Far-right influencer Candace Owens escalated the America First backlash to Saturday’s joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, posting that she “stand[s] against Israel” while reviving a controversial claim that Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was killed “for this war.”
The remarks came hours after US President Donald Trump announced the US had begun “major combat operations in Iran,” as Washington and Jerusalem opened a new phase of direct confrontation with Tehran. In his video address, Trump urged Iranians to “take over your government,” framing the campaign in regime-change terms.
In her post on X/Twitter, Owens wrote, “In honor of Charlie, I STAND AGAINST ISRAEL,” tying the Iran campaign to Kirk’s late-2025 assassination and alleging he was “MURDERED… for this war.”
The claim landed in an already combustible online environment where Kirk’s death has repeatedly drawn conspiracy theories, including claims that were described at the time as baseless by major outlets covering the fallout around leaked messages and rival narratives inside the Right.
Owens’s post also sharpened a widening split inside the MAGA ecosystem over foreign policy, with anti-interventionist influencers and some lawmakers depicting the Iran strikes as a replay of Iraq-era regime change.
'America First' pushback
The pushback has largely centered on three themes: constitutional authority, fear of escalation into a prolonged regional war, and anger that Trump’s “America First” brand was being redirected toward Middle East intervention.
A key accelerant for that intra-MAGA fight was a blunt private assessment from Tucker Carlson that was made public by ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl. Karl reported that Carlson texted him that the attack was “absolutely disgusting and evil,” adding it would “shuffle the deck” of the MAGA movement “in a profound way.”
On Capitol Hill, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) posted: “I am opposed to this War. This is not ‘America First,’” and said he would work with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) to force a War Powers vote once Congress reconvened. The War Powers push gained additional momentum across party lines as lawmakers demanded a clearer legal basis and a defined end state for the operation.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had broken with Trump in recent months, also attacked the decision in a long statement circulated online. Greene wrote that it felt like the “worst betrayal,” and portrayed the operation as “a war with Iran on behalf of Israel,” warning it could lock the US into another foreign conflict with unpredictable consequences.
The criticism from Owens, Carlson, Massie, and Greene stood in contrast to more hawkish Republicans and pro-intervention conservatives who argued that striking Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure was necessary. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham praised the action as justified, while other GOP leaders signaled support and awaited administration briefings.
For now, the louder fight has played out online, where Owens’s post became a flashpoint because it fused the Iran debate with the most emotionally charged trauma inside the movement: Kirk’s killing and the arguments over who “owns” his legacy. Previous reporting around that episode warned that unfounded allegations could put innocent people at risk and further fracture the coalition.
With Iran already launching retaliation across the region, the administration faced pressure to explain objectives, limits, and what would qualify as success. Meanwhile, the America First civil war over intervention, Israel, and the meaning of MAGA looked set to intensify as the military operation continued into the night.