Erika Kirk kicks off AmFest with Vance endorsement, dig at Joy Reid
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Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk welcomed attendees to the conservative organization’s first AmericaFest conference since the death of founder Charlie Kirk on Thursday, paying tribute to her late husband and his mission while also endorsing Vice President J.D. Vance to be the next president.
“What I’m inspired by is the fact that Charlie and I will still go where we need to go, but so will you. That’s why you’re here,” he said at the conference in Phoenix, Ariz. “You’re all here because you know you said, ‘I want to do something.'”
She said AmFest was her husband’s “Super Bowl” and that she was honored to carry on his legacy as conservatives mourn his assassination.
“I’ve learned so much in the past three months, it’s the enemy again, it will never win. We know we’re on the winning side,” he said. “God is so good.”
Erika Kirk, widow of political activist Charlie Kirk, speaks at Turning Point’s annual AmericaFest conference on December 18, 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona (Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images)
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He noted that 80% of participants had never attended a TPUSA event. The conservative organization has experienced a surge in interest since the assassination, which galvanized students on campuses across the country.
In an apparent diss of podcaster Candace Owens, Erika Kirk said Egypt was not one of the countries represented by attendees at the event. Owens has proposed numerous conspiracy theories around Kirk’s assassination, including that a mysterious Egyptian plane may have been linked to the murder.
Kirk said she’s learned who she can trust and pray with in the three months since her husband’s death, and also joked that far-left podcaster Joy Reid needed a “really good hug” and could even touch the back of her head. Reid recently said Kirk wasn’t wearing a “widow’s outfit” and downplayed the way he hugged Vance at a Turning Point event earlier this year.
Kirk cited statistics on Turning Point’s significant growth since September 10, including more than 1 million student engagements, 3,082 Club America chapters and 1,432 college chapters.
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She said the organization would help President Donald Trump’s Republican Party maintain control of Congress for his entire term and then ensure that her husband’s friend J.D. Vance gets “elected to the 48th in the most resounding way possible.” The next commander in chief will be the 48th president.
“There are so many ways to get involved,” he told attendees. “That’s why Charlie founded Turning Point USA the way he did. He didn’t care about your race, your age, your background.”
He also overcame something technical failureAs he noted, the explanations he prepared on his iPad were disappearing at the beginning of the comments.
“So this is a fun technical challenge that we can solve. So we’re going to wing it,” he said, cheering.
Erika Kirk sits quietly on stage during the 2025 New York Times DealBook Summit on Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 3 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
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Kirk told the audience to let this event be a real turning point in their lives, and as he concluded, he said the conference should challenge and challenge them.
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Speakers at the event over the weekend include Vance, Donald Trump Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek Ramaswamy, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Tom Homan and many other conservative leaders in politics and media.
