In the two weeks since conservative activist and Trump loyalist, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on September 10, public attention has shifted to his widow, Erika Kirk, formerly known as Erika Frantzve.
The 36-year-old mother of two has stepped into the spotlight not only as a grieving partner but also as the new leader of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization her late husband founded.
At Charlie’s memorial service in Arizona, Erika made her mission clear. “The movement my husband built will not die. It won’t. I refuse to let that happen,” she declared. Erika has always appeared to be a natural in front of the crowd. This quality of hers can be attributed to her previous career in pageantry and entertainment.
It was in 2012 when she was crowned Miss Arizona and went on to compete in the Miss USA Pageant. President Donald Trump won the event back at that time.
The competition earned Erika her first link to Trump, whose Miss Universe Organization ran Miss America, Miss Universe, and Miss Teen USA. Erika, however, did not win that year as she lost to Rhode Island contestant Olivia Culpo.
Despite not winning, her participation essentially placed her in Trump’s orbit, which she will again enter, years later, through her husband Charlie Kirk and his aggressive right wing politics.
Since Charlie’s death, the video of Erika competing in the 2012 Miss USA pageant has been circulating widely on social media. Some photos even show her in a bikini posing in front of a “Trump International Hotel” backdrop.
Trump himself even made a lighthearted cameo in one segment from the event. During the pageant, he appeared in a playful sing-along to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.” At the time, he also tweeted about it, writing: “I had fun appearing in the video for Carly Rae Jepsen’s #CallMeMaybe for #MissUSA 2012-.”
Although Erika and Trump were not pictured together at the 2012 pageant, this moment remains one of the earliest documented proof of connection between her and the President, well before her late husband became one of Trump’s fiercest political allies.
After Erika’s husband was killed, speculation online suggested that she later worked for Trump’s beauty pageants as a casting director. Viral posts claimed she returned to the Miss Universe Organization in that capacity after competing in 2012. However, no documentation or credible confirmation has surfaced to verify those claims.
On her personal site, Erika describes herself as having worked in the entertainment world as a “model, actress, and casting director.” Yet, there is no mention of employment tied to his pageants. For now, that connection remains a rumor.
Regardless, the pageant link fascinates many online observers. One social media user posted, “Erika Kirk was in Trump’s 2012 Miss USA pageant… Small world….”
Another added, “Oooooh. Erika Kirk competed in the 2012 Miss USA competition, which was owned by Trump. Her talent portion for the Miss Arizona contest was performing a dribbling exhibition with two balls.”
In recent days, photographs of Erika embracing Trump at Charlie’s Arizona memorial service have also circulated widely. That picture essentially ignited people’s interest in any previous connection the two might have shared.
As it is now clear that Erika Kirk did land in Trump’s orbit long before entering the same sphere again through her husband, it would be interesting to see how she takes forward her husband’s legacy now, with the President being actively on her side.
