JD Vance & Erika Kirk's Awkward Side Hug Has Everyone Begging Usha To Head For The Hills

Erika Kirk and JD Vance shared another awkward hug that has the internet begging Usha Vance to run for the hills — or at least warn her that the hills are where the former beauty queen is trying to send her marriage. This time, the embrace in question happened on day four of Turning Point USA's AmericaFest Conference, as seen on YouTube. Perhaps anticipating backlash, JD initiated a high five, but Kirk decided to make it weird and went in for a hug. People on the internet had a lot to say about it, because of course they did. After last time, Kirk likely knew that was going to happen the second she leaned in.

Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images

"JD Vance is clearly having an affair with Erika Kirk behind Usha's back ... " someone speculated in a thread on X. Another user said, "Usha should be very concerned with JD Vance tight grips with 'grieving widow' Erika Kirk." They claimed that Kirk saying she'd help JD become president in a future election was a possible sign of her intentions: "First Lady aspirations? ... Erika is a fake." Someone else put Usha's apparent situation more simply. "JD had to apologize to Usha. No more. Erika Vance by 2027. Mark my words," the X user wrote.

Erika Kirk became a household name when her late husband, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in September 2025. Erika was given the position of CEO of the conservative organization after Charlie's death, taking on his mission to spread MAGA ideas to young people across the country. Since Charlie's murder was such a public and polarizing tragedy (it was the catalyst for ABC suspending Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show for a week), Erika often has either JD Vance or Donald Trump at her side for events honoring her late husband. 

Erika and JD's first viral, strangely intimate hug happened at an October 2025 TPUSA event. Because JD is married and has three kids with his wife, Usha Vance (who has since occasionally gone out in public without her wedding ring), Erika did some not-so-subtle hug-related damage control in a November 2025 appearance on "The Megyn Kelly Show." "Whoever is, like, hating on a hug needs a hug themselves. I will give you a free hug anytime you want a hug. My love language is touch, if you will," she told Kelly (per X). Apparently, JD had just told Erika that Charlie was proud of her. She then grabbed the back of JD's head while saying "God bless you" during their hug. Erika claimed that was common for her to do while giving hugs, adding, "If you want to take that out of context, go right ahead. Again, that, to me, shows that you need a hug more than anyone else." A few weeks later, Usha hinted at the Erika and JD affair rumors with brutal indifference, seemingly unbothered.