On Sept. 10, 2025 — just 75 days ago — Charlie Kirk escaped “the surly bonds of Earth” when an assassin’s bullet pierced his neck and ended his 31-year-old life, transforming Mrs. Erika Kirk from wife to widow to avenging angel.
The evildoers responsible for my husband’s assassination have no idea what they have done. They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and of God’s merciful love.
If you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world. You have no idea. You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry!
Initially, her words united the MAGA movement. At Charlie Kirk’s memorial, Ben Shapiro made peace with his rival, Tucker Carlson; Elon Musk buried the hatchet with Donald Trump.
There seemed to be a consensus: The left is coming to kill us, and no matter our disagreements over policies, personalities, or political priorities, MAGA needs to work together.
No more infighting. What unites us is vastly more important than whatever divides us.
Let’s do it for Charlie.
And, very briefly, MAGA reunited. Very briefly, the America First movement mourned together, wept together, and joined hands to eulogize the life of an extraordinary young man.
At the time, it seemed that Charlie Kirk’s voice had somehow grown louder: Instead of silencing him, he now thundered from the heavens — stronger and bolder than ever before. No longer shackled to this temporary world, Kirk’s voice, dreams, and spirit soared. The same MAGA movement that heeded Charlie in life continued to follow him in death.
Let’s do it for Charlie.
Alas, 75 days is an eternity in politics. So much can change.
And not always for the better.
Because today, the MAGA and/or America First movement is in a dramatically different place. We’re not united anymore. It’s not PR hype or media lies; the faultlines are real.
We’ve splintered into factions.
There’s a rebellion underway to redefine what MAGA means — and what it represents.
From Salon (today): “Charlie Kirk’s death is tearing MAGA apart”
Far from unifying the MAGA movement, Kirk’s death opened the door to increasingly ugly infighting, as various right-wing influencers vie to fill the power vacuum left by the TPUSA leader. Conservative media figures like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro have been sniping at each other online, flinging accusations of dark conspiracies and anti-semitism, some of which even appear to be true. The immediate cause of the strife is a growing divide over U.S. support for Israel…
[…]
…[Kirk] was powerful enough within MAGA to keep a lid on the burgeoning desire that exists in some circles to embrace overt anti-semitism and even Nazi sympathies. He was the frequent hate target of Nick Fuentes, a Hitler-praising far-right influencer with an alarmingly large following, who viewed Kirk as a major obstacle to his schemes to remake MAGA in his own proudly fascist image. Turns out he was right about that; now that Kirk’s gone, Fuentes’ star is rising. Last month, he sat down for a tongue bath of an interview with Carlson, which the former Fox News host justified by bluntly declaring Fuentes’ popularity demanded it. That led to Shapiro and GOP Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, among others, to openly condemn Carlson. Shapiro dubbed Carlson “the most virulent super-spreader of vile ideas in America.”
As we discussed last week, the Achilles’ heel of the MAGA movement is the vagueness of what “America First” means:
To some, it’s a synonym for neo-isolationism. To others, it’s the exact opposite: It’s aggressively engaging with the world, but doing so on our own terms, prioritizing our national interests.
(Or, perhaps, it’s whatever Donald Trump says it is, because he’s the leader, founder, and public face of the movement.)
Since “America First” is more a destination than an ideology, it’s relatively easy to sow the seeds of discord. If it were an ideology — like, say, traditional conservatism — policy disagreements would be minimal, and identifying apostates far easier.
But it’s not an ideology. “America First” is both an attitude and an objective. It’s less about process and more about deliverables, because the ultimate litmus test of “America First” policies is “America First” results.
Period, end of story.
Either the ends justify the means, or it was all a big waste of time.
This is perfect for influencers because they can’t be held accountable for policies that haven’t been enacted yet. All they’ve gotta do is insist their ideas will lead to a glorious “America First” outcome, and whenever they’re proven wrong, they memory-hole their mistake and pivot to something else.
That’s what Tucker Carlson did with Iran:
It’s worth pointing out that a strike on the Iranian nuclear sites will almost certainly result in thousands of American deaths at bases throughout the Middle East, and cost the United States tens of billions of dollars. The cost of future acts of terrorIsm on American soil may…
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 17, 2025
And it’s quickly becoming an existential problem, because the neo-isolationists — who traffic heavily in antisemitism — have effectively mimicked MAGA’s id. They “sound” enough like MAGA to win over adherents.
Like it or not, their side is growing — and traditional MAGA is shrinking.
Shapiro isn’t just facing tension with Carlson. He’s also competing with [Candace] Owens, his former Daily Wire employee, whose open flirtation with anti-semitism eventually forced him to fire her last year. She struck out on her own and has been building her audience, rapidly surpassing Shapiro in podcast rankings. In the past month, she’s garnered over twice the YouTube views as Shapiro, who has been losing viewers at a steady pace in recent weeks.
The key to Owens’ success seems to be the very anti-semitism that got her fired from the Daily Wire. She’s been fueling, in her usual oblique “just asking questions” fashion, an elaborate conspiracy theory suggesting that the Israeli government orchestrated Kirk’s murder to keep him from speaking out against the war in Gaza. She’s also been asking pointed questions that suggest Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, was complicit. While Owens mostly sticks to raised eyebrows and claims that something isn’t adding up with the official story — which is that a lone gunman shot Kirk for still somewhat obscure reasons — plenty of far-right people online are openly declaring that it was a Jewish conspiracy. [emphasis added]
Following the lead of Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, I’d like to “just ask questions” too. Starting with:
Why haven’t the neo-isolationists condemned the war guarantee that Donald Trump gave to Qatar?
From the White House (Sept. 29, 2025):
(a) The United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical infrastructure of the State of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States.
(b) In the event of such an attack, the United States shall take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability.
(c) The Secretary of War, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence, shall maintain joint contingency planning with the State of Qatar to ensure a rapid and coordinated response to any foreign aggression against the State of Qatar.
For all the yapping Tucker Carlson (et. al.) have made of hating war, loving peace, being a good Christian, and railing against the monstrosity of “forever wars” in the Middle East, you’d think giving Qatar an ironclad war guarantee would be kinda-sorta important.
Because there’s absolutely NOTHING in Qatar worthy of ANY American blood.
But for some oddball reason, Tucker Carlson isn’t just giving Qatar a pass (“I’ve actually been to Qatar. It’s awesome!”); he’s doubling down in FAVOR of Qatar, calling it “one of the U.S.’s closest allies in the world:
Tucker Carlson calls Qatar “one of the US’s closest ally in the world” pic.twitter.com/F1WKd7QZBt
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 19, 2025
Tucker insists he’s not a Nazi or an antisemite; he just agrees with Nazis and antisemites whenever they talk about Israel and/or the evil of “Jewish money”:
Tucker Carlson says people who oppose Nick Fuentes can only smear him but never say he is wrong.
Follow: @AFpost
— AF Post (@AFpost) November 23, 2025
…[Nick Fuentes’] analysis, which is actually smart, and in a lot of cases true, no one’s even attempted to rebut it. 95% — or whatever the number is — of members of congress take AIPAC money? I mean, how is that good? “Shut up, Nazi!” So, if that’s your only defense, you’ve lost.
Ironically, Qatari and Saudi money vastly exceeds Israeli and/or “Jewish money.” It’s not even close!
AIPAC — the American Israel Affairs Committee — isn’t one of the top 15 U.S. donors. (AIPAC ranks 18 in contributions, 21 in outside spending, and 191 in lobbying.)
Meanwhile, a pair of Sunni Muslim nations, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are spending BILLIONS MORE in hard money, soft money, and off-the-books political donations. It’s probably the most expensive government-run PR campaign in world history.
As we detailed in early October:
From bribing American comedians into saying nice things about them (and firing the ones who don’t) to golf to soccer to boxing to even WrestleMania, the total size of this Saudi/Qatar PR/influence-buying campaign is unknowable, because
bribes“payments” to athletes, influencers, private companies, sports leagues, and others cannot always be traced.All we know for sure is that they’re spending OBSCENE amounts of money, purchasing SLEWS of powerful, wealthy athletes, celebrities, comedians, and “influencers” to do their bidding.
And they’re not doing it out of the goodness of their heart. They’re expecting something in return — because that’s what transactional relationships are all about!
Included in their spending spree: conservative media — and conservative pundits.
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the Royal Family of Qatar spent $50 million on Newsmax. And since Trump retook office in 2024, the influence of Sunni money on conservative media has increased fivefold, per the Washington Examiner’s reporting.
And that’s not all:
Perhaps Qatar’s biggest victory in its post-election right-wing media campaign thus far was securing an interview between Tucker Carlson and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in March. The interview, which has raked up nearly six million views across X and YouTube, was friendly, with Carlson praising the country.
Qatar paid top dollar to ensure this interview took place. Foreign Agents Registration Act records show that Lumen8 Advisors LLC, a legal consulting company for which very little public information is available, helped facilitate between Carlson and the Qatari dignitary. The Embassy of the State of Qatar pays Lumen8 Advisors $180,000 per month “to provide media and communication coaching and consulting services.” [emphasis added]
Furthermore, there’s ample evidence that Tucker Carlson was explicitly issued Qatar-approved talking points on Iran.
But for some weird reason, he never disclosed this to his audience:
💥 FARA filing from Qatar itself reveals that Qatar paid to arrange Tucker Carlson’s interview with its Prime Minister on the topic of war with Iran, including pre-approved talking points on Iran. pic.twitter.com/aQisqzgvCl
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) July 6, 2025
So here we are: Just 75 days after Charlie Kirk was martyred, the MAGA movement is being savaged from the inside out, with the neo-isolationists leading the charge against Israel and/or “the Jews” — yet staying oddly silent over Qatar.
To quote Tucker Carlson: “Why is that?”
For whatever reason, Tucker’s steadfast opposition to “forever wars” in the Middle East dissipated when it came to the Qataris. (Not too many Jews in Qatar, I suppose.)
Why, it almost seems like the neo-isolationists aren’t serious. They just want power.
That’s the existential danger to MAGA: The neo-isolationists are now locking arms with the neo-Nazis, in order to stage a hostile takeover of the MAGA movement. They’ve declared war on the rest of us.
They’re still a minority — but a growing minority.
But the good news is, as quickly as the neo-isolationists and the neo-Nazis coalesced, they could just as quickly separate again. Both movements define themselves via contrarianism; both movements are angling for long-term supremacy.
Neither will cede an inch to the other. It’s an alliance of convenience… and nothing more.
And already, Nick Fuentes is turning the screws on Tucker Carlson:
Even Nick Fuentes is lashing out at Tucker now, and he has a point. Tucker and Nick had a jovial dinner and then chatted together, like ideological soulmates, and then Tucker turns around and calls him an anti-Semite! Nick has come to see Tucker is not a straight shooter. pic.twitter.com/LjANAP2itu
— Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) November 23, 2025
What a strange 75 days it’s been.
It’ll get weirder before it gets better.
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