Noticeably absent from the Turning Point USA event in Georgia headlined by Vice President JD Vance was Erika Kirk, the widow of slain group founder Charlie Kirk — and she took to X on Tuesday to allege she had to back out due to security threats.
"I was so looking forward to tonight’s event at the @universityofga with our Vice President @JDVance, but after all our family has been through, I take my security team’s recommendations extremely seriously," she wrote. "Thank you to our amazing Georgia chapter for your support. God bless you all!"
A number of MAGA accounts expressed sympathy for her and rage at whoever was causing the security threat — but a large contingent also didn't believe her, headed up by fellow far-right influencer Candace Owens, who has for months pushed conspiracy theories that Erika Kirk may have had inside involvement in her husband's murder.
"Stop. This is exhausting," wrote Owens. "You pulled out because of bad ticket sales. For the same reason TPFaith had to 'reschedule' the Pastor’s Summit and various other events quietly."
"People don’t believe you and don’t line up for you because you struggle to tell the truth about even the most basic facts," she continued. "Where is the video of Charlie appointing you as CEO weeks before his death? The Secret Service sits above your security team. Were there actually a viable threat, the Vice President would not have continued the event. Your closest threat is the [expletive] Public Relations team you hired that continues to operate under the delusion that they are smarter than the public. They aren’t."
Owens wasn't alone, as a few other far-right accounts pushed their own skepticism.
"You take the recommendations of the security team that got your husband killed seriously?" wrote far-right account "Sword Truth."
"VP Vance said very clearly: Secret Service determined there was no credible threat. He said YOU felt insecure," wrote comedian, conspiracy theorist, and self-proclaimed "Christ-minded American Nationalist" Tommy Borum. "Your own vanity and insecurity, with your damaged ego, is why you didn't show up. You BALKED because you are caught in multiple lies that the public has connected."