Candace Owens acknowledged she has no direct evidence that Israel was behind the assassination of Charlie Kirk during a nationally streamed debate with online debater Andrew Wilson, even as she laid out a theory she says points to an “Israeli angle” in the case.
Pressed repeatedly by Mr. Wilson, who hosts the debate show “The Crucible,” on whether she could back up months of insinuations about Israeli involvement, Ms. Owens said, “Well, I couldn’t say Israel was on the ground and shot and killed Charlie Kirk.” She said she was instead trying to establish a motive, pointing to Mr. Kirk’s private complaints about pro-Israel donors in the weeks before his death and what she described as unusual behavior from Israeli officials afterward.
Mr. Wilson, who has offered Ms. Owens as much as $300,000 to defend her claims publicly, asked her directly: “Do you have any positive evidence whatsoever that Israel killed Charlie Kirk?” Ms. Owens did not answer with evidence. Instead, she repeated an unsubstantiated claim she first made in November 2025 — that 12 Israeli-registered cellphones were detected near the shooting scene at Utah Valley University — and called the broader chain of events “a conspiracy building.” No law enforcement agency has confirmed that claim, and it did not originate with any named investigator; Ms. Owens has attributed her broader suspicions in the case to unnamed “sources” and Turning Point USA insiders.
Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, who resigned his post in March amid a dispute over the Iran war, has separately suggested — without confirming the phone claim or naming a country outright — that Mr. Kirk’s death deserved further scrutiny. “It’s a data point that we need to look into,” he told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson in March. Mr. Kent is under FBI investigation over the alleged leaking of classified material, a matter that predates his resignation.
The Israel angle first surfaced publicly last September, when Ms. Owens claimed hedge fund manager Bill Ackman had staged an “intervention” pressuring Mr. Kirk over his stance on Israel at a Hamptons gathering weeks before his death — an account Mr. Ackman and other attendees have disputed.
Mr. Kirk’s widow, Erika, publicly urged Ms. Owens to stop spreading the theories, telling her in a Dec. 10, 2025, Fox News appearance, “Stop. That’s it. That’s all I have to say.”
The two women met privately five days later for a four-and-a-half-hour conversation both later called “productive.” Ms. Owens continued promoting her theories afterward, telling her podcast audience she still did not believe the charged suspect acted alone.
Tyler Robinson, 23, remains the sole suspect charged with aggravated murder in Mr. Kirk’s Sept. 10, 2025, killing at Utah Valley University. No law enforcement agency or prosecutor has presented evidence of foreign involvement in the case.
Wednesday’s exchange took place during a livestreamed debate moderated by podcaster Patrick Bet-David, capping nearly a year of public sparring between Ms. Owens and Mr. Wilson over whether the official account of Kirk’s death is complete.
This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times’ AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times’ original reporting, wire services, and/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.
