The Right-on-Right Debate Was ‘Inevitable’
Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Showtold Breitbart News that the right-wing debate the public is currently witnessing is “inevitable.”
“A lot of people have pointed out that Charlie was sort of holding back some of these fights, and he was preventing them from happening or he was holding the coalition together, and I definitely think that’s true in one direction,” Kolvet said after being asked about recent conservative infighting.
WATCH — Andrew Kolvet Discusses the First AmericaFest Without Charlie Kirk: “Don’t Be Afraid of a Fight”:
“But as someone who was having these conversations with Charlie privately, we could see these things happening for years,” continued Kolvet, who sat down with Breitbart News at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025 conference last week.
“And I think it’s probably more true to say that Charlie’s assassination may have accelerated some of these debates, but they were, I think, inevitable,” the Turning Point USA spokesperson added.
Kolvet cited, “The conversation about Israel, the conversation about foreign policy in general, how and when we use the U.S. military, immigration,” saying, “These are things that were going to happen. And, in a way, I’m glad we have them.”
“Because if you were inside that, you could see these cracks and these dividing lines a mile away,” he added.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Kolvet said lawmakers should stop acting like online influencers.
“Stop trying to be influencers. Stop trying to be provocateurs on social media,” Kolvet advised lawmakers. “Do what you need to do, what we elected you to do.”
WATCH – Andrew Kolvet to GOP Lawmakers: “Stop Being Influencers” and Get Things Done:
“And I think we need to, as a movement, put them back in their boxes right now,” he added.
Notably, tens of thousands of AmericaFest attendees were essentially held as a captive audience for several high-profile conservative figures venting their dirty laundry on stage in Phoenix, Arizona.
The public display of the conservative movement’s infighting began on the first day of the event, when Ben Shapiro took the stage to to call “some” of the speakers at AmericaFest, declaring them “guilty of cowardice” for refusing to “condemn Candace’s truly vicious attacks” on Erika Kirk and Turning Point USA.
Hours after Shapiro left the stage, Tucker Carlson appeared before AmericaFest attendees and said his audience that he “had this kind of bitter, sardonic laugh” when hearing “the first part of the program”.
Candace Owens – who was not at AmericaFest, but responded to Shapiro remotely on her podcast – declared“Fuck you and the dwarf horse you rode on.”
The next day, Steve Bannon addressed the event attendees: developer to his audience that Shapiro “is like a cancer” who “tried to take over” Breitbart News and David Horowitz, before predicting that at some point he will “take a step” on Turning Point USA as well, “because he’s always envied Charlie Kirk.”
Megyn Kelly also had something to say about it after Bannon left the stage: developer AmericaFest audience that she helped make Shapiro “a star,” but now he’s “losing a lot of followers,” adding, “I don’t think we’re friends anymore.” »
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and @ARmastrangeloand on Instagram.
