- In October 2025, online users alleged Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk — was having an affair with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
- Snopes found no credible evidence to confirm this unsubstantiated, widely-circulating rumor.
- Social media users promoted the claim with video clips and still photos captured during a large Turning Point USA event occurring in Mississippi on Oct. 29. Erika Kirk and JD Vance both spoke in front of the crowd, with the vice president also fielding audience members’ questions.
- Some posts spreading the affair rumor featured still (archived) photos (archived) showing Erika Kirk hugging JD Vance onstage after she — and her late husband, via a past video clip — introduced the vice president. One of those authentic pictures truly displayed her right hand on the back of his head. As many users remarked, a second authentic photo appeared to depict the vice president’s left hand directly on Erika Kirk’s pants and right hip. A full video (the 31:45 mark) from the event confirmed he did not touch her pants or hip, with the photographer capturing the still picture as JD Vance was in the process of already having removed his hand from her waist, when he was bringing the hand back down to his own side.
- Users who shared the affair rumor also included in some posts two brief video clips (archived), one from Erika Kirk’s speech and another showing an answer JD Vance provided to an audience member regarding the Hindu faith of his wife, second lady Usha Vance. Those users’ short videos did not include the larger context of the vice president’s words, which we present furrther down in this article.
A rumor that circulated online in late October 2025 claimed Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk — the widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk — was having an affair with U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
The rumor specifically pertained to a TPUSA-organized event on Oct. 29, dubbed the “This Is the Turning Point Tour.” The gathering took place at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion arena on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. Mississippi Public Broadcasting reported nearly 10,000 people attended.
During the event, Erika Kirk spoke to the crowd for close to half an hour. Then, she introduced JD Vance and shared a hug with him when he walked onstage. The vice president spoke to the crowd for nearly one hour, including fielding questions from the audience.
In users’ posts — which appear later in this article — they presented still photos of JD Vance and Erika Kirk hugging after she introduced him. Some users also included brief video clips of Erika Kirk talking about Vance and of him speaking about his wife, second lady Usha Vance. (The Vances have three children, including two sons and one daughter. ABC News reported Kirk had one daughter and one son, their father being Charlie Kirk.)
In short, Snopes reviewed users’ posts that promoted this rumor and found no credible proof to confirm the claim Erika Kirk was romantically involved with the vice president.
Users alleged one of the widely-shared authentic photos from the evening depicted JD Vance resting his left hand directly on the leather, or leather-appearing, pants of Erika Kirk’s right hip. As we explain later in this article, video evidence confirmed his left hand only touched her back and right waist, the photographer having captured the picture after Vance had already removed his hand and brought it back down to his own side.
We contacted Turning Point USA and the White House, presented them with several social media posts as examples and requested comment regarding the matter. We will update this article if we receive further information.
Charlie Kirk, a co-founder and former CEO of the conservative TPUSA organization, died at the age of 31 on Sept. 10 after being shot in the neck during an outdoor event for his “The American Comeback Tour” on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Following his death, TPUSA named Erika Kirk as its new CEO and board chair.
Digging into the rumor
Numerous social media users either shared the rumor of Vance and Erika Kirk having an affair, said they would be romantically involved or married in the future, or highlighted photos of their onstage hug following her introduction for his speech. Those posts appeared on Bluesky, Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Reddit (archived), Threads (archived), TikTok (archived), X (archived) and YouTube (archived).
Highlighting two of the more prominent examples, one Threads post (archived) received well over 1 million views, as of this writing. According to the Getty Images website, the post displayed two authentic still photos, with one image featuring Erika Kirk’s right hand behind Vance’s head during their onstage hug, and the other picture showing his left hand on her right hip.
In a TikTok user’s video (archived), also receiving over 1 million views, the user claimed unnamed people were “trying to replace” Usha Vance with Erika Kirk. The user commented about the pair’s hug, then featured a brief portion of Erika Kirk’s introduction of JD Vance, as well as part of the vice president’s remarks about Usha Vance following the Hindu religion.
We transcribed part of the user’s video:
TIKTOK USER: Here is her introducing him at Turning Point.
ERIKA KIRK (video clip): I am tremendously blessed and honored tonight to be able to introduce to you a very, very dear friend, and his wife. They are incredible. And I see, no one will ever replace my husband. No. But I do see some similarities of my husband in JD and Vice President JD Vance. I do.
TIKTOK USER: And if you’re not convinced yet that they’re, they’re trying to replace her with Erika Kirk, this is him when asked by a student about him and his wife’s difference and, like, their religious beliefs, and he ends it with this.
JD VANCE (video clip): Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly, I do wish that, because I believe in the Christian gospel and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way.
TIKTOK USER: He wants her to fall in line. He wants her to be a Christian nationalist just like him. And if he can’t convince her, he’ll find a new one.
In the next section of this article, we’ve provided context and transcripts, as well as longer videos showing more from the event.
Erika Kirk’s full introduction and hug
The USA Today YouTube channel hosted a video featuring the entire TPUSA Ole Miss event with Erika Kirk and JD Vance.
Erika Kirk’s introduction of the vice president begins at the 29:44 mark in the clip.
In the video, Erika Kirk specifically says the words “no one will ever replace my husband.” She doubles down by adding an unequivocal “No,” then mentions she believes she sees “similarities” between her late husband, Charlie Kirk, in JD Vance. The bolded portion below represents the part of the clip included in the earlier-mentioned TikTok video:
I am tremendously blessed and honored tonight to be able to introduce to you a very, very dear friend and his wife. They are incredible. And I see, no one will ever replace my husband. No. But I do see some similarities of my husband in JD and Vice President JD Vance. I do. And that’s why I am so blessed to be able to introduce him tonight because he understands the fight that we’re up against and he can articulate that in a way that transcends race, that transcends demographic backgrounds. He’s an amazing man. So, please help me welcome to the stage Vice President JD Vance.
Following Erika Kirk’s introduction of the JD Vance, organizers played a video on large screens of Charlie Kirk introducing the vice president at a previous event. Once the clip ended, Erika Kirk walked to stage left and hugged JD Vance for less than five seconds. The hug begins at the 31:45 mark in USA Today’s video.
The context of JD Vance’s answer about wife’s religion
During the evening event, the vice president fielded several audience questions, including one at the 1:02:34 mark in the USA Today video, in which a woman speaks into a microphone to ask a multi-part question regarding immigration and religion.
The moment appearing in some social media posts, including the aforementioned TikTok user’s post, concerned how the vice president and second lady were navigating and “balancing” religion with their children, considering his Christian beliefs and Usha Vance’s Hindu faith.
We transcribed the relevant part of his answer, with the bolded portion being the only part appearing in the popular TikTok video promoting the affair rumor. Specifically, the TikTok user did not include the words showing “respect” to Usha Vance” directly following the bolded portion, including the vice president saying of her faith, “And so, that doesn’t cause a problem for me”:
You asked you asked a personal question about about our interfaith household, and yes, my wife did not grow up Christian. I think it’s fair to say that she grew up in a Hindu family but not in a particularly religious family in either direction. In fact, when I met my wife, we were both, I would consider myself an agnostic or an atheist and that’s what I think she would have considered herself as well.
You know, everybody has to come to their own arrangement here. The way that we’ve come to our arrangement is, she’s my best friend. We talk to each other about this stuff. So, we decided to raise our kids Christian. Our two oldest kids who go to school. They go to a Christian school.
…
But, I think everybody has to have this this this own conversation when you’re in a marriage. I mean, it’s true for friends of mine who are in Protestant and Catholic marriages, friends of mine who are in, you know, atheist and Christian marriages. You just got to talk to… the only advice I can give is you just got to talk to the person that God has put you with and you’ve got to make those decisions as a family unit. For us, it works out.
Now, most Sundays, Usha will come with me to church. As I’ve told her, and I’ve said publicly and I’ll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends, do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly, I do wish that, because I believe in the Christian gospel and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way. But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will. And so, that doesn’t cause a problem for me. That’s something you work out with your friends, with your family, with the person that you love. Again, the most one of the most important Christian principles is that you respect free will.
Usha is closer to the priests who baptize me than maybe I am. They talk about this stuff. My attitude is you figure this stuff out as a family and you trust in God to have a plan and you try to follow it as best as you can. And that’s what I try to do.
The official Turning Point USA YouTube channel featured a video of the full exchange between the attendee and vice president.
For further reading, a previous fact-check article examined an authentic quote in which JD Vance said “car seat rules” were causing Americans to have fewer kids.
Sources
Caruso, Skyler and . “JD Vance’s 3 Kids: All About Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel.” People.com, 15 Jul. 2024, https://people.com/all-about-jd-vance-kids-8678153.
“Charlie Kirk: The American Comeback Tour.” University of Mississippi, 29 Oct. 2025, https://eventcalendar.olemiss.edu/event/charlie-kirk-hosted-by-the-tpusa-chapter-at-university-of-mississippi-ole-miss-the-american-comeback-tour.
Colvin, Jill, and Jonathan J. Cooper. “Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point Taps His Widow as Its next Leader. Questions about Its Future Remain.” The Associated Press, 18 Sep. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/turning-point-charlie-kirk-erika-kirk-trump-ff9141ca3fd5b8f1a103e7eb03f7535b.
Cooper, Jonathan J. “JD Vance Calls for Reduction in Legal Immigration at Turning Point Event.” The Associated Press, 30 Oct. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/jd-vance-charlie-kirk-ole-miss-turning-point-b10749131d445b5313b5c28f54ff2864.
Kindelan, Katie. “Charlie Kirk’s Family: What to Know about His Wife Erika, 2 Kids.” ABC News, 14 Oct. 2025, https://abcnews.go.com/News/charlie-kirk-wife-erika-two-kids/story?id=125460687.
“Live: JD Vance, Erika Kirk Speak at Ole Miss Turning Point USA Event.” YouTube, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/live/WR-CDomfZs4.
Loe, Megan. “Charlie Kirk Is Dead after Shooting at Utah College Event.” Snopes, 10 Sep. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//news/2025/09/10/charlie-kirk-shooting-death/.
“Royalty-Free Stock Photos, Creative Images & Vectors | News, Fashion, and Entertainment Imagery.” Getty Images, https://www.gettyimages.com/.
Stribling, Will. “At Ole Miss, J.D. Vance and Erika Kirk Draw Crowd of 10,000 for Turning Point USA Rally.” Mississippi Public Broadcasting, 30 Oct. 2025, https://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/at-ole-miss-jd-vance-and-erika-kirk-draw-crowd-of-10000-for-turning-point-usa-rally/.
Tucker, Grace. “Is JD Vance Catholic? What about Usha Vance? What to Know about the Vice President’s Faith.” Cincinnati Enquirer, 21 Apr. 2025, https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2025/04/21/what-religion-is-jd-vance-what-religion-is-usha-vance/83192503007/.
“Vice President JD Vance Responds to Emotional Question on Faith and Immigration.” YouTube, Turning Point USA, 30 Oct. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WScSX1vyWI8.
