Right-wing commentator Candace Owens has accused Erika Kirk, widow of the late Charlie Kirk, of lying about skipping a Turning Point USA event in Georgia due to security threats, instead claiming poor ticket sales were the reason. Owens wrote on X: 'This is exhausting. You pulled out because of bad ticket sales... Were there actually a viable threat, the Vice President would not have continued the event.' Videos posted on social media showed vast rows of empty seats at the arena.
Erika Kirk was set to appear alongside Vice President JD Vance after receiving 'very serious threats,' according to event organizers. Vance still appeared at the event. Kirk’s late husband was fatally shot in September during a campus event in Utah. Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet said onstage: 'It’s a terrible reflection on the state of reality and the state of the country.'
Vance addressed the scrutiny of Erika Kirk, saying: 'Everybody is attacking her over everything, and they’re lying about her, and it’s one of the most disgraceful things that I’ve ever seen in public life.' He added: 'This desire to go after her for the way she’s grieving her husband, that’s the most preposterous thing I’ve seen in a long time.'
Conspiracy theories have also swirled about a relationship between Erika Kirk and Vance, which both have denied. Second lady Usha Vance dismissed the talk as an ungrounded 'fever dream.' Erika Kirk described a hug with Vance as a benign expression of her 'love language.'
Vance’s appearance in Georgia came amid controversies including negotiations in Pakistan to end the Iran war, a White House feud with the pope, and his unsuccessful bid to boost Viktor Orban’s reelection campaign in Hungary.
