Meghan McCain has staunchly defended Erika Kirk (née Frantzve), the widow of Charlie Kirk, against what she termed “evil” criticism.
“I cannot comprehend why Erika Kirk, who witnessed her husband’s brutal assassination on live television, is subject to such malevolence and cruelty,” McCain, 41, expressed via X on Friday, March 27. “Why are you all doing this to her? Have she and her children not suffered enough?”
Charlie, a conservative political commentator, was shot and killed during a speaking engagement in Utah in September 2025. He was 31 and left behind Erika and their two young children.
“Some of you were literally birthed in hell,” McCain further remarked on Friday.
In the weeks following Charlie’s death, Erika took on the role of CEO of Charlie’s organization, Turning Point USA, and embarked on a press tour to promote his posthumous book, Stop in the Name of God.
“My daughter and I have talked about this at night. She would ask, ‘What do you think Daddy did today in heaven?’” Erika shared with Sean Hannity on Fox News in December 2025. “I’ll have her relay that back to me. We’ve come to the understanding — and I’ve tried to explain this to her — that Daddy’s still with us, he’s just in a different location, and he’s building us a home in heaven.”
Erika has faced criticism for resuming work so quickly after her husband’s passing.
“I didn’t ask for this,” she remarked during a CBS town hall held later in December 2025. “I see it as a blessing and a duty to my husband, but I was very content being a stay-at-home mom. There’s nothing wrong with being a mother.”
Erika elaborated, “Taking on this role is not just a job title. It’s not a 9-to-5 for me, and this is something that I’m very passionate about. [Turning Point USA] is still a living, breathing version of my husband. This organization is not just a company to me, and the staff and employees are not just staff and employees, they’re family.”
Social media users also criticized Erika for her notable hug with Vice President JD Vance at a Turning Point event earlier in fall 2025. (JD, 41, is married to Usha Vance, who is expecting their fourth child.)
“My love language is touch, if you will,” Erika explained about the seemingly intimate moment on Megyn Kelly Live in November 2025. “I will give you a play-by-play: They just played the emotional video. I’m walking over, [JD] is walking over. I’m starting to cry. He says, ‘I’m so proud of you.’ And I say, ‘God bless you,’ and I touch the back of his head. Anyone whom I have hugged, that I have touched the back of your head when I hug you, I always say, ‘God bless you.’”
