Erika Kirk said on Wednesday on Fox News that TurningPoint USA‘s Super Bowl halftime show reflects what she described as Charlie Kirk‘s long‑held desire to be at the center of the cultural conversation, calling the effort a way to honor her late husband’s legacy while offering families another option.
Turning Point USA, the conservative activist group led by Kirk until his death, announced it would host its own halftime show, or “All American Halftime Show,” in response to backlash over the NFL’s decision to feature Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl LX halftime headliner.
Kirk told guest host Trace Gallagher on Fox News’ The Story with Martha MacCallum, “For us to be able to provide an alternative that’s pro-America, that’s just pro everything, that that’s not the opposite of what they’re putting out there, I don’t want to go into details and bash that, because there’s apparently an audience that wants that… But there’s a larger audience that wants ours. And so we are going to make it very amazing. I’m so excited.
Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk speaks during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” at Fox News headquarters on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, in New York…Read More
Why It Matters
Conservative lawmakers and pundits have framed Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl booking as a provocation. Some, like Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Fox News pundit Tomi Lahren, questioned why the Super Bowl—still seen by many as the apex of American cultural might—would hand its biggest stage to a Puerto Rican artist who performs exclusively in Spanish. President Donald Trump called the decision “absolutely ridiculous” before admitting he didn’t know who Bad Bunny was.
Weeks later, Trump said he would skip the Super Bowl altogether, dismissing the halftime lineup as a “terrible choice” and declaring himself “anti-them.”
Bad Bunny used his Grammy Award acceptance speech Sunday night to deliver an anti-ICE message, declaring “ICE out” before thanking God and receiving a thunderous standing ovation from the crowd.
TPUSA Halftime Show Lineup
Turning Point USA confirmed the lineup in a post on X on Monday.
The musicians Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett will all be performing at the rival halftime show.
Erika Kirk told Fox News, “He [Charlie Kirk] would be fist-pumping with this. He’d be so stoked. The artists that have teamed up with us, I just want to say thank you to them… It’s very brave of them to do this. And they have partnered with us without hesitation. And it’s actually been a huge blessing. And it’s going to be an unbelievable halftime show.”
She added, “What better way to honor him than just to get in the middle of this and be able to offer an alternative to families?”
The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., wrote on X in response, “I’ll take this over Woke Bunny any day of the week.”
How to Watch the TPUSA Halftime Show
The TPUSA halftime show will be streamed online during the Super Bowl halftime window. Turning Point USA has said the broadcast will be available across its digital platforms and shared through partner channels, such as Real America’s Voice and OAN, making it accessible on mobile devices, computers and smart TVs. Viewers are expected to find the livestream through the organization’s official website and social media accounts as kickoff then halftime approach.
‘Not in control of other people’: Erika Kirk responds to last person who spoke with Charlie Kirk, when ask
Erika kirk-Hunter Kozak: Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, faced a pointed question from a Utah Valley University student during a CBS prime-time town hall on Saturday night, where she was speaking publicly about the aftermath of her husband’s death. The exchange occurred when Hunter Kozak, a UVU student who traveled to New York City for the event and has been described as the last person to speak with Charlie Kirk, asked whether she would condemn what he characterized as violent rhetoric used by President Donald Trump.
“Will you condemn the violent rhetoric of Donald Trump, the most powerful and influential person on earth?” Kozak asked during the broadcast.
In her response, Kirk rejected any association with violence while acknowledging the concern behind the question. “I appreciate your question. You know my heart. Why would I ever say go murder people. I understand your sentiment. I do, but this is so much deeper than one person,” Kirk said.
Kozak later said he appreciated Kirk’s calls for “peace” and “unity,” while adding that he was “horrified” by those who have celebrated Charlie Kirk’s killing. Without directly naming Trump, Kirk emphasized her opposition to political violence. She said she “will never agree with political violence.”
When the town hall moderator asked whether political leaders bear responsibility for lowering tensions, Kirk said that responsibility extends beyond elected officials. “Everyone has a responsibility and I am doing my part. I’m not in control of other people,” she said.
Kirk also urged families to take an active role in shaping behavior, calling on parents to step up and encouraging people to reflect on their own actions.
“Can my children have one thing?” Erika Kirk asked, growing visibly agitated. Ms. Kirk’s late husband, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, was murdered nearly 100 days ago when an assassin’s bullet tore through his neck. In recent interviews, Ms. Kirk has addressed those who’ve celebrated her husband’s murder as well as those who’ve suggested the organization he founded is a co-conspirator in his death.
“Can my babies have one thing where we hold it sacred, where my husband is laid to rest, where I don’t have to be worried about some secular revolutionary coming and destroying my husband’s grave while my daughter is sitting there praying?” she said.
After their private meeting to discuss the allegations around the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, his widow Erika Kirk and political commentator Candace Owens both made public remarks about the discussion.
Kirk called Monday’s 4½-hour discussion “very productive” on X. Owens, in her post, also said it was “extremely productive” and claimed that the two parties “agreed much more than I had anticipated. Of course, we also disagreed on various points and people as well.”
The in-person meeting seemed inevitable due to Owens’ log of more than 40 podcast episodes on Charlie Kirk’s murder, where she has discussed a range of unsubstantiated theories. Then, last week, Erika Kirk went on a media tour, where she was publicly questioned about Owens for the first time; in response, Kirk said she would like Owens to “stop.”
Since the discussion, Kirk only published the initial post and has since remained silent.
On Tuesday evening, Owens opened her podcast with nearly 40 minutes of her point of view on the women’s conversation. She said every discussion point was on the table.
She said that Kirk was upset by a post earlier this month where Owens called Turning Point USA, the nonprofit organization that Charlie Kirk founded and that Erika Kirk is now the CEO of, a “godforsaken organization” filled with people who “betrayed” him.
“I have to own that that’s aggressive,” Owens said. “That is actually aggressive in the retrospect.”
Owens continued to double down on some unverified claims she has previously made on her podcast, including her belief that Tyler Robinson did not kill Charlie Kirk.
The alleged killer, 22-year-old Robinson, was charged by the state of Utah with seven felonies and one class A misdemeanor in relation to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The state is seeking the death penalty in the case.
In terms of evidence against Robinson, Owens said she believes the only evidence the attorneys have is what’s been made public in the affidavit. The charging documents in the case say Robinson’s parents recognized their son in police photos during the manhunt, and that his father recognized the rifle law enforcement said was the alleged weapon used.
The affidavit further says that his parents convinced Robinson to meet at their home, where he “implied that he was the shooter and stated that he couldn’t go to jail and just wanted to end it. When asked why he did it, Robinson explained there is too much evil and the guy (Charlie Kirk) spreads too much hate.”
Political commentator and former attorney Megyn Kelly, who said she helped arrange the meeting between Owens and Kirk, said on her podcast last week that she believes the prosecution has an “overwhelming mountain of evidence against (Robinson),” and she sees “all evidence pointing directly to Tyler Robinson. … My only question is, who may have helped him and who may have known about it prior to his arrest, and I really hope that the prosecution has no problem making that case.”
Kelly also called out people who think they deserve to hear any evidence found in the case surrounding Kirk’s death in her podcast last week.
“You’re not the target audience. They’re trying to preserve the integrity of this case for when they get it in front of a jury, who are the only people who matter,” she said. “Their opinion is the only opinion that’s going to matter in this case, and they will come to that opinion based on evidence that gets submitted to them that passes the rules of evidence … . That’s how our system works.”
Kelly continued, “It would be inappropriate for them (criminal prosecutors) to come out and shoot off their mouths about the latest and greatest they have. … Criminal prosecutors have an ethical obligation not to spout off about their evidence in the case.”
