Ex-Fox News star ramping up a 'fight for the soul' of MAGA

At AmericaFest 2025 — Turning Point USA's first convention since the fatal September 10 shooting of co-founder Charlie Kirk — right-wing media figures were at each other's throats. The Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro, during his speech, argued that the far-right conspiracy theorists speaking at the event were bad for the conservative movement — including "War Room" host Steve Bannon, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and someone he once employed: Candace Owens.

Shapiro fired Owens from the Daily Wire in response to comments on Israel he considered antisemitic, and Owens is now having a bitter feud with Kirk's widow and TPUSA's current leader, Erika Kirk. Owens is implying, without evidence, that Erika Kirk and the Israeli government were somehow involved in Charlie Kirk's murder. Meanwhile, Shapiro is angry with podcaster and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly for defending Owens during her AmericaFest 2025 speech.

In an article published on Christmas Eve Day 2025, Salon's Sophia Tesfaye argues that the tensions on display at AmericaFest underscore competing visions of where the GOP and the MAGA movement goes from here.

"The reality is that this isn't just a petty media feud; it's a proxy fight for the soul of the Republican Party, specifically the JD Vance-led wing that views traditional alliances — particularly with Israel — as a burden," Tesfaye explains. "Kelly has calculated that the 'young Republicans' are turning, and she is desperate to lead the charge in the broader realignment of American conservatism away from Reaganite internationalism toward a paranoid nationalism. In that context, antisemitism is not a bug — it is a feature for those who see 'globalism' as a convenient enemy."

Tesfaye emphasizes that Kelly is avoiding overt criticism of Owens because she doesn't want to offend the MAGA conspiracy theorists who voraciously consume right-wing media.

"Kelly has insisted she does not believe Israel had anything to do with Kirk's murder," the Salon journalist observes. "She wants to be seen as principled and reasonable without ever taking a stand that would alienate a lucrative audience segment. A performer always looking for an audience, Kelly has found one among people who believe that every tragedy is a 'false flag.' She is now where Tucker Carlson was years ago…. Kelly likely is refraining from criticizing (Carlson and Owens) because she knows she is just a few months away from occupying their same radicalized space."

Tesfaye continues, "The grift requires constant movement further right to maintain relevance, always finding new enemies to attack, always positioning yourself as the victim of some imaginary cancellation…. All the while, as Kelly herself has repeatedly pointed out, her podcast downloads are on the rise. She's found her audience, and now, she is feeding them what they want to hear, consequences be damned."

Sophia Tesfaye's full article for Salon is available at this link.