PoliticsCandace Owens Exposes Erika Kirk's Private Call Boasting About Increase in Turning Point USA Sales Days After Husband Charlie's Assassination
Charlie Kirk's widow sounded shockingly upbeat on a call with TPUSA employees shortly after his death.
Jan. 28 2026, Published 5:40 p.m. ET
Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, can be heard excitedly discussing Turning Point USA merchandise sales just eleven days after his September 2025 murder.
Candace Owens released a leaked audio recording of a call in which Erika, 37, praised TPUSA staffers for helping her "pull off the event of the century" and boasting about the money coming in for the conservative political youth organization founded by her late husband.
"Were at over 200,000 merch sales," she boasted during the virtual meeting, adding, "It just keeps bumping up like crazy."
'Were at over 200,000 merch sales,' Erika Kirk boasted on the leaked call.
'We Have 50,000 Plus Hat Orders'
Erika Kirk took over as the CEO of her late husband's conservative political organization following his murder last fall.
Later on the call, Erika is heard telling the team members that "grief comes in waves" and that "Charlie would want us to get back to work."
"We have so much to do, which is exciting," she said. "Since his assassination, we have 100,000 chapter requests, we have 300,000 new donors. I think we have 50,000 plus hat orders."
'It's the Laughter That Is Off-Putting'
Candace Owens found Erika Kirk's 'general tone' on the call 'off-putting.'
Reacting to the call during the Tuesday, January 27, episode of her show, Candace declared, "I want to remind you that Charlie has not been dead for two weeks."
"It is the general tone that is off-putting, it's the laughter that is off-putting," she noted. "We're talking about numbers and metrics..."
Continuing with her commentary, Candace pointed out that Erika also quipped, "My husband is dead, not to be morbid," calling the statement bizarre.
"That's moving pretty quickly to the acceptance phase," she said.
- Erika Kirk Insists Husband Charlie 'Had This Smirk on His Face' in the Hospital After Assassination
- Erika Kirk Tells Megyn Kelly She 'Prayed to God' She Was Pregnant When Husband Charlie Was Murdered: 'The Ultimate Blessing'
- From Beauty Queen to Turning Point USA CEO: See Erika Kirk's Transformation in Before and After Photos
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'I Just Thought She Would Be More Upset'
Candace Owens was stunned by Erika Kirk's 'extraordinarily happy' tone in the wake of her husband's murder.
"Now, we know everybody grieves differently..." Candace went on. "But in my imagination, I don't..I just thought she would be more upset.
"I want to be clear that the overall mood of this call is extraordinarily upbeat, it's extraordinarily happy" she added.
She then revealed that the employees on the call told her they felt "weird" when the mother-of-two urged them to take time off to grieve if they needed to when she wasn't as Charlie's widow.
Candace Owens Said Erika Kirk Shouldn't Have Become CEO 'Overnight'
Candace Owens called out Erika Kirk for stepping into her husband's shoes right after his untimely death.
Candace previously criticized Erika for taking over as CEO of TPUSA immediately following Charlie's assassination at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025.
"I think the mistake they [Turning Point USA] made..." she said in a clip shared to her TikTok on December 9, 2025. "And I've said this on my podcast...she never should have become the CEO and chairman overnight."
"Because now..when people have questions, you've got to answer them, right?" the divisive political commentator said.
"Now you're not just a grieving widow...which there has to be respectability for and space and allowing her to be a mother," she continued. "But you [Erika] very quickly decided you were equipped to be Charlie. Well guess what? That's gonna be a trial by fire."
