By the end of 2018, Erika launched her Proclaim Christian streetwear brand—which now sells baby blankets, adult clothing, luggage tags, leather bookmarks, engraved straws, beanies, and socks. Charlie appeared alongside his wife in the marketing photos for some of the merchandise—as well as the promotional art for her podcast—a blurring of their personal and professional lives that was present from the start. Turning Point USA not only backed Trump during his 2020 and 2024 elections; it also sponsored their 2021 wedding reception, according to the AP.
In the days since Kirk’s assassination, the Trump administration has treated him like a national hero—with Vice President JD Vance, his wife, Usha, and Air Force Two deployed to escort the casket to Arizona. Erika, mourning in all black and sunglasses, was photographed clutching the second lady’s hand as she exited the plane.
The visual called to mind a black-and-white photo of Jackie Kennedy after her husband’s 1963 assassination. In shock, with blood on her pink-and-black skirt suit, she clutched the hand of her brother-in-law Robert Kennedy as she watched her husband’s casket being removed from Air Force One. In the days afterward, Jackie Kennedy meticulously planned her husband’s state funeral, drawing on historic symbolism and imagery to begin shaping her husband’s legacy behind the scenes. This immediate period following Kennedy’s death is when the late president’s widow invented the shimmering fairy tale of Camelot.
But this is the social media age, and Erika, a MAGA-first wife turned widow, has grieved on the public platform. She posted a 12-slide Instagram carousel depicting her sitting over her husband’s casket, kissing Charlie’s lifeless hands, Charlie’s casket being transported, and Usha comforting her. “I have no idea what any of this means,” Erika wrote alongside the haunting images and videos. “But baby I know you do and so does our Lord.”
And Erika’s efforts to shape her husband’s legacy thus far have not been as subtle: Speaking last Friday, she said, “Now and for all eternity, he will stand at his savior’s side, wearing the glorious crown of a martyr.” In that address, she served her husband after death as she had during life. “She doesn’t make it about her,” commended a social media user reposted on X by Hugoboom. “It’s all about HIS name and HIS legacy.” The Turning Point USA statement announcing Erika as her husband’s successor made it clear she would be continuing his mission: “We will not surrender or kneel before evil,” board members said. “We will carry on.”
