In a rare interview, Charlie Kirk's mother pushed back on claims of a family rift with Erika Kirk, saying the loss of her son had brought the two women closer and that Charlie would be upset by the treatment of his wife online.
"We were 100% behind her," Kathryn Kirk September preliminary hearing.
"Don’t do it. Don’t you dare do it. It’s not too late," she recalled pleading silently as she watched the man on the screen, according to Vanity Fair’s account. She gripped Kathryn’s arm and cried out as the video showed Robinson taking position for the shot.
Erika also recalled insisting on seeing her husband’s body at the Utah hospital after a doctor advised against it.
"I looked back at him and said, ‘With all due respect, I want to see what they did to my husband. I didn’t get a kiss goodbye this morning. I just want to kiss my husband,’" she told Vanity Fair.
Hospital staff removed tubes from Charlie’s mouth, wrapped his neck and cleared away blood before she saw him, the outlet reported.
"I’ll never be able to put it into words," Erika said. "But Charlie had a smirk. It wasn’t sad."
Turning Point USA told Fox News Digital that Erika viewed her selection for Vanity Fair’s New Establishment list as an opportunity to tell her own story and reach an audience less familiar with her, Charlie and the organization.
"Erika believes in being open and engaging with people, including those who come from a very different perspective," a TPUSA representative said. "As Charlie often said, when people stop talking, that’s when bad things happen."
The representative also praised Kathryn’s defense of her daughter-in-law.
"Kathryn Kirk’s words were incredibly powerful. This is a loving, close-knit family that is deeply protective of one another, which is exactly how Charlie was."