“Everybody is attacking her over everything, lying about her, and it’s the most disgraceful thing I have seen in my public life,” said Vice President JD Vance of Erika Kirk, widow of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Erika is now the CEO of Turning Point USA, the organization created by her late husband, the father of her two children. Charlie was known for his campus visits with Turning Point, where he would invite people to debate him. During one of those rallies last September in Utah, Charlie was shot dead by an assassin.
Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, was in court Friday for his murder trial. According to the Associated Press, Robinson’s attorneys have urged the judge to ban cameras from the case and argue that media speculation about the incident is making it difficult for the accused killer to get a fair trial.
Vance’s comments came earlier in the week, during a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. Erika was scheduled to attend, but Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet told the crowd that she pulled out of the event due to “serious threats” directed at her.
He asked Vance what he thought of “people that have made part-time jobs out of attacking Erika.”
“I love Erika and I know she did get some threats,” said the Vice President. “Two hours ago, I was worried we were going to have to cancel the event.”
Vance called Charlie a “genuinely good guy and a young father” in an X post shortly after reports of his death came out. He also helped transport Charlie’s body out of Utah on Air Force Two
“I met Erika, and the family. I met Charlie’s parents and his little sister. I think about that moment… where she was so broken,” he told Kolvet of picking up Erika after the tragedy.
Charlie was a controversial figure, and Erika has also been a controversial figure as she’s stepped into his leadership role at Turning Point and more attention in the public eye. Late last year, she discussed her reaction to talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about her husband’s alleged shooter, for example.
In recent weeks, comedian Druski released a video titled “How Conservative Women in America Act” that appears to be inspired by Erika. Screenshots of the video have become popular in memes and reaction posts on social media. Though there was a rumor that Erika responded to the video in an X post, those allegations were later debunked by Snopes.
Regarding rumors about Erika, Vance told Kolvet: “The people who tell you – I was there, with her, holding her hand, my wife was hugging her while we loaded Charlie’s body on to Air Force Two and said the Lord’s Prayer – the people telling you that Erika wasn’t grieving her husband are full of s***.”
CBS News reported Wednesday that the “U.S. Secret Service determined there were no credible threats,” to the Tuesday Turning Point rally in Georgia, citing a person familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity. Per the outlet, Kirk “cited threats and concerns raised by her security team,” as her reason for pulling out of the event.
“While Kirk may have received hostile or threatening messages, including on social media, those were not part of any identified or actionable threat stream monitored by federal authorities, the person said,” according to CBS.
A representative for Turning Point USA said “threats related to Erika Kirk’s travel outside the secured perimeter led our team to make the difficult decision to withdraw her participation,” in a statement quoted by CBS. That statement went on to explain that Erika’s “security team continuously assesses security considerations and this was the right call in the interest of her safety,” and that they were grateful for the Secret Service help at the event.
Candace Owens, a conservative media personality who was a friend of Charlie’s, said in a Friday X post that she believes Erika was lying about the threats.
“After learning of the crowd size, Erika decided she no longer wanted to do the event. Rather than simply cancelling, she instructed her PR team to make up a demented lie about imminent threats against her travel safety,” Owens said. “Again, she was ALREADY IN GEORGIA sitting upon a federally cleared pathway. Her PR agent and the Vice President then shamelessly lectured the audience about these invisible threats, suggesting they were the public’s fault for having criticized her.”
CBS News noted that the Georgia rally was the second of the conservative organization’s stops for its “This Is Turning Point USA Tour” after a first event at Ohio State. It said future rallies are planned for George Washington University, Baylor, and the University of Idaho with various speakers, though Erika is not expected to attend any of those events.
She did, however, introduce President Donald Trump at a Turning Point USA rally in Phoenix, Ariz., AZ Central reported.
