Before political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University, he had met Donald Trump in person, but he wasn’t part of his inner circle. So when Trump delivered the eulogy at Charlie’s memorial on Sept. 21, 2025, it was a bit surprising. Even more surprising, however, was the way Charlie’s wife, Erika Kirk, embraced Trump like he was a father comforting his daughter.
In a clip shared and inspected on TikTok, as Trump clips often are, Erika hugs Trump and he hugs her back, but she appears to hold on just a touch too long. It’s clear that she feels some sort of comfort with the president there, and everything Trump has said about Charlie proves that he believed in the late public speaker’s values. But for some, the hug was just too much.
@literally_lyd LIKE WHAT WAS THATTT ????? i wish I didn’t have EYESSS 😭😭😭😭
♬ original sound – lyd (taylor’s version) 🆘🇺🇸
Erika Kirk definitely hugged Trump a bit too long for comfort.
When Erika and Trump embraced on-stage during Charlie’s televised memorial service, it was clear that Erika was deeply in mourning. No one is doubting that or even criticizing her for mourning her husband, who she lost unexpectedly in a violent crime. One takeaway that some have, however, is the length of that hug between Erika and Trump.
“Why did she hug him so intimately VERY PUBLICLY?!?” one user commented on the clip.
Another wrote, “This must be the weirdest memorial I’ve ever seen in my life and I’m in my 60s.”
Someone else said simply, “It’s such a weird reaction from both of them.”
In the clip on TikTok, Erika hugs Trump and rests her head on his chest.
He hugs her back, and seems to think the hug will end at that. Instead, though, Erika holds onto him and he even makes an awkward face as one hand squeezes her shoulder. It’s all a bit much for some, and they were quick to comment as much on the video.
“She was hugging him like she is a little girl hanging onto her father during a scary part of the movie,” a user wrote under the video. “It’s weird.”
Others agreed with their fair share of memes that showed shocked or disgusted faces across the board. Elsewhere on the internet, Trump shared a video of Erika from the memorial event on his official Instagram account.
He also posted a photo of the two of them hugging with no caption. Though to be fair, do we really need a caption for that? The comments from supporters and critics say enough.
Trump called Charlie Kirk a “martyr.”
Although there are viral moments from the memorial service that users on social media have clung to, others can’t help but remember what Trump actually said in the eulogy about Charlie.
Even though Charlie was not a politician and now part of Trump’s administration in any way, Trump referred to him as a “martyr” when he spoke at the event, per the BBC.
Trump reportedly referred to Charlie as the country’s “greatest evangelist for American liberty,” and seemingly officially declared him a “martyr now for American freedom.”
