Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, said she had been ‘praying to God’ that she was pregnant when her husband was shot and killed.
The 37-year-old was speaking with Megyn Kelly during a live on-stage interview in Arizona on Friday when she revealed how her longing for a larger family sparked the revelation.
Erika told Kelly during a tour stop in Glendale: ‘I was praying to God that I was pregnant when he got murdered.’
‘You told me this in private. How many kids did you want to have?’ Megyn asked.
‘We wanted to have four,’ Erika responded.
‘Oh, wow,’ Megyn replied. ‘I thought of that once. Whether it was meant to be or whether we’d get news like that.’
Erika continued: ‘I was like, oh, goodness, that was going to be the ultimate blessing out of this catastrophe.’
Charlie, founder of Turning Point USA and one of the most visible conservative activists in the country, was shot and killed in September while speaking to students at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, tearfully revealed how she had been ‘praying to God’ she was pregnant when her husband was shot and killed in September
Erika told of her private longing during a live interview with Megyn Kelly in Arizona on Friday
Erika and her late husband, Charlie, had two children together but the couple wanted four
She then urged young women not to wait to start having children.
‘When I see young couples, I tell them, “Please, don’t put it off.” Especially if you’re a young woman. Don’t put it off, you can always have a career, you can always, you know, go back to work. You can never just go back to having children. And they grow so fast and so quickly,’ she urged.
‘I was praying. Both of us were. We were just excited to just expand our family.’
Kelly told her, ‘Thank God you have the two. Thank God.’
‘A boy and girl. I know,’ Erika said, adding that one day they will understand their father’s public role.
Kelly said, ‘One day they’ll find out they’re Charlie Kirk’s children and they’ll know what that means,’ drawing applause from the crowd.
Friday’s interview marked one of Erika’s most personal public comments since her husband’s assassination.
Charlie is seen hosting an event at Utah Valley University, where he talked to a large crowd just minutes before he was fatally shot
The pair had been married for four years, getting engaged two years after they first met
Donald Trump embraces Erika at a memorial for Charlie in Glendale, Arizona, in September
Police arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson for Charlie’s murder. Authorities say he turned himself in shortly after the shooting.
The killing prompted swift reactions across the conservative movement.
Charlie’s memorial service, held at State Farm Stadium in Arizona, was attended by President Donald Trump, Vice-President JD Vance, and a wide range of Republican officials and influencers.
At the service, Erika took to the stage at his memorial service to deliver powerful remarks on his life and legacy, even astonishingly forgiving his alleged assassin in her moving speech.
Erika said Charlie ‘wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life… I forgive him,’ as the crowd erupted in applause.
‘I forgive him because it’s what Christ did. The answer to hate is not hate.’
The couple had two children – a one-year-old boy and three-year-old girl
Kelly spoke to Erika in Glendale, Arizona in a conversation recorded on Friday
Charlie founded Turning Point USA in 2012 and built it into the most prominent conservative youth organization in the country.
Trump praised him as one of the ‘key reasons’ he won reelection.
But Charlie’s prominence also brought criticism.
He attacked gay and transgender rights, frequently engaged in high-profile cultural disputes, and amplified Trump’s false claims that former vice-president Kamala Harris encouraged migrants to enter the US illegally.
He also drew condemnation for calling George Floyd a ‘scumbag,’ remarks that fueled accusations he inflamed racial tensions for political gain.
