Turning Point USA chief executive Erika Kirk has her eyes on a Republican presidential candidate to back in the 2028 election.
The widow of slain right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk will throw her support behind Vice President JD Vance and devote the resources of her late husband's political organization to helping him win the GOP nomination to succeed President Donald Trump, reported CNN.
“Let’s start with the midterms before we start jumping to ’28, 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," Kirk told podcaster Megyn Kelly. “So I just want to enjoy that for a minute before we start jumping ahead."
Kirk's late husband was a staunch advocate for Vance as Trump considered candidates to be his second running mate in 2024, and the two remained close friends until the Turning Points co-founder was assassinated at a campus event in Utah in September.
She also addressed speculation about an intimate hug she shared with the vice president during an October public event honoring her slain husband.
“My love language is touch, if you will," Kirk told Kelly. "So I will give you a play-by-play. They just played the emotional video. I’m walking over, he’s walking over. I’m starting to cry. He says, ‘[Charlie is] 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,’” she added.
However, she admitted that Vance, who is married with three children, reminded her of her late husband.
“No one will ever replace my husband,” she said. “But I do see some similarities of my husband in JD — in Vice President JD Vance. I do.”