Charlie Kirk's assassination last September sparked conservative hopes that his killing would spark a unifying moment for the conservative Christian movement he built — but instead the opposite has happened.
As the prosecution of accused killer Tyler Robinson proceeds toward trial, the case has become less a rallying point than a business opportunity, and the fracture lines within MAGA have only widened as right-wing influencers chase clout and clicks, reported Slate.
"The MAGA movement should know by now that these conspiracy theories were inevitable," wrote Slate's Molly Olmstead. "For one, the Kirk killing was destined to become tied up with the internet’s passion for true crime. On YouTube, the videos about Kirk aren’t only by journalists and political actors. Some are by amateur forensic analysts and would-be internet sleuths with podcast names like The Murder Men that dissect the killing as if it’s a 1980s cold case."
At the center of the divide is Candace Owens — once aligned with Kirk's Turning Point USA and now estranged from both the organization and President Donald Trump — who has pushed unsubstantiated theories suggesting Robinson didn't act alone, at times implicating Israel and even Kirk's own widow, Erika, in an alleged cover-up.
Despite lacking evidence, her claims carry weight because of her massive following — commanding enough attention that mainstream conservative outlets like Fox News, The Daily Wire and National Review have felt compelled to publicly rebut her.
The Kirk case has merged with true-crime internet culture, drawing amateur "investigators" and podcasters eager to capitalize on engagement. Because Owens gave the conspiracy theories a veneer of legitimacy, smaller creators have used the resulting "debate" as cover to churn out content for views — regardless of whether they add anything new.
One creator reportedly pulled in over 500,000 views on a single stream about the case, dwarfing his usual audience, while others camped outside the courthouse for audience seats.
This dynamic has infuriated more establishment MAGA figures, who see Robinson as a clear-cut lone actor and worry that conspiracy theories undercut their broader argument Trump tries to make political violence come from the left.
Turning Point-aligned voices and outlets like The Daily Wire have accused Owens and her allies of exploiting Kirk's death for profit and attention. Owens' camp has fired back just as aggressively, with allies accusing mainstream conservative media of dishonesty and bad faith.
Attempts to redirect anger — toward the cost of Robinson's defense or the length of proceedings — haven't gained real traction, in part because death-penalty cases typically take longer by design.
Underlying all of this is a credibility problem, as a movement that has embraced conspiracy theories broadly now struggles to convincingly dismiss one specific theory. Even Donald Trump Jr., pushing back against the conspiracy narrative, felt compelled to first establish his own skeptic credentials before defending the official account.
"The infighting within MAGA isn’t new," Olmstead wrote. "The incentives to create content about that infighting aren’t new, either. But perhaps nothing before has made it so clear as the Kirk conspiracy theories that no one has narrative control on the right. And as was indicated by this hearing — a teaser for a potentially much bigger event — it’s likely only going to get worse for the MAGA movement."
