Podcast Summary: IHIP News — "Candace Owens And Erika Kirk Are At War; MAGA Is Crumbling From The Inside"

Episode Date: December 15, 2025
Hosts: Jennifer Welch & Angie "Pumps" Sullivan
Theme: A raw, comedic progressive take on the public feud between right-wing media personalities Candace Owens and Erika Kirk, the role of mainstream media (particularly CBS and Barry Weiss), and what it reveals about the current state of conservative media and Republican politics.

Episode Overview

Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan dive into the escalating conflict between Candace Owens and Erika Kirk, exploring its implications on MAGA-world infighting, right-wing media, and the mainstream coverage surrounding these events. The hosts critique the transformation of legacy outlets like CBS under Barry Weiss, address Charlie Kirk’s controversial legacy, and passionately challenge the ongoing rewriting of right-wing history and the erasure of gun violence from public discussion.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Owens vs. Kirk: Manufactured Drama?

• Social Media Spectacle: The hosts highlight the irony of Erika Kirk and Candace Owens scheduling a "private" meeting but announcing it loudly online ([00:05]).
  • Guest 2: "They announced their private meeting on social media…clue one that they're not interested in putting this behind closed doors and being private about it." [02:07]
• Personal Opinions:
  • Pumps: “I think both of them need to stop. This is insanity.” [01:56]
  • The feud is seen as self-promotional rather than rehabilitative for the movement.

2. Mainstream Coverage and Media Complicity

• CBS and Barry Weiss Critiqued:
  • Pumps: “Everybody needs to boycott CBS News. ... They cannot do it without our money.” [02:22]
  • Barry Weiss's rebranding of CBS as "cringe bullshit news" [00:33] and her alleged failure to ask tough questions of Erika Kirk.
    • "Barry Wise is such a intellectually manipulative, exploitative grifter..." [06:10]
• Media’s Focus on Sensationalism:
  • CBS's extensive coverage of Erika Kirk over substantive issues like gun violence, healthcare, and inflation.
• Boycott and Activism Call:
  • Pumps: "We have agency and we have autonomy. ... We can eliminate and eradicate CBS from being mainstream." [08:39]

3. Double Standards and Political Violence

• Selective Outrage: The hypocrisy in holding left vs. right political violence to different standards.
  • Erika Kirk dodges condemning Trump or right-wing violent rhetoric when pressed ([04:03]):
    • Erika Kirk: "This is so much deeper than just one person. This starts at the home." [04:03-04:51]
  • Pumps: "She never says the name Trump. She never condemns political violence, ever." [04:51]

4. Charlie Kirk's Rhetoric and Legacy

• Historical Revisionism: Hosts play clips illustrating Charlie Kirk’s legacy of inflammatory, bigoted rhetoric.
  • Discussing violent punishments and executions as entertainment, referencing the guillotine ([05:18-05:48]).
  • Erika Kirk: “Honestly, that's like what we should be doing. And I agree. It should be public square. ... brought to you by Coca Cola and no, I'm not kidding, by the way. I would totally tune in to see some pedo get their head chopped off.” [05:18-06:10]
• Gun Violence Quotes:
  • Charlie Kirk: "I think it's worth to have a cost of unfortunately some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment..." [07:50-08:03]
  • Highlighting that repeating Kirk’s language got some people "fired, cancelled" ([08:03]), showing the toxicity of his rhetoric.
  • Guest 2: "This was not a peace, love and everybody come together kind of guy." [08:03]

5. Whitewashing, Hypocrisy, and Selective Remembrance

• Hosts challenge both CBS and Erika Kirk for painting Charlie as a misunderstood, tolerant figure, especially in light of his history of homophobia, racism, and defending gun violence ([08:39+]).
• Selective Bigotry:
  • Pumps: “If you’re genuinely against bigotry, you’re against all forms of bigotry. That would be…anti black racism, anti immigration bigotry, antisemitism, Islamophobia. ... That’s supremacy.” [14:17]

6. Media Obsession and Distraction

• CBS’s feed flooded with Barry Weiss and Erika Kirk segments at the expense of pressing national crises (e.g., Brown University shooting, broader violence, economic hardship) ([14:17+]).
  • Pumps: "Their news feed is Barry Weiss and Erica Kirk. It's just. It's wild to me." [14:17]

7. Gun Violence: The Ignored Link

• Absence in Coverage:
  • Hosts: Noting gun violence is the unaddressed core issue in Charlie Kirk’s murder and other mass shootings, yet is omitted from mainstream dialogue ([14:17-18:11]).
  • Guest 2: "It really is stunning that your husband would be murdered on live TV and never once would gun violence, gun control, common sense legislation about guns, that never crossed your lips." [18:11]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Private Meetings Becoming Public:
  • Guest 2: “They announced their private meeting on social media…clue one that they're not interested in putting this behind closed doors.” [02:07]
• On Media Boycotts:
  • Pumps: “We can eliminate and eradicate CBS from being mainstream. The consumer can.” [08:39]
• On Erika Kirk Dodging Direct Questions:
  • Pumps: “She never says the name Trump. She never condemns political violence, ever.” [04:51]
• On Hypocritical Moralizing:
  • Guest 2: “That was Charlie Kirk's MO: hate, conspiracies. So please, I do not need a lecture from Barry Wise or Erica Kirk about factual journalism.” [06:42]
• On Selective Compassion:
  • Guest 2: "Kids have been dying at a mass rate in the United States, but they can't even do it [pass gun control] for their best friend, Charlie Kirk." [18:11]

Timeline of Important Segments

• 00:05 – Introduction of Owens/Kirk meeting and its online spectacle
• 01:24 – Erika Kirk’s media appearances (audio from Barry Weiss interview)
• 02:22 – CBS’s coverage priorities and call for boycott
• 03:48 – Town hall confrontation on Trump’s rhetoric and political violence
• 05:18 – Charlie and Erika Kirk's own violent rhetoric discussed
• 07:50 – Kirk’s Second Amendment/gun violence rationale
• 08:39 – Segment on hypocrisy, antisemitism, and selective bigotry
• 11:38 – Barry Weiss discusses faith and forgiveness on CBS
• 13:33 – Israel, conspiracy theories, and Charlie Kirk’s alleged positions
• 14:17 – CBS’s fixation on Weiss/Kirk to the detriment of real news
• 18:11 – Final commentary on ignoring gun violence after Kirk’s murder

Tone and Style

True to their progressive and irreverent style, Jennifer and Pumps blend biting humor with righteous outrage, repeatedly mocking the performative aspects of right-wing media while urgently calling for critical consumer action and moral accountability.

Summary Takeaway

Jennifer and Pumps expose the self-serving spectacle of Candace Owens and Erika Kirk’s feud, skewer mainstream media's credulous coverage under Barry Weiss, and lament the ongoing whitewashing of Charlie Kirk’s hateful legacy. Throughout, they stress the core issue missed in all coverage: the ubiquity and normalization of gun violence in America — an issue all but erased by those with the loudest platforms. Their advocacy is clear: progressive organizing and media literacy are essential antidotes to MAGA's internal collapse and media dereliction of duty.