December 28, 2025
Christmas Ends the Right’s Messy Week
By Clarice Feldman
Charlie Kirk was a one-off, it seems. His assassination and the turning over of TPUSA to his wife Erika may prove that his legacy handoff is more than she is able to effectively manage. So much of what I saw at this week’s Am Fest triggered by Tucker Carlson (and Jack Posobiec’s cosplaying Jesus Christ Superstar while posting with a disgusting anti-Semite) undercuts -- indeed denigrates -- what Charlie and TPUSA once stood for. While Vice President J.D. Vance used his opportunity there to respond to groyper Nick Fuentes’ attacks on his charming wife Usha, he missed his opportunity to criticize Carlson, whose promotion of this disgusting man made him more prominent than he ever was or would be without the podcaster’s reach. (Maybe, because once upon a time Carlson’s favorable coverage was significant in putting Vance into the vice president’s office and he feels loyal to Tucker.)
This kind of divisive behavior by ambitious people during a leadership void is far from unusual. My own feeling is that TPUSA will continue on at college campuses but with far fewer fireworks than we saw at AmFest. Still, without more effective leadership at the top, its national reach will be far more limited. I think Candace Owens finally has limited her appeal to the insane, and Megyn Kelly to those lacking sense, sensibility, and memories longer than a nanosecond. Carlson, with his love notes to Qatar, a major funder of terrorism, is I think soon heading for a flameout.
The division he inspired at TPUSA has also affected the once formidable think tank, Heritage, whose head, Kevin Roberts, failed to take on Carlson regarding things that matter to the strongest supporters of the organization. Many donors and board members have fled, and this week, the staff departures reached DefCon levels. Over a dozen staffers and three board members left the organization -- and they were significant contributors to its work. Leadership from its legal, economic and data teams moved over to another conservative foundation headed by Mike Pence, Advancing American Freedom (AAF).
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/12/christmas_ends_the_right_s_messy_week.html
