Conservatives clash at Turning Point USA conference over MAGA movement's direction [View all]

Source: AP

Updated 12:27 PM EST, December 19, 2025


PHOENIX (AP) — A simmering battle over the future of President Donald Trump’s political movement exploded on one of the right’s biggest stages Thursday, as prominent conservative influencers used Turning Point USA’s annual youth conference to attack each other and their competing visions. The feuding threatened to eclipse efforts to memorialize Charlie Kirk, the organization’s charismatic founder who was assassinated in September, even as participants insisted they were honoring the legacy of a unifying figure within the Republican Party.

First up was Ben Shapiro, who described Tucker Carlson and others as grifters and charlatans, guilty of misleading their audiences with falsehoods and conspiracy theories. Shapiro sharply criticized Carlson, a former Fox News host, for interviewing outspoken antisemite Nick Fuentes on his podcast, calling it “an act of moral imbecility.”

Barely an hour later, Carlson took the same stage and mocked Shapiro’s attempt to “deplatform and denounce” people who disagree with him. “I watched it,” he said. “I laughed.”

The raw bitterness on the opening night of the four-day conference reflected deep divisions over the meaning of “America First” and next steps for the “Make America Great Again” movement defined more by the force of Trump’s personality than loyalty to a particular ideological project.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/turning-point-charlie-kirk-americafest-c1ef8d3535191e58ce2aa731d242bebf