Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha said Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk has a “great point” that the United States has become unrecognizable in the wake of political violence and highlighted personal attacks against her.
Concha called the political rhetoric “a permission slip for violence” on Thursday on Fox & Friends First.
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Kirk’s husband, political activist Charlie Kirk, was assassinated in September 2025 while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. Since then, she has faced allegations that she planned her husband’s murder and criticism that she cannot handle running TPUSA.
“If you want the personification of a person who has been through utter hell over the last nine months, it’s Erika Kirk,” Concha said.
Kirk spoke out on Wednesday about the shooting that happened at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. The Saturday event was cut short when gunfire rang out in the Washington Hilton and President Donald Trump, among other political VIPs, was evacuated.
Secret Service agents tackled the gunman, Cole Allen, 31. No serious injuries were reported, but one agent was shot on his bulletproof vest and is recovering. Allen was charged with trying to assassinate the president.
A clip from the event shows Kirk in tears leaving the dinner, saying, “I just want to go home.”
Kirk spoke out about the dinner on The Charlie Kirk Show.
“Our country has become unrecognizable,” Kirk said. “These people have perverted the truth to the point that they motivated the murder of my husband. They’ve continuously tried to assassinate the president. And anyone who stands in their way is labeled hateful, racist, fascist, and every other trigger word that is grossly dishonest.”
“The fact that this is so normalized that this happened just on Saturday night, and already you see in some parts of [the] media blaming Trump for his own assassination attempts against him or just in general just being apathetic about this as if this is a new normal,” Concha said.
Concha argued that the WHCA dinner should be one of the safest places for people to be because the president and vice president attended.
“Security was almost the equivalent of your average 7-11, where anybody can walk in and out,” Concha said.
During the podcast episode, Kirk also criticized comments made by late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel about the first lady looking like an “expectant widow.”
ERIKA KIRK SAYS ALLEGED WHCD GUNMAN’S RADICILIZATION MIRRORS ‘WHAT GOT MY HUSBAND KILLED’
“Good for her for also calling out Jimmy Kimmel for the sick person that he is, for rooting for the death of Donald Trump to make Melania Trump a glowing widow, for what? Cheap laughs,” Concha said.
“Give the woman some peace and just let her try to move on with her life.”
