4 key takeaways from TPUSA's cease and desist letter, Candace Owens' response

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, January 27, 2026

2. Candace Owens insists TPUSA is engaged in a 'cover-up'

During the Jan. 21 episode of her podcast, Candace Owens read a portion of the cease and desist letter. After reading parts of the letter aloud to her audience, Owens surmised that TPUSA is attempting to cover something up. 

“So, because Turning Point USA is lying, it is a totally fair and reasonable assessment that they are engaged in a cover-up,” Owens asserted.

“Now, are they protecting one another [from] the mistakes that they made? Are they trying to protect the organization because they know there are some bad eggs?” she added. 

“Loyalty to one another because they knew each other, you know, going back a decade. Blackmail again? Who knows? I can't tell you why, but I can say that when people lie, it's because they're engaged in a cover-up. And that uh, is something I'm going to stick by.” 

Last month, Erika Kirk, who became TPUSA’s CEO after her husband was murdered, asked Owens and others to stop spreading conspiracy theories during a CBS town hall hosted by Bari Weiss.

Erika Kirk and Owens subsequently sat down for a meeting in Nashville, which the latter referred to as “productive.” 

During a podcast episode on Jan. 22, Owens responded to a question from a viewer who asked if she would make a series about Erika Kirk, like the one she made about France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron.

“Well, I do want to do, perhaps not an entire series, but a couple of episodes dedicated to that, which we have been working on in the background to give everybody something solid,” Owens said. “There's a lot of, like I said, innuendo online. Some things that are true, some things that are not true.” 

“But I do think given the size and scale of this company, the public does deserve — and since the media is never going to do it ... the mainstream media apparatus is never going to do it — something that is solid and backed by facts and documents that tells you about who this new ... CEO is, because I think it's fair to say she is not Charlie. I can’t imagine Charlie would have allowed that to happen.”