J.D. Vance Admits Erika Kirk Made Him 'Reevaluate His Temper With the Kids'

Vice President J.D. Vance admitted Erika Kirk's eulogy for her late husband, slain MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk, made him reevaluate how he treats his children.

In an excerpt from his book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, published in The Wall Street Journal ahead of its release, J.D. recalled listening to Erika speak about her deceased husband after he was murdered in September 2025.

During her impromptu eulogy, Erika noted that Charlie "never yelled at me. Never cussed at me. Never lost his temper with me or the kids.”

J.D. wrote that her words caused him to ask himself if he had ever done so with his own three children.

"And in the impromptu eulogy of her deceased husband, Erika convinced me, though I'm sure she didn't know it," he wrote. "Had I ever yelled or lost my temper with the kids? Indeed."

"Erika's thoughts kept returning to her kids," he wrote. "Charlie had been a devoted and loving father, and it crushed her to think that their children — then aged one and three — would have few, if any, personal memories of him."

The tragedy and Erika's words prompted the politician to contemplate his own mortality and legacy as a father.

"I realized that in such moments, everything worldly we value fades to nothing. Erika didn't care that her husband was politically influential or had the president's ear," the veep continued. "She cared about her babies and the fact that an assassin had stolen Charlie from them — so many memories and moments with their father robbed from them forever."

"I found myself wondering what my wife and kids would say about me if an assassin took my life," he added. "Mostly good things, I thought. But none of them will care that I was the vice president."

Unconfirmed rumors of an affair between the vice president and Erika swirled following an emotional, onstage embrace between them at a Turning Point USA event where Erika introduced J.D. by mentioning he shared similarities with her late husband.

During the subsequent hug, Erika placed her hand on the back of the vice president's head. This brief moment of physical contact quickly went viral, with internet commenters labeling it overly intimate, and both Erika and the veep decrying the claims as baseless.

The emotional weight of Charlie's death also changed J.D.'s family planning.

After witnessing Erika's grief and hearing her express regret over not having more children, the VP's wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, changed her mind about expanding their family, and the couple is currently expecting their fourth child.

"One life was stolen from us, but another was given," he stated of their decision.