In the months since Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during a speaking engagement in Utah, his wife, Erika Kirk, has transformed into a one-woman media empire.
Erika has hosted rallies, visited the White House, and sat for countless interviews.
And this week, she launched her 30-city Make Heaven Crowded Tour.
Some folks think it’s all a bit much for a grieving widow with two young children at home — and Candace Owens is one of those folks.
Owens, a fellow conservative pundit who was friends with Charlie, has long been critical of Erika’s handling of Charlie’s death.
Now, Candace has released what she claims is audio of a giddy Erika thanking her staff for helping her host the September memorial rally for Charlie.
The recording was allegedly made just 11 days after Charlie’s death, and many have pointed out that Erika doesn’t sound how we imagine a grieving widow would sound.
“Wow, I don’t even know where to begin. The fact that we were able to pull off an event of the century is just insane. We had 275,000 people that attended and a stadium overflow,” Erika can be heard saying.
“I think we’re at like 200,000 for merch sales. Don’t quote me on that, cause I think it just keeps like bumping up like crazy. I just wanted to say a huge, huge thank you to the events team, the development team, the graphic design team, and the production team,” she continues, adding:
“Honestly, a lot of the staff that worked on the memorial — they had 20-hour days for a week during the time of us grieving the loss of my husband. And honestly, I know several staff who didn’t even sleep.”
Erika then shifted her tone and instructed her staff to set aside any disagreements between them.
“I don’t care if any of you have beef with each other from the past, or have any issues with, someone said something about this, or that, like if you guys have any of that, please put it to rest,” she said, adding:
“My husband’s dead. Like, I’m not trying to be morbid, but he’s dead. And it puts life into perspective of how short life is, and relationships.”
Many commenters agreed with Candace’s view that Erika seemed unnaturally upbeat in the recording:
“It is the general tone that is off-putting. It’s the laughter that is off-putting. It’s again, we are not even two weeks after watching your husband be assassinated. We’re talking about numbers and metrics that have been hit,” one user wrote.
“I’m so sick of this grieving in their own way. As a widow with small kids, who has been a part of groups of widows with small kids; her behavior is NOT normal,” another added.
Erika continues to enjoy a great deal of support from people who were fans of her husband’s.
But she’s also receiving more criticism than ever, mostly from people who believe she’s exploiting her husband’s memory for personal gain.