wing politicians vociferously condemn it. Sadly even powerful Jewish politicians on the left can’t bring themselves to publicly condemn antisemitism within their own ranks.
Ben is brave he is putting him himself out there to save the conservative movement knowing it can hurt him
What a circus of belly dancers. Since Jan 6th its been a wild ride. Glad I’m not responsible for this country’s MAGA mess. You cant bottle stupid for too long and it spills over.
This was written by AP, so it’s obviously trash, particularly its overall message. Nonetheless, it’s not good for a Jew to be publicly feuding with goyim. They should have had a conversation prior to their public speeches to at least agree to disagree. Even worse is that this whole dual loyalty nonsense is so high-profile. This is all not good for Jews.