km. Erika Kirk Says JD Vance Has Been a ‘Blessing’ Since Husband Charlie’s Assassination, Praises JD and Wife Usha’s ‘Love’

Ahead of her viral embrace with the vice president on Oct. 29, Charlie Kirk’s widow told Fox News’ Jesse Watters about how he and his wife had shown her “genuine love”

Meredith Kile is a Digital News Writer-Editor at PEOPLE. She has been an entertainment and political journalist for more than a decade, previously working for Entertainment Tonight, VICE and Al Jazeera America.

NEED TO KNOW

• Erika Kirk opened up about how Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance have supported her since the death of her husband, Charlie Kirk
• Erika told Fox News’ Jesse Watters that the vice president “has been a blessing” and the second family has shown her “genuine love”
• Her comments, revealed in a newly released interview, were recorded shortly before her viral onstage embrace with the vice president at a recent Turning Point USA event

Ahead of her viral embrace with JD Vance at a recent Turning Point USA event, Erika Kirk opened up about how the vice president and his wife, Usha, have been a source of support since the death of her husband, Charlie Kirk.

“He’s been a blessing,” Erika, 36, told Fox News host Jesse Watters in a newly released interview clip that was pre-recorded before the University of Mississippi event on Wednesday, Oct. 29.

“Him and Usha, they are the most incredible people. Incredible. With such genuine love,” she continued. “I mean, just everything they did for us was so humanized. They just, they were there for us. They’ve been there for us.”

Following Charlie’s assassination during a TPUSA event on Sept. 10, Erika took her husband’s place as Turning Point CEO. She opened the Ole Miss tour stop with an emotional speech, noting that the day marked seven weeks since her husband was killed.

Erika told Watters that the Mississippi event had already been arranged with JD before her husband’s death, and “we just wanted to keep everything in motion that Charlie wanted.”

“With everything that JD and Usha did for myself and Charlie afterwards, how could you not?” she added.

Erika’s speech at the event was a tearful tribute to her late husband and his political mission, though her introduction for JD went viral on social media for a different reason.

“No one will ever replace my husband,” she told the crowd. “But I do see some similarities of my husband in JD— in Vice President JD Vance. I do. And that’s why I am so blessed to be able to introduce him tonight.”

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As the vice president, 41, took the stage, he and Erika embraced in an intimate manner. After tightly squeezing, Erika moved her hand to the back of JD’s head, and his hands briefly rested on her waist.

The greeting surprised many internet users, according to a flurry of viral posts on social media that analyzed their hand placements and debated whether the hug was appropriate for the situation, given Erika’s recent loss.

During her interview with Watters, which aired in full on Wednesday night, Erika also described what it was like seeing her husband’s body in the hospital after he’d died on the scene after the shooting.

“When we walked into that room … he had this smirk on his face,” Erika said, dabbing tears from her eyes. “That smirk, that smirk to me is that look of, ‘You thought you could stop what I’ve built. You thought you could end this vision, this movement, this revival. You thought you could do that by murdering me. You got my body; you didn’t get my soul.’ “