Erika Kirk Awkwardly Blames Viral Hug With JD Vance For This After Facing Backlash
Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, finally addresses speculation surrounding her hug with Vice President JD Vance at an event honoring her late husband.
The viral moment occurred on October 29 when Vance was invited to a Turning Point USA event in memory of the group’s slain executive director, who was shot dead while speaking to students at Utah Valley University on September 10.
Before welcoming Vance to the stage, Erika Kirk, who has since taken over as CEO of Turning Point USA, told the crowd that “no one will ever replace” her husband, but that she “sees some similarities” between him and the vice president.
When Vance took the stage, he and Kirk shared a tight hug in which she rested her hand on the back of Vance’s head while his hands moved down to hold her waist.
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The couple’s hug immediately led social media users to analyze their body language and the nature of their friendship, with many debating whether the hug was appropriate for the widow and the vice president of the United States.
Over the weekend, Erika Kirk addressed the gossip with political commentator Megyn Kelly in a live event for the ““The Megyn Kelly Show” in Glendale, Arizona, on November 22.
After Kelly mentioned that people “went to the strangest places” over Kirk’s hug with Vance, Kirk told the crowd. that her “love language is touch” and remembered what led to the interaction.
“So I’ll tell you play by play… They just played the emotional video. I come closer, [JD] is approaching. “I’m starting to cry,” Kirk explained.
“He says: ‘[Charlie] He’s very proud of you. And I say, ‘God bless you,’ and I touch the back of his neck,” he continued. “Anyone who I’ve hugged, who I’ve touched the back of the neck when I hug you, I always say, ‘God bless you.'”
If someone “wants to take that out of context,” they can “move on,” Kirk concluded.
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“They acted like they touched the back of his head,” Kelly joked.
Kirk agreed, adding, “I feel like I wouldn’t get as much hate if I did that.”
The vice president has yet to publicly address his viral hug with Erika Kirk, and the White House did not immediately respond to News themezone’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, a representative for the vice president’s wife, Usha Vance, addressed photos of the second lady in which she appears without her wedding ring in North Carolina on Wednesday.
“[She is] a mother of three young children, who washes a lot of dishes, takes a lot of baths and sometimes forgets her ring,” the representative told People on Saturday.