In any other year, under different circumstances, AmericaFest would be one big celebration for the Grand Old Party.
Last year, Turning Point USA’s annual convention served as a victory lap for Donald Trump, who’d won reelection in no small part thanks to the tens of thousands of students who make up TPUSA’s sprawling network of campus Republican organizations.
This year’s convention will feature a decidedly different tone — and higher stakes — following the shooting death of TPUSA’s leader and co-founder, Charlie Kirk, in September. The last few weeks have been particularly tumultuous for the Turning Point organization, which sits at the center of Republican infighting and conspiracy theories surrounding Kirk’s death.
But the show must go on. AmericaFest, beginning Thursday in Phoenix, Arizona, and running through Sunday, will feature an array of MAGA figureheads vying for time in front of Kirk’s audience — many of whom have been warring since his death over how it happened and who his natural heir might be.
The official program includes a laundry list of party officials, right-wing pundits, media celebrities and pastors. Many of them sit in Trump’s immediate orbit, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Donald Trump Jr., longtime Trump confidante Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro. They’ll speak broadly about Kirk’s legacy and host breakout discussions on issues important in the Trump-era GOP: The intersection of conservative and Christian values, the ongoing fight to rebuild American education in the party’s image, and the perceived and nebulous threat of liberalism and anti-fascism.
All eyes will be on Kirk’s widow Erika, who’s grappling not only with the death of her husband, but the MAGA movement and its penchant for building conspiracy theories around high-profile news cycles.
She has spent recent weeks on a press tour to combat a deluge of baseless claims — from the likes of far-right podcaster Candace Owens, Alex Jones, Carlson and Bannon — that the widely accepted account of Charlie Kirk’s killing might be suspicious or wholly fabricated.
Owens in particular has been a thorn in the side of Erika Kirk and TPUSA since Charlie was shot and killed at a speaking event in Utah, allegedly by 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. On her podcast Owens has offered, without evidence, an array of alternative suspects for the assassination, including the Israeli government, the French government, and unnamed members of TPUSA, upon whom she also lodged vague accusations of financial fraud (also without evidence). Robinson was arrested and charged with aggravated murder, among other counts, and authorities believe he acted alone.
In response to Owens, Turning Point officials scheduled a livestream event and invited the podcaster to join them for a debate earlier this week. The event fell apart, but on Monday, Owens and Erika Kirk opted to meet privately for what Owens described as a 4.5-hour conversation. Details are unclear, but the conversation doesn’t appear to have settled the drama — Owens said afterward that she remains unconvinced that Robinson is the primary suspect in Charlie Kirk’s killing.
“Everyone always has to think there’s more to the story. Well, sometimes there’s not,” Erika Kirk said in an interview with CBS News’ Bari Weiss. To Owens directly, she said: “Stop. That’s all I have to say. Stop.” Kirk’s death leaves a number of question marks for TPUSA, including who might fill his shoes in the podcasting and punditry space, where he garnered an audience of millions. Though Erika Kirk currently sits atop TPUSA as its CEO, her husband’s audience and podcasting empire remain very much up for grabs. Since September, “The Charlie Kirk Show” has seen a revolving door of Republican politicians and commentators vying for screen time, but none have emerged as a clear replacement for the charismatic talking head, let alone as a leader of a nationwide political youth movement. But the events at AmericaFest may narrow the field: meet-and-greets have been scheduled with far-right provocateurs who built substantial podcast followings of their own amid Trump’s rise to power, including Jack Posobiec, Alex Clark and Michael Knowles. AmericaFest will also feature a fair bit of peacocking from the GOP, which will have its first chance this weekend to impress TPUSA’s network of young voters since Kirk’s killing. Vice President JD Vance — who may have already secured TPUSA’s support for a presidential run in 2028, as Erika Kirk suggested — will speak on Sunday, his first real opportunity to pitch himself as a party leader to Kirk’s audience. Other 2026 political hopefuls will also have some stage time, including Vivek Ramaswamy, who announced a gubernatorial bid in Ohio, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s running for U.S. Senate, and Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, running for governor in his state.
Andy Campbell is a Senior Enterprise Editor for MS NOW Digital. He is also the author of "We Are Proud Boys: How a right-wing street gang ushered in a new era of American extremism." Recommended
