What to Know
Grief looks different on different people, but when Erika Kirk lost her husband and the CEO of Turning Point USA, her actions in the public surprised a lot of people. From frequent public speaking events to crying or laughing at different intervals when she was seen out, Erika’s strange behavior had a lot of people just a tad bit confused.
Then, on Reddit, users posted about a TikTok video that seems to explain the different facial expressions that she makes while speaking about Charlie or when other people speak about him. It turns out, there might actually be a way to predict which expression or response Erika will have when one of her strange public reactions fails her.
Erika Kirk’s Strange facial expressions each have a meaning.
@thecantrellfam ♬ Lucifer's Waltz – Secession Studios
The TikTok, which was later shared to Reddit, shows Erika’s reactions to Donald Trump speaking about Charlie at the YEAR State of the Union Address. Erika attended and was in the audience, which at the time seemed overkill to some, but it was also a time when Erika was on her Erika Kirk Grief Tour. Well, it wasn’t really called that, but most of her critics had the understanding that it felt that way, looking on from the outside.
The TikTok shows how Erika’s facial expressions change as Trump speaks. First, she gives a “pitiful face.” Then, she goes into “somber mode.” From there, next, Erika has a “dramatic swoop” where she looks down. And then, almost always, she looks up, as if looking to Charlie in Heaven, perhaps? But it doesn’t stop there, because Erika’s “teary expression” really drives it all hope despite very few, if any, tears that come, according to the TikTok user who originally made the video.
On Reddit, someone speculated, “She appears to be trying a new emotion every second? Sort of like a modeling gig that no one asked for?”
Another wrote, “Her PR company probably told her that even though she is excited for money from grifting, she needs to play the sad somber spouse. Unfortunately she waited too long [for] that PR company.
People also speculated that Erika looks up often when she appears to be trying to hold back tears because she is looking to bright lights above to sort of make her tear up. This goes along with the idea that Erika isn’t actually crying about the loss of her husband.
“She does this constantly when trying to be emotional,” a Redditor wrote. “Once you’ve seen it once you notice it in most [of] her appearances.”
Her behavior is almost always concerning
The analysis on Erika’s behavior at the State of the Union Address isn’t the first time people noticed her strange facial expressions and behavior following Charlie’s death. Just a few months after he was shot and killed, someone posted on Reddit that Erika “acts like a weirdo.” Little did they know that she would continue to make public appearances, promote Turning Point USA, and display some of the same behavior repeatedly.
“I gave her leeway at the beginning because I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a spouse in such a way, but at this point, looking at everything, she’s acting like someone who is almost glad her husband was murdered, because it gave her a platform,” the user wrote.
Others commented about Erika’s “huge beaming smiles” and the pyrotechnics at events where she is front and center as a speaker. It could be how she deals with her grief, but babe, the optics are not good.
Some people still don’t know why she was even at the State of the Union Address.
Getting back to that TikTok, it’s still not clear why Erika was seen as important enough to not only attend the State of the Union Address, but to be called out by Trump as he spoke. Then again, Charlie was seen as a sort of martyr for his cause, so the right audience who already supported both Trump and Turning Point USA might have welcomed seeing Erika there.
READ NEXT: Erika Kirk Says ‘Career-Driven’ Women Want the Government To Act As Their Husband
