Charlie Kirk’s Mother Denies Rift With Erika Kirk, Recalls Family’s Grief

Kathryn Kirk, the mother of assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has broken months of public silence to reject rumors of a rift with her son’s widow, Erika Kirk, telling Vanity Fair the two women have grown closer since his death rather than further apart.

“We were 100% behind her,” Kathryn Kirk said in the interview, dismissing claims that Charlie’s parents blame Erika for his death or are locked in a dispute with her over his will and the future of Turning Point USA, the organization he founded.

“Erika and I have, through the trauma, grown closer,” she said. “We knew Charlie in a way that no one else did. We can look at each other’s eyes, and we know the depth of our despair.”

Kathryn Kirk, who Vanity Fair reported had not previously spoken to journalists since her son’s death, said she wants to remain a private citizen. But her silence had fed online speculation about her relationship with Erika. According to the outlet, she cried while describing how upset her son would be at the way his wife has been treated on social media.

She also recalled how quickly the story broke into the media after the shooting. “A TMZ reporter called me even before I talked to my daughter. Before I was running the car,” she told Vanity Fair.

Plans made in final days

The Vanity Fair profile also described preparations Charlie and Erika Kirk had underway before his death, amid what the magazine said were mounting threats against him. Doug DeGroote, a Turning Point board member who manages the couple’s personal finances, told the outlet they had been working on their will and had planned to sign the paperwork at his office the Monday after Charlie was killed.

The night before he died, Charlie discussed security measures with Erika and their pastor, including bulletproof glass shields and vests, according to the magazine.

Turning Point board members, Erika Kirk and several people close to the couple told Vanity Fair that Charlie had made clear he wanted his wife to take over the organization if anything happened to him. Kathryn Kirk said her son kept those conversations from his parents “because it would just go right into our fears.”

“She knew him more than anyone,” a former Turning Point employee told the outlet, describing why Erika Kirk was chosen to lead the organization after his death.

Erika Kirk describes the hearing and the hospital

Erika Kirk also spoke to Vanity Fair about watching surveillance footage of the shooting during a September preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson, the man accused in the case. “Don’t do it. Don’t you dare do it. It’s not too late,” she recalled pleading silently as she watched the footage, gripping Kathryn Kirk’s arm and crying out as the video showed the gunman taking position.

She also described insisting on seeing her husband’s body at the Utah hospital where he was taken, despite a doctor’s advice against it. “I looked back at him and said, ‘With all due respect, I want to see what they did to my husband. I didn’t get a kiss goodbye this morning. I just want to kiss my husband,'” she told the magazine.

Hospital staff removed tubes from Charlie Kirk’s mouth, wrapped his neck and cleared away blood before she was allowed to see him, according to Vanity Fair. “I’ll never be able to put it into words,” Erika Kirk said. “But Charlie had a smirk. It wasn’t sad.”