Speculation soared online after an intimate moment between Erika Kirk and JD Vance on stage last month. Erika, the widow of Charlie Kirk, recently shared what Vance whispered during their embrace. This moment took place at a Turning Point event at the University of Mississippi on October 29, where they honored the late Charlie Kirk. Charlie was tragically assassinated on September 10 while speaking to college students in Utah. During the event, Erika introduced Vance, drawing parallels between him and her late husband, highlighting their shared compassion and leadership qualities.

Vance, the vice president, stirred additional controversy at the event by discussing his devout Catholic faith while mentioning his wife Usha is Hindu. He expressed a hope that she might convert in the future, which some critics perceived as a dismissal of her beliefs. However, it was the heartfelt hug between Vance and Erika that truly captured the internet’s attention. The embrace was filled with warmth, as Erika placed her hand on the back of Vance’s head while he held her waist.

This moment quickly became a talking point on social media, with some critics deeming the display of intimacy as inappropriate. However, many defended it as a genuine moment of shared grief between two people who deeply admired Charlie. Erika addressed the incident for the first time during an interview with Megyn Kelly in Arizona. Laughing, she acknowledged her nature, with Kelly chiming in, “You’re an intense hugger!” This exchange offered a glimpse into Erika’s personality and the genuine emotion behind the embrace.

‘My love language is touch, if you will … So I will give you a play by play. They just played the emotional video. I’m walking over, he’s walking over. I’m starting to cry. He says, “I’m so proud of you.” And I say, “God bless you,” and I touch the back of his head. ‘Anyone whom I have hugged that I have touched the back of your head when I hug you, I always say, God bless you.’ Kelly responded with a quick joke, ‘They were acting like you touched the back of his [expletive]!’

‘I feel like I wouldn’t get as much hate if I did that!’ Erika said with a laugh. Following Kirk’s assassination, Erika has taken her husband’s role as CEO of Turning Point USA, the largest college campus conservative organization in America. Less than 24 hours after Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University in September , the vice president and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, flew to the state in order to escort Kirk’s body back to Arizona on Air Force 2.

Footage from the event shows Vance escorting Kirk’s casket on board the plane, while Usha comforts an emotional Erika. Kirk’s memorial later that month in Arizona was attended by President Donald Trump and the top member of his White House cabinet. ‘Charlie was so proud of Erika and the two kids. He was so happy to be a father,’ Vance told a crowd of 60,000 supporters at Kirk’s memorial. ‘And he felt such gratitude for having found a woman of God with whom he could build a family.’

More recently, Usha was spotted without her wedding ring during an official White House engagement alongside First Lady Melania Trump. The Second Lady was ringless during her visit to Camp Lejeune military base in Richlands, North Carolina last week on Wednesday. Photos from the event show Usha getting off a plane with her left hand in full view and the wedding band nowhere to be seen.

The absence of the ring occurs weeks after the vice president revealed a stark religious divide in his marriage with Usha: He is a devout Catholic while she is Hindu. When contacted by the Daily Mail a spokesperson for the Second Lady said Usha ‘is a mother of three young children who does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths, and forgets her ring sometimes’.