Erika Kirk Confirmed Where She Really Was When Husband Charlie Was Shot

The assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA co-founder, created a flurry of grief, anger, and quite a bit of confusion. Some online reports — bolstered by AI assumptions — claimed his wife, Erika Kirk, and their children were there to witness the shooting in Utah, which naturally added to the outrage. Even Donald Trump Jr. jumped to that conclusion in an interview with Fox News, referencing "his assassination in cold blood in front of his wife and young children." It soon came out that Kirk's family was not, in fact, at the campus event at the time, but Erika's experience was no less horrifying or heartbreaking. She recently recalled that tragic day in an interview with Fox's Jesse Watters.

On the afternoon of September 10, 2025, Erika had accompanied her mother to a doctor's appointment near their Arizona home. As she explained, they briefly watched the beginning of the rally on her phone. It would be the last time she saw her husband alive; Erika put her phone down to move her mother to a different room, and when she picked it up again, Mikey McCoy, chief of staff at Turning Point USA, was on the line. "I'll never forget him being like, 'Charlie's been shot. He's been shot. Get the kids. Get security. Get the kids. Get the kids. He's been shot,'" she recalled. "I sprinted out of her treatment center, just collapsed in the middle of the parking lot." Erika was quickly flown to the Utah hospital where she was informed that her husband had been dead on arrival. 

Erika Kirk's last social media post with Charlie is so tragic now. Just as she advised expectant moms to see to Dad's comfort in the maternity ward, so too did Erika think of Charlie's comfort right before his death. The new Turning Point USA CEO recalled in her Fox News interview that around 3:00 AM September 10, 2025, their 3-year-old daughter GG came into their room to snuggle. Knowing it can be hard to rest with a toddler, Erika suggested Charlie move to GG's room for a few uninterrupted hours. In the morning, Charlie left quietly so as not to disturb his family. But in doing so, "I didn't even get to kiss him goodbye," Erika mourned. The next time she saw the conservative podcaster was laid out in the hospital, where she finally got to deliver that final kiss. Erika reported that Charlie appeared peaceful and even happy, with a "smirk" on his face. "That smirk to me is that look of 'You thought you could stop what I've built,'" she said. "'...You got my body. You didn't get my soul.'" 

Since then, Erika has been busy picking up where her late husband left off, visiting Turning Point offices and attending rallies. She accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Charlie's behalf and was given the newly minted Charlie Kirk Legacy Award from Fox Nation's Patriot Awards. Yet while Erika tries to present a brave front to the world, there are times her vulnerability shows through. Recently, Erika's Oval Office visit had everyone doing a double take when she appeared with minimal makeup and her hair in messy waves. It was clear her overwhelming grief is never far from the surface.