Erika Kirk Endorses JD Vance for 2028 Presidential Run After Their Intimate Hug Went Viral

Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, has publicly endorsed Vice President JD Vance for a 2028 presidential run should he be up for the task.

While speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix on Thursday, December 18, the organization’s CEO spoke about her political aspirations for the new year and beyond.

“We are locked in and mission focused for both 2026 and 2028,” Erika, 37, began. “We’re investing in states and not just in races. So what I mean by that is we are building the red wall: Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire. That’s going to be very important to us.”

“We’re going to ensure that President [Donald] Trump has Congress for all four years,” she continued. “We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected [as President] 48 in the most resounding way possible.”

Vance, 41, has not made any public announcements about his plans after Trump, 79, exits the White House.

However, he was asked about the prospect during an October 29 interview on the New York Post’s Pod Force One podcast.

“It feels so premature because we’re still so early,” he said. “And what I always say to people is, ‘If we take care of business, the politics will take care of itself.’ And we’re nine months into this [administration]. We’ve done a lot of good. There’s a lot more work to do.”

“My attitude is: the American people elected me to be vice president,” Vance continued. “I’m going to work as hard as I can to make the president successful over the next three years and three months. And if we get to a point where something else is in the offer, let’s handle it then.”

Erika’s endorsement of Vance comes after their intimate embrace at a Turning Point USA event on October 29 went viral.

The vice president’s relationship with wife Usha — who has been seen in public multiple times without her wedding ring on — has been under a microscope in recent weeks, with rumors that there is trouble in paradise.

Vance set the record straight in a December 5 interview with NBC News. Though he admitted that “there are certainly ways in which [the media attention is] difficult on the family,” he said that their marriage “is as strong as it’s ever been.”