Meghan McCain issued a strong defense over the allegedly “evil” criticism of Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk (née Frantzve).
“I do not understand why Erika Kirk, who saw her husband get brutally assassinated on live television, is a target of such evil and cruelty,” McCain, 41, wrote 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 Utah speaking engagement in September 2025. He was 31 and is survived by Erika and their two young children.
“Some of you were literally birthed in hell,” McCain added on Friday.
Weeks after Charlie’s death, Erika assumed the role of CEO of Charlie’s Turning Point USA organization and went on a press tour promoting 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 told 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 drawn criticism for diving into work so quickly after her husband’s death.
“I didn’t ask for this,” she stated during a CBS town hall held later in December 2025. “I view it as a blessing [and] a duty to my husband, but I was very happy being a stay-at-home mom. There’s nothing wrong with being a mother.”
Erika continued, “Stepping into this role is not so much 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 commenters also criticized Erika over her now-infamous hug with Vice President JD Vance at a Turning Point event earlier in fall 2025. (JD, 41, is married to Usha Vance, who is pregnant with the couple’s fourth baby.)
“My love language is touch, if you will,” Erika said of the seemingly cozy 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.’”
