What Erika Kirk's Final Moments With Charlie Were Like

Turning Point co-founder and CEO Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, while at an event at Utah Valley University. After the conservative commentator's death, his widow, Erika Kirk, became the new CEO of the organization Charlie founded to spread conservative ideas among young adults. Since Charlie's death, Erika has made appearances at the White House and with President Donald Trump and even shared a viral hug with Vice President JD Vance.

Erika made speeches at the aforementioned events, but the first televised interview she gave since Charlie's death, with Fox News' Jesse Watters, aired on November 5, 2025. In her interview with Watters (X), Erika recalled her last moments with her husband's body after she insisted on seeing it. "He had this smirk on his face ... That smirk to me is that look of, 'You thought you could stop what I've built? You thought that you could end this vision, this movement, this revival, you thought you could do that by murdering me. You got my body, you didn't get my soul,'" she said through tears.

🚨 JUST IN: Erika Kirk RECOUNTS the moment she saw Charlie's CORPSE for the FIRST TIME 🚨

"We walked into that room... he had this smirk on his face."

"That smirk to me is that look of you thought you could stop what I've built... You got my body, you didn't get my soul." pic.twitter.com/LYLPPjdl7b

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) November 5, 2025

She'd previously told The New York Times that she didn't travel to Utah with Charlie for the collegiate event, but remained at their home in Arizona. She said Charlie couldn't sleep well the night before leaving for Utah, so he fell asleep in a separate room from her. But she heard him leave on the morning of his death and texted him that she loved him before his plane took off. Later that day, she got the call about the shooting and flew to Utah.

Although Erika Kirk insisted on seeing her husband Charlie Kirk's body after he was killed, she told Fox News' Jesse Watters she hasn't seen the viral video of him actually getting shot, and she has no plans to. "There's certain things you see in your life that you can never unsee," she said, via a video clip on X. "There's certain things you see in your life that mark your soul forever. I don't want my husband's public assassination to be something I ever see."

She continued, saying she planned to make sure her and Charlie's two kids never see the footage. She asked people who potentially enjoy watching the footage to consider how they would feel if it were their family member who was recorded being shot. "We're human. Life is fragile, and there is so much beauty in this world. Why would you waste any portion of your life looking at something so evil?" she asked.