Erika Kirk Speaks to the Liberal Elite—and Almost Sticks the Landing
By: Erin Vanderhoof (Vanity Fair)
Turning Point USA has become a vision-led organization. And Erika Kirk seems to believe in that vision. The sensational assassination of Charlie Kirk will fade from the public attention and dim the media spotlight but it looks like TPUSA is here to stay.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
As a grieving widow and the CEO of one of the country’s most powerful right-wing groups, Erika Kirk is in a tough position when it comes to coherent political messaging. It’s been nearly three months since her husband, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, was killed , and she’s had to live out a national nightmare in public. In a Fox Nation docuseries and an array of speeches, Kirk has embodied composure onstage and made pleas for political unity. At least, until her culture-warrior side comes out.
During an appearance at The New York Times ’ DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Kirk started by wistfully recalling a less polarized era in which Republicans and Democrats would share lunch after “duking it out” on the House floor. Later, she promoted a divisive view of her own by insinuating that female voters supported New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani for reasons beyond his policy positions.
“A high percentage of his voters were female,” she said. “I think there’s a tendency, especially when you live in a city like Manhattan—where, again, you are so career-driven, and you almost look to the government as a form of replacement for certain things. Relationship-wise, even. So you see things a little bit differently.”
Did she mean to say that female voters were all crushing on Mamdani? Kirk paused before offering a slight clarification. “What I don’t want to have happen is young women in the city look to the government as a solution to put off having a family or a marriage because you’re relying on the government to support you—instead of being united with a husband, where you can support yourself, and your husband can support, and you can all combine together,” she said.
Times columnist and DealBook founder Andrew Ross Sorkin didn’t seem to know how to respond, so he pivoted. “Um… JD Vance ?” he replied, asking Kirk what she thought of the vice president’s prospects in 2028.
Though Kirk has become a national figure since the death of her husband, her selection as the closing speaker at the annual summit for the Times ’ business vertical was unexpected. But Sorkin explained the reason for the decision after the two got onstage. About a year ago, he said, he met and befriended Charlie. The two texted and emailed frequently about their political disagreements.
“Charlie Kirk was supposed to be here today. He was supposed to be part of a task force that we had been talking about for quite some time,” Sorkin said. He decided to instead extend the invitation to Erika Kirk after she spoke ahead of President Donald Trump at her husband’s televised memorial service . “I sat and watched the funeral by video, and I watched you, and I sat in awe…when you forgave the assassin…. It was at that moment I said to myself, I need to talk to Erika,” Sorkin explained.
The previously planned elements of the DealBook Summit also went forward, with Ben Shapiro there to represent the right-wing internet. When talking to Kirk, though, Sorkin set the stage for a more feelings-forward dialogue. “We’re gonna have an emotional conversation,” he told the audience. “We do have Kleenex—not for her, but for me.”
In the months since her husband died, Kirk has appeared in both power suits with Fox News–ready makeup and pious garb with a clean face. On Wednesday, she landed somewhere in between, wearing a demure gray dress and light eyeshadow. Kirk began by discussing her grief and sharing her perspective on her husband’s legacy. At moments, she was downright ecumenical when discussing how she had been leaning on her faith. “I wasn’t up there for anyone else but for the Lord and my husband. Those were the only two people in my quote, unquote, audience,” she said of her “game time” decision to forgive her husband’s killer . “That’s the Lord, that’s my faith, and I don’t expect everyone to understand that.”
Eventually, Sorkin pivoted to the necessary political questions. He noted that some female colleagues at the Times wanted him to ask Kirk how she planned to balance parenting with her new role as a CEO, given her previous urgings for mothers to prioritize their families and stay home with their children.
“There really is no such thing as balance,” she said. “There is really no blueprint of what I’m going through. It’s really a one-of-one type of situation.” She originally had different views on working women, Kirk said, but “Charlie essentially plucked me out of the New York City orbit and was like, ‘I have a healthier way of viewing things and looking at life’…and he was right.” Now, she said, she has help from those around her. “I bring my children to the office. I have them with me constantly. We have a phenomenal team. It doesn’t just fall on my shoulders.”
Considering the somber circumstances, it’s understandable that Sorkin didn’t know how hard to push back against his guest. But it’s difficult to imagine this veteran journalist allowing another interview subject to evade a straightforward question about whether they believe the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a mistake, something Kirk’s husband asserted during his life.
“My husband, just because he would make certain statements, did not mean that he was trying to rile up a certain part of people. He was trying to, again, go after ideas, not people. He was trying to get people to think a little bit differently,” Kirk replied when Sorkin brought this up. “It might make people uncomfortable, it might make dialogue uncomfortable. But there’s growth in that.” Sorkin didn’t follow up further.
Kirk had taken the stage immediately after Gavin Newsom, who demurred when Sorkin asked about his future plans should he not be governor or president. The California governor expressed his desire to avoid the question by quoting former Supreme Court justice Louis D. Brandeis: “In a democracy, the most important office is not governor, mayor, president. In a democracy, the most important office is office of citizen,” he said.
It was an apt phrase to have in mind while listening to Kirk, who has the poise and even-tempered nature of a natural political candidate. But as the CEO of Turning Point, she might have more influence over the future of the Republican Party from the sidelines—and if she stays in that position, she won’t have to come to a concrete conclusion about civil rights law.
Kirk is, however, getting better at making an emotional appeal when she needs to. Onstage Wednesday, Kirk said that social media insults no longer register to her. “Especially after he was murdered, I took it all off my phone,” she said. “When you kiss the bloody, dead body of the person that you love, it pales in comparison to being called x, y, z.”
Erin Vanderhoof is a staff writer at Vanity Fair, where she covers culture, books, music, and the royal family and cohosts the podcast DYNASTY . Her reporting and commentary on the royals has been featured on the Today show, NBC News, BBC’s Newsnight, CBS Sunday Mornings, and more. Her criticism, book reviews, and essays have also appeared in The New York Times, Pitchfork, and The Nation. A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, she currently lives in Brooklyn. Follow her @vanderhoofy on Twitter and Instagram .
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Erika Kirk really is a citizen performing the duties of a citizen. Gov. Gavin Newsom may mouth the words "In a democracy, the most important office is office of citizen". But Erika Kirk is testing the theories of democracy by putting democracy to work. As a citizen should.
I wish her well, she is a young widow with young kids.
TPUSA ,though, would have to do a 180 to get any of my approval. Their overall message is toxic.
She's rich enough to afford nannies so that's ok. But gawd forbid someone like me take my children to daycare so I can work a job that I trained for so I don't have to rely on "gubmint" assistance.
I mean what the hell? Does she honestly think career women rely on the gov't to take care of them? That's why they have careers so they can take care of themselves. And it's none of her goddamned business if these women want to get married and have families.
Right wingers believe in imposing their lifestyle choices on everyone else.
they can decapitate my before I knuckle under