Addressing thousands of activists at the Phoenix Convention Center, Kirk declared, “We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected” in 2028.
Erika Kirk, the widow of assassinated Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, has endorsed Vice President JD Vance for the 2028 presidential election.
While opening the pro-right group’s America Fest annual conference at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 18, Erika Kirk said: “We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48”, and a video of her remarks is going viral on social media.
Kirk likely meant getting JD Vance elected as the 48th President of the United States.
She made her support explicit, while also urging Republicans to focus on retaining their majorities in the House and Senate in next year’s midterm elections.
“We are building the red wall,” she said. “We’re going to make sure that President Trump has Congress for all four years” of his current term.
The final words of her statement were largely drowned out by cheers from the crowd.
An endorsement from Turning Point USA, an influential conservative organization, particularly among young activists and MAGA voters, could give Vance a significant boost if he runs for president in three years.
JD Vance on presidency
While JD Vance has never publicly expressed a desire to be President one day, the strong endorsement from Erika Kirk is being seen as a big boost for the VP’s political future. “My attitude is the American people elected me to be vice president,” Vance told the New York Post in October.
“I’m going to work as hard as I can to make the president successful over the next three years and three months, and if we get to a point where something else is in the offer, let’s handle it then,” he had said.
Erika Kirk, who took over leadership of the organization after her husband’s death, had earlier said that a Turning Point USA endorsement of Vance was “in the works.”
Charlie Kirk was assassinated during a Turning Point USA event in Utah on September 10.
Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with state offenses, including aggravated murder, and has not yet entered a plea.
The Justice Department, NBC News reported, is also considering whether to pursue federal charges against Robinson under an anti-Christian hate crime statute.
Vance, who was close to Kirk, is scheduled to speak on Sunday, the final day of the America Fest conference.
