Erika Kirk, widow of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, speaks during a Turning Point USA event at the Pavilion at Ole Miss at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, U.S. October 29, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Pool
A nearly year-old Fox News clip of Erika Kirk crying over her late husband went viral again this week. Critics accused the Turning Point USA CEO of slipping a hot sauce plug in between “fake tears.”
The footage is from Kirk’s Dec. 9, 2025, appearance on “Fox & Friends,” The Blast reported. She was there to promote Charlie Kirk’s posthumously published book, “Stop, in the Name of God,” a few months after his assassination in September 2025.
During the interview, Kirk described the everyday reminders of her husband that hit her hardest.
“What really just hits me hard is when I’m in the grocery store, and I see his hot sauce, I want to buy it,” she said.
She went on to mention seeing his clothes around their home and grew visibly emotional recalling Charlie coming home to their children.
“To the world he was Charlie Kirk, to us he was the love of my life, my children’s dad,” she said.
When the clip resurfaced on X on Friday, many viewers focused on the hot sauce. Charlie Kirk had his own brand, and Kirk’s Hot Sauce has an Instagram account promoting it.
“I REFUSE to believe that she just snuck in a hot sauce promo...” wrote influencer Mario Nawfal. His post had drawn nearly 700,000 views.
“I had no f---ing clue there was Charlie Kirk hot sauce, or a Charlie Kirk clothing line, until Erika Kirk slipped it in between her fake tears,” one X user wrote.
MeidasTouch editor Ron Filipkowski wrote: “When I first saw this clip I thought she was referring to Charlie’s favorite brand of hot sauce. But no, as it turns out they are selling Kirk Hot Sauce for $8.99.”
Commentator Richard Hanania shared the clip with a quote saying she missed Charlie when she saw “his hot sauce on the shelf, which is now available at grocery stores everywhere.” The line about grocery stores everywhere doesn’t appear in her remarks.
Others attacked the tears themselves. “I can’t believe people fell for this utter theatrical garbage!” another user wrote.
Kirk had defenders. A RedState writer who posts as “Bonchie” pushed back on Nawfal and quoted what she actually said.
“The level of depravity it takes to attack a widow by claiming that’s a ‘promo’ for hot sauce is hard to fathom,” he wrote.
The Blast noted that Kirk never asked viewers to buy the product in her remarks. It also said there is no confirmation that the mention was paid or planned product placement.
It’s not the first time Kirk has faced criticism over how she has publicly mourned her husband. She has also been scrutinized over a reported $10,000-per-plate fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago and a leaked audio recording of remarks she allegedly made after his memorial service, according to the outlet.
I REFUSE to believe that she just snuck in a hot sauce promo... https://t.co/FzNBOx0Z5l
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 7, 2026
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