About 200 Turning Point USA donors shifted nervously in their seats at an exclusive retreat in Aspen, Colorado in August 2025, as one patron stood to pose an unusual question to the group's founder, Charlie Kirk.

'Kind of a hard question to ask, but I think it's probably important to everybody in this room and I'm wondering about Turning Point's succession plan should, God forbid, something happen to you,' the concerned benefactor asked.

'What a great question,' Kirk responded, deadpan, prompting tense laughter in the crowd.

Kirk was hosting a Q&A session at the triumphant gathering. They were, in part, celebrating Turning Point's role in helping to elect President Donald Trump and making plans to found new group chapters in American high schools.

Several people in the room thought the question seemed like a distraction, but Kirk took time to answer it. 

Some of America's great 'founder-led' organizations, he observed, had collapsed after their original leader left. His goal at Turning Point USA, he explained, was to make it 'vision-led.'

'A lot of my job is not always in the day-to-day details. It's very much vision casting, very much driving success,' he said.

'We have a great board and God forbid if something happens, they'll figure it out. I appoint my wife to run Turning Point USA if something happens to me. Erika would do a great job,' he said reassuringly before moving to the next question. 

Three weeks after the Aspen event a worst nightmare was realized: Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot and killed by an alleged assassin while speaking at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. Eight days after that the organization's board voted unanimously to appoint his widow as his successor. 

Video of the Aspen donor conference has never been released publicly. But the Daily Mail has been given exclusive access to screen the full video, report on its contents and speak to individuals who were in the room in Aspen that day, as secrecy around the footage has become a major point of contention for critics of Turning Point and its new CEO, Erika Kirk.

Such gatherings are considered private by the organization and attendees are asked not to film it. But Turning Point cameras were rolling that day. 

Erika first revealed the details of Charlie's remarks during an interview with podcaster Megyn Kelly in late November. Audio of Kirk's remarks were played as part of a montage introducing Erika, wearing a glittering pantsuit, before her first speech as CEO at the annual Turning Point USA convention, AmericaFest, in December.

That hasn't been enough for Erika's detractors, including former Turning Point communications director-turned-media personality Candace Owens, who has alleged that the video may be fake or even part of a scheme by outside forces to seize control of Turning Point.

For several weeks, Owens has led a crusade, demanding the public release of the video. On the set of her popular podcast, she has a photo of Charlie Kirk Show producer Blake Neff with a numbered counter marking the days since she made her request.

'The more I listen to it, the more AI it sounds,' Owens told her audience on Monday evening, making the case that if the audio of Charlie Kirk was faked, it would unravel everything that Erika has done in the organization since taking charge.

Erika, Owens continued, would be a 'confirmed ruthless psychopath' if she had a hand in faking her husband's voice to strengthen her case for taking control of Turning Point. If the audio is bogus, Owens said, 'we would be looking at a psychological profile of people that I would suggest are very much capable of cold-blooded murder.'

Owens has also claimed to have spoken to three donors allegedly present at the event, who allegedly tell her that they did not recall Kirk's remarks about appointing Erika to succeed him.

That all conflicts with the Daily Mail's review of the footage and accounts of multiple Turning Points donors, some of whom were in the room during the Aspen event, who spoke to this website. A Daily Mail request to Owens to speak to the donors she was referring to was not returned.

Several individuals who were inside the Aspen event told the Daily Mail that they  heard Charlie Kirk say that Erika should be his successor and immediately thought of those remarks after Erika's appointment as CEO.

One prominent donor said that when the question about succession was asked, his mind flashed back to a conversation he had with Kirk the previous evening at a dinner.

Recounting that conversation, the patron says he had raised concerns about the rise of Democratic socialists like Zohran Mamdani in New York City and while Kirk conceded that Mamdani was going to win, he stressed that he was more concerned about figures such as the alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione.

Kirk warned that Mangione had become a 'folk hero' among the left and would only inspire more violence. 'You're going to see more high profile assassinations,' Kirk ominously predicted.

It was not the first time Kirk had comprehended his mortality, longtime Turning Point USA board member Max Miller told the Daily Mail.

As Charlie's fame and success grew, so did his fears of what would happen to the mission in his absence, Miller said.

When Kirk reportedly started receiving death threats, Miller was emphatic that Turning Point hire personal security, as well as put a succession plan in place.

'I said, Charlie, "God forbid something happens, what do you recommend that we do?" He said, "Erika is very bright, she can handle it, we have discussed this. I would be totally comfortable with Erika running things,"' Miller recalled.

'This is not a new question that he had from people,' another Turning Point board member told the Daily Mail. 'I remember this topic coming up repeatedly over the years.'

Several Turning Point allies feel that too much attention has been focused on the video from Aspen and said it was always clear to them that Charlie had intended for Erika to lead the organization in his absence.

One board member, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed to the Daily Mail he was personally involved with personal, financial and estate planning with the couple after they were married.

During those discussions, they made clear that if anything should happen to Kirk, his wife would be responsible for the organization that he had founded.

'Erika knows more about Charlie's feelings and emotions and where he wanted to bring Turning Point than anybody else out there,' the board member said. 'The board already knew what the plan was because they talked about it with Charlie, everybody knew.'

Friends of Charlie Kirk also told the Daily Mail that he frequently spoke of his wife taking over the organization in his absence.

Donald Trump Jr, a close friend of the couple, told the Daily Mail he recalled speaking with Charlie about the future of Turning Point USA, especially as threats to conservative figures escalated during the 2024 election.

'After the attempt on my father's life in Butler, Charlie and I spoke multiple times about the death threats we both constantly faced, and in those conversations he made it abundantly clear to me that if anything ever happened to him, he wanted Erika to be left in charge of Turning Point,' he said. 'He wasn't shy about saying it and didn't keep it a secret from those of us who were close to him.'

'Charlie Kirk always said to me, if anything ever happened to him that he would leave Turning Point to Erika,' a close friend of Kirk not affiliated with Turning Point USA told the Daily Mail.

Going forward, Turning Point has no plans to release the video of the Aspen event.

'We never release investor videos to protect the privacy of those present at those gatherings, and we are not changing that policy now,' a Turning Point representative said in a statement to the Daily Mail.

While the public release of the video would prove Owen's suggestions of a fraud to be false, some in the organization believe good-faith efforts would be rejected and the video would be weaponized.

On top of those concerns, the donor who asked the 'succession' question does not want her question and identity revealed to the public, sources within the organization told the Daily Mail.

James Kaddis, a pastor, personal friend and spiritual advisor to the couple, told the Daily Mail he was comforted when Erika was appointed by the board to succeed Charlie, recalling personal conversations with the couple.

'Still to this day I can say, I'm so relieved that Charlie's wishes came through on this,' Kaddis said.