British journalist Piers Morgan challenged American political commentator Megyn Kelly over her repeated refusal to condemn Candace Owens for making baseless accusations against Turning Point USA, Erika Kirk, Israel, and even President Trump, alleging they had some sort of involvement in the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Kelly has refused to condemn Owens multiple times, comparing the situation to the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020, when she was pressured to raise her fist in solidarity with their cause.
Yet the stakes and the reasoning are entirely different. Conservatives are asking Kelly to show that she is still capable of holding a moral and ideological line. Kelly, however, insists people are merely trying to force her to bend her knee.
It remains unclear whether she will remain a stalwart conservative voice or join the ranks of conspiracy theorists like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens.
"You've been very supportive of her, not critical," Morgan noted. "Even though...some of the stuff she's been doing in relation to Erica Kirk, Brigitte Macron, and others, I do think is really regrettable, kind of conspiracy theory nonsense just for clicks of money."
"Why would you hesitate before criticising her over stuff like that?" he asked.
"I've criticised Candace many times over the years," Kelly insisted. "We've had many public fights over the years. But isn't it interesting that you will, quote, platform Candace? She hasn't been on my show in several years, but I get all the hard time. Why am I getting that? You're the one, quote, platforming Candace Owens."
Of course, the difference is that Morgan actually pushes back against her claims.
One of the main points of a treasured right like the First Amendment is to prevent any single dogma from taking hold. When someone like Owens uses her platform to promote every anti-Semitic conspiracy theory imaginable, it gives well-intentioned conservatives even more reason to think through why Israel remains such a steadfast American ally.
"She and I don't have that kind of relationship," Kelly continued. "Candace took a bunch of crap because she was very anti-Israel in the Gaza war. And it became a thing where you had to say she was terrible in her positioning. And then after Charlie died, she started questioning whether Israel had any role in it. And that's when they really tried to amp up the pressure on me to condemn her."
Kelly, once again, is misguided. The calls for condemnation were meant to ensure that a figure like Owens is relegated to the fringe of political commentary. While Kelly once contributed positively to the movement, her voice now only gives Democrats more ammunition to claim that conservatives are nothing more than conspiracy theorists. The request for condemnation was never an attempt to silence free speech; it was meant to protect the core principles of conservatism and prevent them from being overshadowed by baseless conspiracy theories.
"And I refused [to condemn her] because Charlie was starting to have serious questions about Israel, not just its role in the Gaza war, but its influence on American politicians, something he and I spent hours and hours discussing," Kelly added. "So I had no problem with Candace Owens asking those questions. And I refused to condemn her because I was under pressure from these people who wanted me to. And then that morphed into then everything Candace said thereafter, with which I may or may not have had serious problems, that I had to, where's the condemnation? And it was all really about the Israel thing."
Megyn Kelly is once again mistaken. While Charlie voiced certain criticisms of Israel, they were primarily aimed at the Israeli government’s failure to effectively counter an information war, a battle they were losing to a terrorist organization following the October 7, 2023, attacks. He also questioned how Israel could suffer such a massive intelligence failure. Importantly, these critiques had a clear, constructive purpose: to help ensure Israel could defend itself and maintain its right to exist in the Middle East. Even if the intelligence failure had been intentional, Charlie would likely have pushed for American pressure to prevent it from happening again, unlike someone like Owens, who twists the issue to promote the baseless claim that Jews control the United States.
"I'd rather die than bend the knee to these people," Kelly went on. "I'd rather die than bend the knee. It won't happen. I didn't raise my fist and say BLM, and I'm not going to condemn the people they want me to condemn just so that I can get a little pat on their head, on my head from them. It's not important to me. What's important to me is I live free. And that frankly is what it means to be an American."
"It was all really about the Israel thing - and I'd rather DIE than bend the knee!"
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) February 9, 2026
Megyn Kelly outlines why she hasn't been critical of Candace Owens.
Watch more👇
📺 https://t.co/g5V4lw4Ylm
@piersmorgan | @megynkelly | @RealCandaceO pic.twitter.com/zYrjLObOcw
What conservatives value most about America is not an unchecked freedom, as Kelly seems to be advocating, but a freedom tempered by moral responsibility, one that ensures Americans hold one another accountable. Kelly has apparently become so resistant even to public calls for condemnation of someone who clearly deserves it, that she can no longer take a moral stance on the issue.
If anyone needed further evidence that Owens should be condemned, she is now claiming that Erika Kirk belongs in prison for her alleged role in Charlie's death.
Candace Owens is going to get Erika Kirk murdered when one of her insane cult members decides to exact “justice” for Charlie.
— Frank McCormick (@CBHeresy) February 10, 2026
I’m not kidding.
This must stop now. pic.twitter.com/mIX5WwSlxm
Candace says Erika Kirk belongs in prison, awaiting trial.
— Britta | NoSoup4Knowles (@nosoup4knowles) February 10, 2026
Ben Shapiro was right. pic.twitter.com/9QoMEI5Dad
