Turning Point USA’s first AmFest since Charlie Kirk’s death featured packed halls and sharp exchanges between Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson.
PHOENIX—By the end of day one, it was clear that AmericaFest 2025 was a big and very crowded tent.
The first AmFest that Turning Point USA has held since its founder, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated brought together more than 30,000 attendees and a wide range of organizations, from Orthodox Christians to the John Birch Society to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Not everyone inside the Phoenix Convention Center sees eye to eye.
In speeches on Dec. 18, some of the world’s most influential conservatives clashed.
Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow and the CEO of Turning Point USA, set a big tent tone in her opening remarks.
“AmFest is not about echo chambers,” she said.
“You may not agree with everyone on this stage this weekend, and that’s okay. Welcome to America,” said Kirk, who also lauded her late husband’s ability to build coalitions.
Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire, who followed Kirk, did not shy away from criticizing other high-profile conservatives.
He warned that conservatism is “in danger from charlatans” spreading false information, citing theories that alleged Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson was not responsible for the slaying.
Shapiro drew a distinction between political coalition-building—a major focus for Turning Point USA—and the task of commentators such as him.
“We must not let fear of audience deter us from telling the truth,” he said.
His targets included Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, Steve Bannon, and a then-upcoming speaker, Tucker Carlson.
Carlson and Shapiro have attacked each other before, including over President Donald Trump’s Iran nuclear site strikes earlier this year.
At a Heritage Foundation event on Dec. 17, Shapiro described Carlson as “an opponent of conservatism.”
In his Dec. 18 speech, Shapiro raised objections to some of Carlson’s recent guests, including history podcaster Darryl Cooper and controversial streamer Nick Fuentes.
“He built Nick Fuentes up, and he ought to take responsibility for that,” Shapiro said of Fuentes, long under fire for anti-Israel and anti-Jewish remarks.
“There is a reason that Charlie Kirk despised Nick Fuentes,” he said.
Carlson, the final speaker of the night, punched back.
He suggested Shapiro’s criticisms amounted to a call to deplatform him.
The former Fox News host said that the late Kirk was under pressure to take him off the list of AmFest speakers ahead of his death.
Carlson—whose interview with Fuentes was characterized by Shapiro as too friendly—stressed his opposition to antisemitism.
“Antisemitism is immoral. In my religion, it is immoral to hate people for how they are born,” the commentator said.
For all his apparent opposition to Shapiro, Carlson sometimes verged on the conciliatory.
“There are no permanent enemies,” he said, adding, “I would extend this to even people who attack me from this stage.”
Michael Knowles, one of Shapiro’s Daily Wire colleagues, warned that the absence of the late Kirk has given rise to “the latest right-wing civil war.”
He described the December conference as the final event charted by TPUSA’s founder.
“You are the people that he invited. This is the team,” he told the crowd.
“You might not like some of the people that he brought onto the team. You might prefer that he invited some people that he excluded from the team. But this is it,” Knowles added.
The clashes—and conversations—are set to continue in Phoenix. AmericaFest will last through to Dec. 21, with the final scheduled speech coming from Vice President JD Vance.
