No, Erika Kirk Did Not Really Stand on Her Husband's Coffin — but She Did Share an Intimate Hug With J.D. Vance
Erika has exchanged very public, intimate hugs with the president and vice president.
Published Nov. 13 2025, 3:01 p.m. ET
Since controversial right-wing activist Charlie Kirk's murder in September 2025, his widow, Erika Kirk, has really stepped into the spotlight. She became the CEO of his organization, Turning Point USA, and plans to carry on his mission. Everyone grieves in different ways, but some of the posts Erika has shared have struck people as odd, performative, or out of place, such as the video she shared of herself crying over her husband's body.
She's also raised quite a few eyebrows for hugs that she's exchanged on stage with President Trump and J.D. Vance. The hugs looked very intimate, which is strange in such a public arena.
People started speculating that Erika was having an affair with Vice President Vance after photos of her hugging Vance at a Turning Point event went viral. So when a photo of Erika standing on her late husband's coffin while hugging J.D. went viral, some people didn't think it was too bizarre to be true.
The viral photo of Erika standing on Charlie Kirk's coffin is an AI-generated image.
The photo is based on a real image of Erika and J.D. embracing, but there was no coffin in the real image. The original AI-generated image was shared by the social media accounts @PaulleyTicks and Tom.Adelsbach, which are run by the same person, per Snopes. Tom's Facebook account's intro reads, "Changing the world by any 'memes' necessary," implying that the images he shares are intended as satire or parody.
The original image had the caption, "Digitally altered photo #parody."
Tom's account posted other memes of the scenario, one with Erika dreaming of becoming First Lady and J.D. dreaming of a couch (referencing the rumor that he was once intimate with a couch). Another simply places a couch behind Erika and J.D.. A third meme shows J.D. and Erika getting married, with J.D. standing on his wife's back as Erika stands on a coffin while wearing a wedding dress.
There are more clues that the photo is AI-generated.
In the AI photo, the word "Vice" is missing from the text behind Erika and J.D.. The word "President" has an extra "e" at the end, and the turning point USA logo is missing the red arrow at the top. If you zoom in, you can see that the bottom of the Fox News logo is garbled as well, according to Snopes.
Garbled text and misplaced letters are hallmark signs of AI, per Snopes.