Political commentator Megyn Kelly sat with Erika Kirk for a wide-ranging interview during a stop in Arizona on Saturday.
Kirk, who was thrust into the national spotlight after the death of her husband Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, grew candid about her grief and the public’s misconceptions about her.
“I’m OK with the world not understanding me,” Erika Kirk said as she addressed the conspiracy theories that have gained traction since her husband’s death.
Charlie Kirk was killed during a “Prove Me Wrong” tour stop at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from the St. George area, was arrested and charged in the shooting.
Kelly’s interview with Kirk was held at the Desert Diamond Arena in Phoenix, the same venue as the memorial service for Charlie Kirk.
In a nod to Kirk and her late husband, it had all the hallmarks of a Turning Point event, including a signature pyrotechnic display as Kelly and Kirk took the stage.
Here are three highlights from the interview.
Turning Point supports JD Vance
At the live show, Kirk, now the CEO of Turning Point USA, said Turning Point is gearing up to support Vice President JD Vance in the 2028 presidential election.
“That was a thing that my husband was very direct about,” Kirk said. “It was, interestingly enough, one of the last few conversations we had, was how intentional he was about supporting JD for ’28.”
She also addressed the online chatter about her closeness to the vice president at the memorial service.
“My love language is touch, if you will,” she said, recounting the brief hug on stage. “So I will give you a play-by-play: They just played the emotional video. I’m walking over, (Vance) is walking over. I’m starting to cry.”
“He says, ‘I’m so proud of you.’ And I say, ‘God bless you,’ and I touch the back of his head,” she continued. “Anyone whom I have hugged, that I have touched the back of your head when I hug you, I always say, ‘God bless you.’”
Erika Kirk on her wish for ‘the ultimate blessing’
Kirk revealed to Kelly that she and Charlie Kirk wanted four kids.
“I was praying to God that I was pregnant when he got murdered,” Kirk said about her late husband, according to footage of the event. They shared a 1-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.
“I was like, ‘Oh goodness, that would be the ultimate blessing out of this catastrophe,’” she said as she wiped away tears.
“So, 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.’”
Kelly comforted Kirk, saying her son and daughter will one day learn what it means to be Charlie Kirk’s children.
Erika Kirk on faith and forgiveness
Kelly also touched on forgiveness, while confessing she struggles with blame since Charlie Kirk died.
“I know you don’t ever feel angry against God, but I kind of do,” Kelly said. “How do you make sense of that? And do you have any anger when you think about it in general?”
Kirk responded, “The enemy would love for me to be angry.”
“Raising our babies, Turning Point, being there for the team, being there for what the future holds. ... And if I had any amount of anger in my heart and spirit, the Lord would not be able to use me,” Kirk said.
Kelly remarked that witnessing Erika Kirk’s forgiveness of her husband’s accused killer, during a memorial to her husband in September, was “the most powerful, strongest thing I’ve ever seen anybody do in my life.”
“But I wonder, if you could say something to him, if you could say something to his parents, like what would it be? Would it be anger? Would it be sympathy? What would it be?” Kelly asked Kirk.
The widow responded that it wouldn’t be “wouldn’t be sympathy (or) ... anger.”
“Anything that I could ever wish upon him or that family would pale in comparison to the justice of God,” she said. “And so I would look at them almost like I’m so glad I’m not you.”