In the days since Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, many celebrities and public figures have shared their thoughts about his death at the age of 31. On this week’s episode of their Jinger & Jeremy Podcast, Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo shared their thoughts about Charlie’s death, including how “incredibly strong” they believe his widow, Erika, has been.
While discussing Charlie’s death, they focused on the comments that Erika made to the press in the days that followed, which seemed to hit both Jinger and Jeremy particularly hard.
“I think the hardest part was, Erika shared a statement which was incredibly strong two days after her husband’s passing,” Jeremy said on the podcast. “And she just was collected and delivered a powerful statement.”
During the speech, Erika mentioned her 3-year-old daughter — one of the two children she shared with Charlie — and how she addressed his death when her toddler asked where her dad was.
Jinger read this passage from her speech on the podcast, getting emotional as she spoke.
“When I got home last night, Gigi, our daughter, just ran into my arms, and I talked to her and she said, ‘Mommy, I miss you,’ and, I said, ‘I miss you too, baby,’” Erika said in the speech. “And she goes, ‘Where’s daddy?’ How do you tell a 3-year-old? She’s 3. And I said, ‘Daddy loves you so much, baby, he’s on a work trip with Jesus so he can afford your blueberry budget.’”
Jeremy said he was in the car with his daughters Felicity and Evangeline at the time, and hearing Erika talk about her own daughter losing her dad is what made him have to stop listening.
“I think that’s a good answer, a work trip with Jesus,” Jeremy said. “Man, having kids, you just process everything differently. You just see it through their lens.”
Earlier this week, Erika was named the CEO and chairman of Charlie’s organization, Turning Point USA.
“The Turning Point Board has unanimously elected Erika Kirk as the new CEO and Chair of the Board,” the organization said in a statement shared on X. “In prior discussions, Charlie expressed to multiple executives that this is what he wanted in the event of his death.”
