News/Commentary

Second Lady holds Erika Kirk’s hand as Vance’s escort her husband home to be buried

September 12, 2025 | | Print Article

Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance personally escorted the body of Charlie Kirk to his home state of Arizona, where he will be buried after being senselessly assassinated on Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University.

To get a feel for the strength of his friendship with Kirk, the vice president cancelled plans to attend a 9/11 commemoration at Ground Zero in Manhattan to perform the solemn task while providing comfort for Kirk’s grieving wife — the couple had two young children, a daughter, 3, and a son, 1.

A heartbreaking image of a visibly emotional Erika Kirk watching her husband’s casket, which was escorted by Vance and a military pallbearer detail, being loaded onto Air Force Two was shared online:

Upon arriving in Phoenix, Erika was seen holding hands with Usha Vance as they deboarded Air Force Two:

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Kirk will be buried in Arizona, and President Trump told reporters on Thursday he believed the funeral would be held “next weekend.” The president also said he will attend the services.

Sadly, the cold-blooded assassin who killed Kirk in what can only be described as an attack on freedom itself is still on the run. Federal authorities continue to search for the suspect and have appealed to the public for help in identifying the murderer.

“We truly rely on the public’s help in these types of cases. No tip is too small or too insignificant,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls said Thursday.

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Upon hearing that Kirk had been shot, Vice President Vance shared a lengthy tribute to his friend on X.

“A while ago, probably in 2017, I appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox show to talk about God knows what. Afterwards a name I barely knew sent me a DM on twitter and told me I did a great job. It was Charlie Kirk,” Vance wrote. “Charlie was fascinated by ideas and always willing to learn and change his mind. Like me, he was skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016. Like me, he came to see President Trump as the only figure capable of moving American politics away from the globalism that had dominated for our entire lives.”

“Charlie genuinely believed in and loved Jesus Christ. He had a profound faith,” he added, before saying that Kirk “died doing what he loved: discussing ideas.”

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“He would go into these hostile crowds and answer their questions. If it was a friendly crowd, and a progressive asked a question to jeers from the audience, he’d encourage his fans to calm down and let everyone speak. He exemplified a foundational virtue of our Republic: the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas,” Vance said.

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Tom Tillison
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