Erika Kirk Accuses 'Career-Driven Women' of 'Looking to the Government' as Relationship 'Replacement' Instead of Being 'United With a Husband'

Erika Kirk had a controversial take on New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's recent election win.

The widow of late conservative activist Charlie Kirk issued an eyebrow-raising statement about "career-driven" women allegedly avoiding finding a husband after being asked her thoughts on Zohran taking office during a panel at the 2025 DealBook Summit on Tuesday, November 4.

Erika was speaking to DealBook editor-at-large Andrew Ross Sorkin about a variety of topics when she candidly shared her opinion on female voters in the Big Apple.

During their discussion, Sorkin noted an interesting comparison between Zohran and Erika's late husband in that the NYC mayor-elect was "able to persuade the younger voter" on the "complete opposite end, if you will, of where someone like Charlie would have been."

Charlie was known for touring college campuses and hosting debates in an effort to encourage young students to practice conservative views.

Acknowledging how she once lived in Manhattan, Erika said she "loved this city" and drew attention to the fact that a "high percentage of [Zohran's] voters were female."

Erika expressed her belief that there's a "tendency, especially when you live in a city like Manhattan, where you are so career-driven, and you almost look to the government as a form of replacement for certain things, relationship-wise, even, so you see things a little bit differently."

Erika said she hopes young women living in NYC don't "look to the government as a solution to put off having a family or a marriage because you're relying on the government to support you instead of being united with a husband where you can support yourself and your husband can support and you can guys all combine together."

"But I just find it so ironic and so interesting that a heavy percentage of the individuals that voted for him were female," she admitted.

Erika's appearance at the 2025 DealBook Summit comes after she faced backlash for advising young women not to "put off" having kids.

Her comments were made during a conversation with Megyn Kelly about how Erika "prayed to God" she was pregnant after finding out Charlie had been murdered in September.

"We wanted to have four," she shared of her and Charlie, who married in 2021. "And I was praying to God that I was pregnant when he got murdered. I was like, oh, goodness, that was going to be the ultimate blessing out of this catastrophe."

"So, now when I see young couples, I tell them, 'Please, don't put it off.' Especially if you're a young woman. Don't put it off, you can always have a career, you can always, you know, go back to work. You can never just go back to having children," Erika — who shares a daughter, 3, and son, 1, with her late husband — added.

Erika's remarks quickly faced backlash on social media, as critics deemed her a "hypocrite" considering she didn't marry Charlie until she was 32, after advancing her career.

"Erika Kirk is so f------ disingenuous for a lot of reasons, but especially for telling young women they can 'always go back to work, or having a career, but don't put off having kids.' She had her first baby when she was in her mid-30s after getting an advanced degree!!" one person argued.