Far-right provocateur Nick Fuentes has revived his feud with Turning Point USA, aiming his ire at Charlie Kirk’s widow for her conduct in the wake of his death.
The long-time Turning Point USA rival voiced his frustration that Erika Kirk’s position as a woman and a widow will make it difficult to criticize her as she takes the reins of the conservative activist organization.
“I really don’t like how [Turning Point USA] has been handling his death. It’s gratuitous,” he said Saturday in a stream to his Rumble account.
Fuentes said he “got a really bad feeling” about Erika and the organization since her husband was killed by a sniper on Sept. 10 during a talk at Utah Valley University.
“I am getting this vibe from her that she’s very fake,” Fuentes said.
Three days after Charlie’s death, Erika was named CEO of the organization. On Sept. 21, she delivered a eulogy complete with WWE-style pyrotechnics at a memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Arizona.
Fuentes claimed “something’s not right there” with regard to the performative nature Erika’s grieving in the wake of Charlie’s killing.
“She looks like she’s over the moon. She’s happy as a clam,” he said.
Erika has raised eyebrows in her public appearances since her husband’s murder. Critics called out an Instagram post in which she filmed herself weeping over Charlie’s open casket as odd. Her fireworks-heavy entrance to speak at Kirk’s memorial has been widely memed.
“Everyone says ‘Oh everybody grieves differently.’ I don’t know how much mileage we can get out of that one,” Fuentes said.
“I think they were pushing it when she filmed his dead body. I think they were pushing it when she took control of the organization 72 hours later. I think they were pushing it with the fireworks and the WWE Batista entrance when she gave the eulogy at his funeral.”
Fuentes said that Turning Point USA was “pushing it” with their promotional ploys, and bemoaned how “no one wants to be the a--hole,” but “everyone’s thinking it” with regards to Erika’s post-assassination tour.
Fuentes and his followers criticized Charlie and Turning Point USA for years from the right. Before the FBI’s indictment of Charlie’s suspected killer Tyler Robinson, speculation swirled that Robinson may have been one of Fuentes’s followers based on interpretations of the etchings he made on the bullet casings.
Fuentes pleaded with his followers not to “take up arms” in the wake of the assassination, leading some to think he was scared that Charlie’s killing could be traced back to his podcast.
As Turning Point USA CEO, Charlie made a $286,000 salary and an additional $104,000 in related compensation, according to ProPublica. The site has not yet updated to reflect Erika’s salary.
