It’s been one year since Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University. At the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, Donald Trump honored the late conservative influencer, with his widow, Erika Kirk, also in attendance. However, afterward, Erika faced huge backlash in the form of memes spreading online.
Political influencer Charlie Kirk was shot to death during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025. The shooter is still to be sentenced.
Meanwhile, his wife, Erika, was left alone with the couple’s two children. She took over as CEO of Turning Point USA, the organization Charlie once founded.
But in the year since Kirk’s passing, his widow has been receiving a lot of criticism. Erika Kirk has been accused of grifting and profiting from her husband’s death, with some even saying she has fake-cried while making public appearances.
As late as September 7, she found herself once again in the spotlight after writing a guest column for The New York Times.
Of the days just after Charlie’s death, Erika wrote, “The past 24 hours feel like a fever dream as I land in Phoenix from Utah and return home. I get out of the car, and my kids run into my arms. They have no idea where I was or what I was doing. They care only that I am home.”
Erika Kirk slammed online
She continued, “As I walk to the front door, there’s a tightening in my chest I don’t recognize. Is this what grief feels like? I sit on the couch where Charlie sat two nights ago watching the Cubs with our kids. I feel a wave building inside me, and I know it’s about to crash.”
Many people criticized Erika and even mocked her for what they claimed was not caring about her late husband, but only about herself.
