Donald Trump delivered his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday night, and as expected, several high-profile figures were in the audience.
And while the US men’s hockey team might have scored the night’s biggest round of applause, for many viewers, the night’s most emotional moment belonged to Erika Kirk.
Kirk, of course, is the widow of the late activist and podcast host Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed during a speaking engagement in Utah last year.
For months after Charlie’s death, Erika was everywhere: giving interviews, hosting rallies, and visiting the White House.
She even launched a 30-city tour with the questionable title of “Make Heaven Crowded.”
But in recent weeks, Erika has been far less visible.
That changed last night when she was seated next to Anna Zarutska, the mother of murder victim Iryna Zarutska, and both guests were acknowledged during Trump’s speech.
The bereaved women received standing ovations, but as many have pointed out, their approach to grieving their loved ones could not be more different.
Whereas Zarutska has maintained a low profile and asked that her daughter’s murder not be politicized, Erika has rebranded herself as a one-woman industry.
And the decision has attracted a good deal of criticism.
Some of the harshest criticism has come from Charlie Kirk’s friend and fellow podcaster Candace Owens.
In a new “investigative series” that’s set to launch later today, Candace plans to present her theory that Tyler Robinson — who is awaiting trial for Charlie’s murder — was not actually responsible for the crime.
Many have called Candace out for her conspiracy peddling behavior, including her former Daily Wire boss Ben Shapiro.
“She is making money off the murder of Charlie Kirk by literally implicating his widow and everyone else at [Turning Point USA] in that murder, and then trying to dig up pseudo-dirt on the wife of the person who was murdered,” Shapiro said this week.
“I don’t know what to call that, other than evil trash.”
Erika may soon find herself in a bitter legal battle with Candace, and it was widely assumed that was one reason why she’s been keeping a lower profile in recent weeks.
But she accepted the White House’s invitation to be a guest of honor at the State of the Union — and many are taking that as a sign that she won’t be backing down from this fight.