Turning Point USA purges staff as insiders spread wild Charlie Kirk theories: report
Turning Point USA has allegedly been purging staffers who bought into conspiracy theories about co-founder Charlie Kirk's assassination.
Aubrey Laitsch, a communications staffer for the right-wing activist group, posted a video claiming that she was called into a meeting last month and summarily fired. The Bulwark reported that she's not the only staffer cut loose for their apparent belief that Turning Point USA was involved in Kirk's murder.
“I just have a gut feeling that I was terminated from Turning Point because I am questioning the narrative of what happened to my role model and CEO, Charlie Kirk, on the day of his assassination,” Laitsch said in the video.
Conspiracy theories about the 31-year-old Kirk's assassination have grown in popularity on the right after influencer Candace Owens, a former TPUSA employee, spread claims that his killing was an inside job. Laitsch said she's not the only employee who buys into the idea.
"It’s hard to say if these firings are being driven by the (very sensible) disapproval of staff talking about their company killing its founder, or paranoia about Owens having credible information about internal TPUSA activities — or both," The Bulwark reported.
"But clearly, someone within the organization is leaking to Owens. Just this year, the highly controversial podcaster posted videos of Erika Kirk on internal videochats in the wake of Kirk’s assassination that were interpreted on the online right as insufficiently mournful."
Owens was served a cease-and-desist order from TPUSA last month, but she continues to suggest on her YouTube show that Kirk's 37-year-old widow, who took over the group after his fatal shooting, was involved in his death.
"On her Tuesday show, Owens quipped that, if Erika Kirk had been killed instead of Charlie — and if Charlie then acted as Erika Kirk is acting now in the wake of his assassination — he would be on trial for his wife’s murder," The Bulwark reported.