'Dead in the water': Ex-MAGA influencer eviscerates final hopes for dying right-wing group
U.S. President Donald Trump embraces Erika Kirk, during a memorial service for her husband, slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, at State Farm Stadium in Arizona, U.S., September 21, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

A former MAGA influencer sounded the death knell for a prominent right-wing group that she says is now "a disaster."

On a recent episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, Ashley St. Clair wrote off the youth conservative organization Turning Point USA as it tries to carry on without its slain founder, Charlie Kirk.

"Turning Point is dead in the water," St. Clair said. "I think it's a disaster, I really do."

Host Joanna Coles had asked St. Clair what she thinks of the organization that Kirk built, now nearly a year after his assassination.

"Everyone doing these things in the name of Charlie to push this agenda, I think, has been horrific," St. Clair said, while reflecting on the memorial service for Kirk. She remembered a speech by top Trump White House aide Stephen Miller that put her off.

"If you go back to things like Stephen Miller's speech at that memorial, it was horrific," St. Clair said. "It was akin to what you would hear from Nazis. It was awful what they used that memorial for."

Coles also asked St. Clair to evaluate how Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, has done in "carrying on Charlie's mantle."

"I think she should take some time with the kids," St. Clair said. "It's a very difficult position to be in when you're grieving, and you're raising children, to now be the public face of this. I think she needs to take time off."

Before Kirk's death, St. Clair separated herself from Turning Point USA and recalled a "public scuffle with Charlie over birth control because he's like, 'birth control is black tar heroin.'" According to St. Clair, "there was a shift" in Kirk's views on women that she didn't like.

St. Clair also weighed in on questions and theories surrounding Kirk's assassination, saying, "I do think there are more questions that should be asked about the investigation about how Charlie died, about how certain things were conducted. I think those are important questions to ask."