Erika Kirk has no doubts: her husband’s message will continue to live on, and his movement will be stronger than ever. The widow of activist Charlie Kirk is picking up his mantle and preparing to lead Turning Point USA, having been named its new leader. She intends to do so with her own style, guided by her primary values of family and motherhood.
A former Miss Arizona, Erika was at Charlie’s side through every moment. The couple met during a job interview. “I told her, I don’t want to hire you, I want to date you,” the activist often recounted. Their union was unbreakable from that point until September 10, when Kirk was killed.
Erika was not in Utah with him because she was caring for her mother in Phoenix. She rushed to her husband’s side upon hearing the news but arrived too late; Kirk had already died. She insisted on seeing him. “His eyes were half-open. He had a knowing half-smile, similar to the Mona Lisa’s. As if he were happy. As if Jesus had saved him,” she told The New York Times, seeing her husband’s death as part of a divine plan.
“I firmly believe this was God’s plan. It is so clear,” she explained, describing how her Charlie had been averse to wearing a bulletproof vest or speaking behind protective glass. The widow does not hide her pain, confessing that she wears the blood-stained pendant her husband had on when he was shot, has been unable to wash the towels from his last shower, and cannot yet enter their bedroom.
This grief, however, will not defeat her but rather fuel her to act with all her strength. She demonstrated this resolve with her first public speech, delivered just 48 hours after Charlie’s death, and by sharing her anguish on social media through photos, including one of her grieving over his coffin. That image instantly made her a rallying figure for Kirk’s orphaned followers.
Though accustomed to the spotlight through her work—which includes a Christian clothing line and a podcast encouraging Bible reading—Erika now leads a movement that has had an almost unprecedented impact on American politics. Deeply conservative (“I’m a moderate compared to my wife,” Kirk said repeatedly), the widow has the potential to grow Turning Point USA further, reaching young women across America with her message.
American Christians place great hope in her role to revitalize the idea of family, after Erika and Charlie made marriage, having children, and a woman’s focus on motherhood seem ‘cool’. “You can always create your career, but your children, your husband, and your marriage are not renewable resources,” Erika said during an event last June. Now, there is hope that her influence within the administration—Donald Trump saw Charlie “like a son,” the widow said—could push the White House to champion pro-family policies.