Charlie Kirk’s daughter always tuned into his show.
She had a special reason to. Her dad would take one of her toys with him as he went on air for “The Charlie Kirk Show.”
“That was their little connection,” said Erika Kirk, his widowed wife. “And he loved it too, because it was a little piece of her that he could have with her on the show.”
Kirk never shied away from such expressions of love, said Erika Kirk in an appearance Friday on her late husband’s podcast.
Charlie Kirk was assassinated during a college campus event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10. The suspected shooter, Tyler James Robinson, a 22-year-old from Washington City, Utah, is being held in custody without bail.
TPUSA expected to keep using Charlie Kirk’s social media accounts
After her husband’s death, Erika Kirk stepped in to serve as the CEO of Turning Point USA.
“It’s surreal to actually be sitting, because last time I was standing ...” she paused, referring to her national address two days after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. “But yeah, it’s a little more emotional,” she added.
“You are rightly at the head of the table, and we’re just so honored to have you here,” said Andrew Kolvet, who has taken the lead at keeping the podcast going.
“To say that your life has been a whirlwind would be the understatement of the century,” he said.
During her brief appearance, Kirk reassured listeners that Turning Point USA, Turning Point Action and “The Charlie Kirk Show” will continue to thrive in honor of the murdered political commentator.
Charlie Kirk’s social media platforms will also keep uploading content.
“We’ve been very intentional in a way that always keeps Charlie first and his dreams alive and his legacy going,” she said.
She later said that her late husband built those platforms to present a point of view that valued faith and goodness. That’s why she hopes to keep them alive.
“It’ll be done tastefully. It will be done appropriately. And I’m excited for all of it,” she added.
Erika Kirk said she agreed to come on air on Friday as a display of strength after the assurances she gave to further her husband’s life’s work.
“The Charlie Kirk Show” holds a special place in her heart, Kirk added. “But this isn’t a forever thing,” referring to her guest appearance.
Since Kirk’s death, leading conservatives, from Vice President JD Vance to political commentator Tucker Carlson and talk show host Megyn Kelly, have taken turns hosting the show.
‘The Charlie Kirk Show,’ from then to now
In Friday’s episode, Erika Kirk told the story of the genesis of the podcast.
In 2020, amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, Charlie and Erika Kirk would go on a hike every morning and talk about the state of the world.
After one of those hikes, she recalled her mother pulling Charlie Kirk aside and saying, “God has blessed you with an amazing voice and you will be the Rush Limbaugh of your generation.”
Two days later, Charlie Kirk was in talks with Kolvet to start the show.
Erika Kirk said her husband shared a “very good relationship” with his mother-in-law and they were “best friends.”
“To see ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’ grow from that moment until now has been so humbling and beautiful,” she reflected.
The former Miss Arizona said she vouched that her husband read every email sent to the podcast and revealed he would forward her some.
“For Charlie, the audience was a barometer of ‘What do we need to be focusing on?’” she said.
The future of the podcast isn’t completely determined, and for now, it looks like it will feature a set of rotating hosts. But one thing is clear: “The show will go on.”
She said she would love to answer callers’ questions through the existing archive of clips of Charlie Kirk.
“We have decades worth of my husband’s voice. We have unused material from speeches that he’s had that no one has heard yet,” she said.
Erika Kirk steps up to the plate
Erika Kirk has given two public addresses since her husband’s passing.
In her initial national address she vowed to keep fighting and cautioned against underestimating the conservative moment following this tragedy. “The cries of this widow will echo around the world, like a battle cry,” she said.
Her remarks at her husband’s memorial, organized by Turning Point USA, were even more surprising when she proclaimed she forgives her husband’s killer.
Recalling the first time Erika Kirk addressed the public, Mikey McCoy, the chief of staff to the late conservative commentator, said Kirk, even in mourning, gathered the courage to get through a difficult address right after her husband’s death.
“Then she walks out there to where all of our staff are, and she then goes on to do another speech,” said McCoy, “telling them, ‘You’re not going anywhere. We’re keeping the lights on.’”
“Watching that,” said McCoy, “I was blown away.”
Kirk is expected to make an appearance at the final stop of the “Megyn Kelly Live” tour in Phoenix on Nov 22.