We wanted to use this segment at the top of this hour to say something important, something very important.
For the past two and a half months, there is a topic that has flooded our Freedom Inbox. It has been non-stop on social media, but we have almost totally avoided it on this show. You probably already know what I’m talking about, which shows just how ubiquitous it has been. Ever since Charlie’s murder, Candace Owens has leveled a flood of accusations against people at Turning Point USA, people at Turning Point Action, and people who work for this show. She has made them against some of Charlie’s closest friends and against some of his most dedicated employees.
* She has suggested that Michael McCoy, Charlie’s chief of staff, knew Charlie would be murdered, was happy that he died, and stayed silent because he was told he would be the next Charlie. She has suggested Michael is not his real name. It is. I have seen his birth certificate myself.
* She has called it suspicious that Mikey's wife, who works at Turning Point, helped plan the campus tour event where Charlie was murdered—which she didn’t, by the way. She doesn’t work on campus events.
* Candace has suggested the Utah Valley University event was "unusual" and its details suggested a quote "inside job." She claims that foreign aircraft have followed Erica Kirk around this country and that Turning Point has lied about this happening.
* She accused us of lying about Charlie wanting Erika to take over for him if he died. She has suggested Charlie’s security team intentionally denied him first aid after the shooting to ensure that he died.
* She has raised suspicions about the head of our technical team because he took an SD card out of a camera.
* She spread absurd claims that Tyler Bowyer, who we just had on this show, sexually abuses male interns.
* She suggests that TPUSA faith-affiliated pastors like theologian Frank Turek, who we'll have on in a moment, and Pastor Rob McCoy are part of a "military infiltration" of Turning Point, either because they are veterans or because they have family members who are.
* Even if not everyone has been named specifically, though, Candace has effectively tarred everyone here with complicity in Charlie’s death by repeatedly saying he was quote "betrayed" by, quote, "everyone." She has said Charlie’s murder "had to be approved by Charlie’s friends" and then suggested those friends might have her murdered too for, quote, "knowing the truth."
* She has made claims of financial impropriety and fraud at Turning Point, adding up into the millions of dollars, which again is not true. Charlie made sure the organization was audited by a third party every year. He personally reviewed and signed off on every expense report and literally every single bill paid by the organization down to a single United States dollar. We have never missed a 990 deadline.
Candace has made other stranger allegations involving the French paratroopers and maroon shirts, Egyptian Air Force planes flying out of Provo, Utah, and potential underground assassins traveling through unseen tunnels. At one point early November, she started wildly throwing suspicion on members of Utah Valley's soccer team for wearing hoodies. I could go on. There is always something new coming up. And none ever pans out because, from the start, there has been nothing there. The attacks and allegations from Candace are either lies or they are innuendos thrown around with a total reckless disregard for the truth so that Candace can manipulate and string along an audience of people who don’t realize they are being played. Instead of being able to grieve properly after one of the most heinous murders in American history, a murder many of us had to witness, my friends have had to endure harassment from people who have gotten whipped up by what Candace is saying.
In fact, I would say we have suffered more harassment from these people than we have from Antifa supporters who overtly celebrate Charlie’s murder. And just like a lot of those Antifa members, many of the people take this delight in how gross and unpleasant they can be. What our friends have had to endure is not funny, and it's not insignificant. It is evil. I have seen it. For months, we have received hundreds—thousands, I suspect—emails and calls asking us to respond. People want us to invite Candace on the show. But for a long time, our approach was to say nothing. We did that for several reasons. First, we thought that her prevarications were so absurd nobody would believe them. We shouldn’t have to answer questions about secret tunnels or Egyptian airforce planes. That sort of thing, it is beneath contempt to respond to.
The second reason we said so little, though, is because there was a good rule of thumb which Charlie followed: Do not feed the trolls. Focus on the mission: reviving America, uplifting young people, making heaven crowded. Don’t give air to people who want to tear you down and sow discord. Lastly, we didn’t respond because Charlie always viewed Candace as a friend, and we were holding out hope that she would return the friendship. But a week from now, it’s going to be three months since Charlie’s murder. Candace has not changed her behavior. She continues to spread falsehoods about Charlie’s friends and continues to concoct new ones about new people. She's using these false hits to enrich herself while dividing the conservative movement at an absolutely critical time for this country. And far too often, we here have heard from ordinary people who loved Charlie and who Charlie loved so much in return. These people have expressed the worry that we are staying silent out of cowardice or as some sort of tacit admission that some of the attacks are true. Neither is the case.
Our silence has never been and it will never be equal to complacency or approval. Still, we decided Charlie would not allow this to go on. Charlie was not a coward. Charlie was a fighter. Charlie would not allow someone to spread lies about the people closest to him with impunity. And he would feel ashamed if other people were stepping up to defend his friends while he never did so himself .Candace has mentioned several times that the ball is in our court.
So here’s what is going to happen: In the near future, there will be a live stream here in Phoenix where we address in clear and comprehensive way the claims and accusations—the false accusations—that have been made against Charlie’s family, friends, and the people at Turning Point. We plan to walk you through everything carefully and thoroughly. If Candace was available, we would sincerely welcome her participation in that livestream, in our studio here in Phoenix. At this point, we believe the ball is back in her court. Our motivation for doing this is not out of any obligation to Candace. It is about honoring Charlie. We feel a deep responsibility to protect his legacy and the truth. I feel that I owe Charlie everything in my life. I feel it immensely. And that is why we feel compelled to speak clearly now. We will have more on this in the near future.
