JD Vance: 'I'll Never Forget' What Erika Kirk Told Me the Day After Charlie's Death
Vice President J.D. Vance revealed something Monday that Charlie Kirk’s wife, Erika, said to him last week that inspired him to want to be a better husband and father.
Vance first recounted, while guest-hosting “The Charlie Kirk Show,” how he and his wife, Usha, traveled to Utah Thursday on Air Force Two to meet Erika and other members of the Kirk family to bring Charlie’s remains to Phoenix.
“It was heartbreaking and it was sad and it was terrible, but what an honor it was for me and my family to be welcomed into the Kirk inner circle in their moment of grief,” Vance said.
JUST IN: Erika Kirk and Usha Vance hold hands as they step off Air Force Two with Charlie Kirk’s casket arriving in Arizona. pic.twitter.com/SR4adhSbe1
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 12, 2025
“I said, Erika, he loved you so much. He died way too young, but he died a happy man because of you, because of the family that you gave him, because of the home and the life that you guys had built together,” he recalled.
Charlie and Erika married in May 2021, and they had two children together, now 1 and 3.
Charlie Kirk is a husband and father of two sweet babies. He always advocated for life at college campuses. Jesus can work miracles. Pray for his life. pic.twitter.com/7q0TP2kpt8
— Anna Lulis (@annamlulis) September 10, 2025
“In these moments, you don’t know what to say. I’m a person who literally speaks for a living, and I had no idea what to say, and didn’t try to console her, because how do you console a person who just lost a loving husband and father?” Vance explained.
He said what they ended up talking about for about an hour or so were their favorite Charlie stories, his funny idiosyncrasies, and who he was as a person.
“And she said something to me that I will never forget … She said to me that Charlie never raised his voice. That he never cussed at her. That he was never cross or mean-spirited,” Vance said.
.@VP talks about flying out to Utah, where he met the Kirk family, and flew @charliekirk11 home to Arizona:
“I said, Erika, he loved you so much. He died way too young, but he died a happy man because of you, because of the family that you gave him…” 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Po9phlAzaR
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 15, 2025
“I think, on the great balance of things, that I’m a pretty good husband, but I can never say that I was never unpleasant with my wife. I can never say that I’ve never raised my voice to my wife. Like most husbands, even the good ones, we’re sometimes imperfect,” he continued.
“I took from that moment that I needed to be a better husband, and I needed to be a better father,” Vance said.
Today marks 4 years of being married to @MrsErikaKirk. Second to following Jesus, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. She is bold, smart, loyal, and beautiful.
Happy anniversary, Erika. I love you. pic.twitter.com/yG5Iuaop1v
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 9, 2025
The vice president then became emotional as he talked about the moments that he has shared with his wife and kids since Charlie’s murder have been a reminder that his friend will not have that opportunity.
He concluded, “Maybe the best way that I can contribute and the best way that I can honor my dear friend is to be the best husband that I can be, be the kind of husband to my wife that he was to his.”
During an interview with Sage Steele last December at America Fest in Phoenix, Erika shared that every morning, Charlie would ask her, “How can I be praying for you? How can I make your day better?”
This is my favorite part of my conversation with Erika Kirk last December at Charlie’s AmFest event. Listen to how she describes her faith-based love for her husband and their marriage. So many lessons ❤️ Please, please keep this incredible woman in your prayers. pic.twitter.com/0OqWYaDe2l
— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) September 11, 2025
She, in turn, would ask him, “What do you need at home?”
In other words, Erika explained to Steele what she wanted to know from her husband: “When you come home, how can we make the landing pad a little bit softer?”
During Monday’s radio show, the vice president commended Erika for the courage she showed in addressing the nation Friday night about her husband’s assassination.
“You see this raw grief and incredible courage, all in the same moment, and that’s what we need right now,” Vance said. “We need to grieve, but we also need this courage in this moment, more than we’ve ever needed it.”
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