'Guilty of cowardice!' Big-name Trump allies catch heat at right-wing 'Super Bowl'

Some high-profile allies of President Donald Trump were called out on Thursday for "casting aspersions" about several right-wing figures during an event dubbed the "Super Bowl" for young Republicans.

Ben Shapiro, editor emeritus at The Daily Wire, spoke on Thursday during Day One of Turning Point USA's AmericaFirst Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. During his speech, he called out Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and other right-wing media figures for spreading conspiracy theories about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who founded TPUSA, and his wife, Erika, the organization's current CEO.

"If Candace Owens decides to spend every day since the murder of Charlie Kirk casting aspersion at TPUSA, and the people who work at TPUSA ... and yes, at Erika Kirk ... to spew absolutely baseless trash implicating everyone from French intelligence to Mossad to members of TPUSA in a coverup of Charlie's murder, then we people who have a microphone, have a moral obligation to call that out by name," Shapiro said.

"Erika Kirk and others should never have been put in a position to defend against such specious and evil attacks, particularly in a time of mourning," he continued. "And the people who refuse to condemn Candace's truly vicious attacks, some of whom are speaking here, and are guilty of cowardice!"

Owens hit back at the callout with a conspiracy-laden post on X.

"Every time Ben speaks I feel more certain Israel is involved in 9/10z," she wrote. "He’s just way too invested in Charlie’s murder. He never liked Charlie and he’s now suddenly pretending he had a duty to defend his legacy. Ben only cares about Israel’s interests. So Israel is involved."

Of Bannon, Shapiro blasted, "When Steve Bannon, for example, accuses his foreign-policy opponents of loyalty to a foreign country, he is not actually making an argument based in evidence, he's simply maligning people he disagrees with — which is indeed par for the course from a man who was a PR flack for Jeffrey Epstein."

"Check the record," he added.