"An assassin doesn’t get a W" - Podcaster Mary Katharine Ham defends Erika Kirk going on a book tour for her late husband

Journalist and podcaster Mary Katharine Ham recently defended Erika Kirk following the criticism that the widow received in the wake of her husband Charlie Kirk's assassination. Erika Kirk, who was recently appointed the CEO of her husband's organisation, Turning Point USA, after his death, has been in the public eye since the assassination.

She was recently on a book tour to promote her late husband's book, titled Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life, earlier this month. Kirk also hosted America Fest 2025, Turning Point USA's annual event, between December 18 and 21, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Erika Kirk's public appearances have drawn scrutiny from netizens on X, with one user claiming something felt off about the widow going on a book tour so soon after her husband's death. On December 22, 2025, Mary Katharine Ham came to Erik Kirk's defense as she responded to the criticism on X, referencing her own loss and saying that she moderated a primary presidential debate four months after her husband's death.

She added that doing something she believed in after her loss helped in the healing process. Furthermore, she said that Charlie Kirk's assassin did not deserve a win by killing him because Erika was "determined to push his vision forward."

"Four months after my husband died, and 2 months after I had a baby, I moderated a primary presidential debate. Doing things that are tough, that you believe in, can be healing. An assassin doesn’t get a W by killing Charlie bc she is determined to push his vision forward."

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Erika Kirk responded to criticism about her public grieving during an interview on her book tour

Erika Kirk made six appearances on Fox News to promote her late husband's posthumously released book, which was published on December 9, 2025. Charlie Kirk reportedly completed the book a month before he was fatally shot at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025.

Erika Kirk gave her first Fox News interview on Hannity, which aired on December 8, 2025. The following day, Kirk was interviewed on Fox & Friends, where she addressed the criticism she received for her grieving process. She said that people continue to analyze everything about her without knowing anything about her, saying:

"You get the echo chamber, you get people analyzing everything about you. They think they know everything about you — they know nothing about you. They see you on TV. They think, ‘Oh, she’s this, she’s that. He said this, he said that.' And honestly, it’s Charlie saying, ‘Baby, just stop. Stop. You don’t have to answer to every single person that’s accusing you of things, or saying that you’re doing this or grieving a certain way.'”

This is not the first time the widow has spoken about her grief. On October 10, 2025, a month after Charlie Kirk's assassination, Erika Kirk took to her Instagram to pay tribute to her husband, where she wrote that there was "no linear blueprint for grief," adding that she spent some days crying while playing with her children during other days.

She also wrote about her love for Charlie Kirk, adding that the "magnitude of suffering didn’t steal my love for my husband."

"It’s humbling to realize that this magnitude of suffering didn’t steal my love for my husband. It amplified it. It crystallized it. I carry my Charlie in every breath, in every ache, and in every quiet act of day to day living as I attempt to relearn what that rhythm will be. And what I’ve realized through these past 30 days is the greater the suffering, the purer the love. And I have never loved him more than I do now," she wrote.

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Meanwhile, Erika Kirk recently went viral for saying "grift" instead of "grit" during a speech onstage at AmFest 2025 on December 20. According to HuffPost, many online felt that the gaffe was a Freudian slip on Kirk's part.

Edited by Juhi Marzia