Trump embraces Erika Kirk after she missed JD Vance event

President Donald Trump greeted Erika Kirk with a kiss on the cheek and a squeeze on an Arizona stage days after she skipped an event with Vice President JD Vance. 

Trump headlined a Turning Point USA ‘Build the Red Wall’ rally Friday afternoon at Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona, where the late Charlie Kirk’s organization is headquartered.

Erika Kirk decided against attending an event with Vice President JD Vance earlier this week, citing security concerns in the aftermath of her husband’s brutal assassination.

Trump memorialized Charlie Kirk at the top of his speech – which was spent listing his administration’s accomplishments ahead of the important November midterms.

‘Charlie was murdered by a cruel and vicious assassin who believed that by silencing his voice, he could kill an entire giant movement,’ the President said. 

‘But standing here today, it’s clear to see that Charlie’s voice is not silenced. It’s roaring. And roaring back loudly, frankly, than ever before,’ Trump added. 

During her introduction of Trump, Kirk talked about her late husband, but also called attention to the most recent Democratic scandal – the downfall of California Representative Eric Swalwell. 

She implored the crowd that Arizona, which has elected a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators in recent cycles, not turn into the bright blue California. 

Swalwell abandoned his gubernatorial run and resigned from Congress after rape and other sexual misconduct allegations were leveled at him. 

He denied the rape allegations, but has apologized to his wife publicly for his misdeeds. 

‘We don’t want Arizona to elect people like Eric Swalwell,’ Kirk said. ‘We do have his best friend, Ruben Gallego, here. So we have some work to do.’ 

Gallego, a former House colleague of Swalwell’s, was elected to the US Senate in 2024, over Trump ally Kari Lake. 

Earlier this week, Charlie Kirk’s widow pulled out of a Turning Point USA event in Georgia, headlined by Vance. 

‘I know that she did get some threats,’ Vance said onstage at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. ‘I was a little worried that we were going to have to cancel the event because Erika was not going to come, and she was very worried about it.’ 

Vance expressed that he had spoken with the Secret Service and didn’t fear for his safety. 

Charlie Kirk was assassinated in broad daylight while speaking at a Turning Point USA event on Utah Valley University’s campus in September, a shocking moment of political violence in the United States. 

It propelled his 37-year-old widow to political prominence, with the Daily Mail reporting earlier this week that Kirk was now feeling the strain of being in the limelight. That factored into her decision to cancel on Vance.

She did attend the bridal shower of Bettina Anderson, Donald Trump Jr’s fiancée, over the weekend, with the Daily Mail’s DC Insider newsletter reporting exclusive details, including that the President called into the event to wish the happy couple well. 

‘Everyone was really happy to see Erika Kirk and rallying around her in her time of difficulty,’ one shower guest told the Daily Mail, who declined to be named. 

Trump’s stop in Phoenix marks his second stop in a tour of two important swing states – Nevada and Arizona – as he tries to shore up Republicans’ economic message ahead of the November midterms. 

During the Arizona event, Trump complained about what could be a forthcoming shellacking. 

He bemoaned how the incumbent’s party traditionally loses Congressional seats in the midterms.

‘It doesn’t make sense,’ he complained. ‘Even if you have a President who is doing a good job.’ 

‘It should be the opposite, we’re doing well, we’re doing our job, we’re ending wars,’ he noted. 

He teased that the Iran war, which he started alongside Israel, should be wrapped up soon, suggesting the closeness of a peace deal. 

‘Wait until you see prices fall. Did you see oil is down today?’ he asked the crowd.  

On Thursday afternoon, Trump spoke in Las Vegas about his ‘no tax on tips’ policy that was included in the ‘big, beautiful bill.’ 

There, he mused that the White House staff’s attempt to tout the policy with a DoorDash delivery of McDonald’s to the Oval Office was ‘tacky.’ 

‘You know, they come up with these crazy ideas … They’re a little embarrassing,’ he told the crowd.