Guess who donated $1M to Turning Point?
It’s clear who will not be ascending to the MAGAverse throne.
A theory that ended last week on the D-list — not to trigger anyone by invoking Kathy Griffin — is this week’s biggest bet. And that means now is a good time to make sure everyone knows that Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro had the falling out of the century in 2024 and have been subtweeting each other on various platforms to their massive, somewhat divorced audiences ever since. There’s a lot of weird webs we’ll uncover as we get further along in this intended-to-be-fun-but-has-been-admittedly-very-dark affair.
So yes, you’ll get Candace and Ben (albeit separately) in this edition, plus: Libs of Tiktok, Matt Walsh, JD Vance, and Elon Musk forming the speech police. Plus Andrew Callaghan and Ken Klippenstein publishing investigations.
FROM THE RIGHT WING:
SHE’S STARTIN’: Candace Owens is walking the road to pin Charlie Kirk’s assassination on Israel to an audience of 6M on YouTube alone. She connects Netanyahu’s public mourning on Fox News to an “intervention” (or “threat”) staged by billionaire Bill Ackman in response to Kirk’s “change of heart” about Israel. Owens claims he was offered “a ton of money.” This is a big limb for her to go out on without the backing of most MAGA creators. Ackman responded in 1,000 words. And Kirk’s podcast producer denied there was any pressure in the meeting that did take place.
BEN-EFACTOR: That same producer tapped the Daily Wire guys to guest host. Of note: they made that $1M donation. Of greater note: the chat was lit up, telling Ben Shapiro to “fuck off” because “everyone knows he was involved in his death.” If he is vying to lead TPUSA, it’s clear he’d be roundly rejected. This two hour stream also made these things clear: There’s a lot of daylight between Walsh and Shapiro on where we go from here. Walsh continues to advocate for public executions. They want to collect a head on the Left, namedropping Hasan Piker and floating incitement charges.
ON THE SHORTLIST: The controversial liberal streamer Destiny went on Piers Morgan and refused to condemn the assassination until Trump tells everyone to calm down. It’s an unwatchable segment because everyone is level 10 yelling over each other, as usual. Jack Posobiec sat silently on the panel, then tweeted “this is how it went.” Now, there’s a coalescence around calling Destiny’s commentary “terrorism.” Elon Musk wants him to go to prison, floating that incitement charge as well:
EVERYONE’S FIRED: It’s like a Bonfire of the Calamities. The Right has gotten so many people fired in the past four days, I don’t even think it’s possible to have an accurate count. Libs of TikTok has demanded or successfully orchestrated the firing, suspension, or leave of almost 30 different people, most of whom work in higher education or county-level politics. And the almighty Catturd is thirsting for more. The Right’s next target? Looking like the United States Attorney General Pam Bondi.
FROM THE LEFT WING:
FRONT ROW REACTION: While news outlets called in their talking heads, Andrew Callaghan went out to look for the person sparring with Charlie Kirk when he was shot. IDK how, but Hunter Kozak brings an ultra-calming aura for someone who was so close to something so gory. BLM and pride flags hang behind him as he walks us through their debate, the statistical analysis of trans violence he wanted to bring, his discomfort with “righteous violence” from the Left, and the unbearable weight of being forced to reckon with your own humanity.
“One person with a bad idea, and your existence is out. That’s a lot to feel, and I felt it particularly strongly today.” — Hunter Kozak
DIGGING IN THE ARCHIVES: ‘This you?’ will always be the best dunk format around, even if I have to suspend my belief that people can change their minds momentarily. Zeteo founder Mehdi Hassan did some advanced searching this weekend pairing past defenses of free speech with current attacks on it from Matt Walsh, Don Jr., Ted Cruz, Ryan Fournier, and Breanna Morrello (deleted). Don’t worry y’all, he “can do this all day.”
DISCORD GETS KLIPPED: Ken Klippenstein published messages from Discord servers Tyler Robinson was allegedly a part of. Quick contextual throwback here: Klippenstein also published Luigi Mangione’s manifesto that the media also “refused to publish.” His sources dispute how much Robinson’s parents actually knew about him, his relationship with a trans roommate, and the leftward turn federal agents claim he had.
BETTER THAN (THIS) EZRA: Normally I wouldn’t discuss Ezra Klein here because the New York Times is legacy media all the way. But the Left has been furious with him since his piece last week praising Kirk for “practicing politics the right way.” He had Ben Shapiro on the show … and the Left is NOT happy. Bernie 2020 adviser David Sirota blames Klein for increasing MAGA’s exposure. Cam Kasky said he’s on a “generational run of awful takes.” And over on Bluesky … not looking good.
THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE:
QUITTING YOUR DAY JOB: I’m coming to understand that there is clear flexibility in a vice president’s schedule. Case in point: JD Vance spending two hours as the first guest host of the Charlie Kirk Show, where he celebrated the pressure Kirk put on the administration to ramp up deportations. The key feature here was letting the audience know that it’s not just conservative commentators pushing for leftist NGO investigations and RICO charges. The administration’s on it too.
UNFOLLOW THE LEADER: OMG remember the Democrats? Those crazy kids! What have they been up to as our country endures an existential crisis? Team Hakeem is focused on the important things — like shading two members of his own party who both sit on a ton of social capital right now. Perhaps he could use their insight after netting 800 views on his weekly press conference on YouTube.
PEACHY KEEN: Former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan (R) is now vying to be future Governor of Georgia Geoff Duncan (D). His posture: the attacks from Donald Trump that led to his ouster by his state party “is a badge of honor.”
LOOSE ENDS:
📝 Word I learned today: hagiography (one of those words I knew but couldn’t define)
2 : idealizing or idolizing biography — “I am very much entitled to challenge the hagiography and mythology that is so quickly congealing around him” (via Michael Tracy, Substack)
📰 Something you should read today: Half of young people plagued by loneliness, family problems — Axios
🕵️ Someone you should know today: Brilyn Hollyhand is a college freshman whose been growing in the MAGA content world since he launched his podcast at age 7. I interviewed him at the RNC in 2024 and am keeping tabs on his ascendance into wider name ID across college campuses. You heard it here first.
🥹 Something to make you smile today: I went to a meet-and-greet at the Bronx Zoo this weekend, featuring four surprise animals. Here they are in my beautiful collage. Shout out Peaches the Warthog. A real diva.
Disgusting such an antisemitic idiot like Candace Owens has so many followers. There is a lot of “details” about Tyler Robinson that aren’t adding up, but it seems pretty likely Charlie Kirk was killed by groypers because he wasn’t far right enough for their liking. The far right extremists largely dwarfs the far left when it comes to political violence in this country.