Charlie Kirk’s widow has revealed the conservative grassroots organization he started is prepared to back Vice President JD Vance as the Republican candidate for president in 2028.
Erika Kirk said an endorsement from Turning Point USA, a movement credited with helping to catapult President Donald Trump to the Oval Office, is “in the works” during an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show released Monday.
“That was the thing that my husband was very direct about, it was, interestingly enough, one of the last few conversations we had was how intentional he was about supporting JD for ’28,” she said.
Erika Kirk has maintained a high profile in the wake of her husband’s assassination in September, as the organization he founded now faces the test of whether it can survive without his leadership.
The widow has often been seen with Trump, who spoke at Charlie Kirk’s funeral, and has previously mentioned Vance as the leading candidate to succeed him as president.
Erika Kirk’s announcement of a 2028 push for the vice president comes after her close relationship with Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, emerged after her husband’s death.
The vice presidential couple flew to Utah to be with Erika Kirk after her husband was killed, with images of Usha Vance comforting her going viral. And the vice president hosted an episode of Charlie Kirk’s podcast and later spoke alongside Erika Kirk at a TPUSA event honoring her late husband at the University of Mississippi last month.
Vance has not yet declared a 2028 presidential run.
“I would say that I’ve thought about what that moment might look like after the midterm elections,” he said during a recent Fox News interview. “But I also, whenever I think about that, I try to put it out of my head and remind myself the American people elected me to do a job right now, and my job is to do it.”
On Monday, Erika Kirk echoed Vance’s position, saying the 2026 elections are TPUSA’s current focus.
“Let’s start with the midterms before we start jumping to ’28,” she said. “And let’s enjoy the fact that we do have Donald Trump in office, and we worked really hard to make that happen, my husband did.”
The Arizona governor’s race next year will mark one test of TPUSA’s enduring influence. In another election in the state that took place earlier this month, the organisation saw a successful effort to recall Mesa City Councilmember Julie Spilsbury.