Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, the conservative political activist who was assassinated in September during a speech at Utah Valley University, broke her silence on the viral hug she shared with Vice President JD Vance.
During an event at the University of Mississippi last month, JD Vance introduced Erika Kirk to the stage, after speaking about losing his “best friend”, and the duo shared a hug that many criticized as “disgusting.”
Kirk made the revelation while speaking with former Fox News personality Megyn Kelly during her live show on Saturday. “Whoever is hating on a hug, that needs a hug themselves, I will give you a free hug anytime you want a hug,” said Kirk.
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“My love language is touch if you will,” she added. “They just played the emotional music, I am walking over, he is walking over, I am starting to cry, he says ‘he is so proud of you’ and I say ‘God bless you’ and I touch the back of his head”, Erika said as she gave a play by play of the events that led to the hug.
“Anyone who I have hugged that I have touched the back of your head when I hug you, I always say ‘God bless you’. That’s just me”, she added. She said if anyone wanted to take that “out of context”, that shows that they need a hug “more than anyone else.”
When the moderator on the stage said the critics were “acting as if you touched the back of his a–“, Erika said she feels she “wouldn’t get as much hate if I did that.”
The comments did not play well with many on X. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a woman hugging me like that as a married man,” one person wrote.
“I doubt wifey would like it either,” he added. “Why is she always cleaning her eyes? There are no tears,” a second person added.
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A body language expert recently told The Mirror U.S. that JD Vance and Erika Kirk were simply sharing a “moment of emotional vulnerability” after critics slammed the pair for being “inappropriate” during an on-stage hug.
One social media user remarked: “It is disgusting, inappropriate. Not only is she touching his hair and his head with her hand wrapped around his head, she’s pressing her body into his while she’s wearing her skin-tight leather pants,”
Another chimed in: “Erika Kirk and JD Vance, literally fondling on stage. This is disgusting. This isn’t how you hug a ‘friend’. This is intimate, and weird.”
Body language expert Judi James characterized the greeting as a “grief hug” explaining that Erika appeared “like a child seeking comfort” from Vance.
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