Erika Kirk is addressing her onstage embrace with Vice President JD Vance at a Turning Point USA event last month. The hug, which occurred seven weeks after the tragic death of her husband, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, drew scrutiny online.
Erika, who is now the CEO of TPUSA, is defending it as a simple expression of her grief and affection. “My love language is touch, if you will,” Erika, 37, told Megyn Kelly during a recent appearance on Megyn Kelly Live in Phoenix. Reflecting on the moment, she offered a detailed “play-by-play” of what unfolded.
“They just played the emotional video. I’m walking over, [JD] is walking over. I’m starting to cry,” she recalled. “He says, ‘I’m so proud of you.’ And I say, ‘God bless you,’ and I touch the back of his head. Anyone whom I have hugged, that I have touched the back of your head when I hug you, I always say, ‘God bless you.'”
Kelly laughed at Erika’s description, teasing, “They were acting like you touched the back of his ass!” Erika, smiling, replied, “I feel like I wouldn’t get as much hate if I did that!”
The embrace took place on October 29 at the University of Mississippi’s Pavilion at Ole Miss. Erika had just paid tribute to her late husband before welcoming Vance to the stage.
“No one will ever replace my husband,” she told the audience. “But I do see some similarities of my husband in JD, in Vice President JD Vance. I do. And that’s why I am so blessed to be able to introduce him tonight.”
The hug, which featured Erika’s hand on the back of Vance’s head while he briefly placed his hands on her waist, sparked conversation online.
Just over a week after the TPUSA event, Erika hugged U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor in a nearly identical fashion at his swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office. Gor, who worked closely with Charlie Kirk on the White House transition team after former President Trump’s second inauguration, shared a professional and personal connection with Erika’s late husband.
Erika’s discussion with Kelly also turned deeply personal. She revealed the couple’s plans for expanding their family before Charlie’s death. “We wanted to have four [children],” Erika said, her voice tinged with emotion. “And I was praying to God that I was pregnant when he got murdered. … Both of us were, we were really excited to just expand our family.”
She added a message to young couples. “Now, when I see young couples, I tell them, ‘Please don’t put it off.’ Especially if you’re a young woman, don’t put it off. You can always have a career, you can always go back to work. You can never just go back to having children.”
Erika’s new role at TPUSA places her at the forefront of the organization her late husband founded. Despite the scrutiny surrounding her public displays of affection, she said that her gestures are rooted in grief and connection rather than anything untoward.
“My husband will never be replaced,” she reiterated. “But to honor his work and continue moving forward, I will keep doing what I feel is authentic to who I am, even if it raises eyebrows.”