Turning Point USA CEO Erica Kirk said her organization’s efforts to support a potential J.D. Vance presidential campaign in 2028 “are working.”
Kirk’s comments on an episode of The Megyn Kelly Show that aired Monday were not unexpected.
Her late husband, Charlie Kirk, was Vance’s early lawyer during Donald Trump’s vice presidential nomination in 2024, and the two remained close friends until Kirk’s assassination in Utah in September.
But the group’s promise of support is a significant acquisition for Vance’s hypothetical future presidential campaign. While Vance remains the most obvious heir to Trump’s MAGA movement, other prominent Republicans are taking subtle steps to establish themselves as candidates in 2028.
Turning Point, which Charlie Kirk co-founded in 2012 and ran until his death, has turned into one of the most influential organizations in MAGA politics and has been credited with helping inspire young people to support Trump in the 2024 election. Erica Kirk took charge of the organization and vowed to continue it in her husband’s memory shortly after his assassination.
Erica Kirk told Kelly that her last conversation with her husband was about “how intentional he was about supporting JD for 28.”
But he stressed that the organization’s first priority is next year’s midterm elections.
“Let’s start with the midterms before we get to ’28,” she said. “And let’s enjoy the fact that we have Donald Trump in office, and we worked really hard to do that, my husband did.”
She added, “So I just want to enjoy it for a minute before I move on.”
In August, Trump acknowledged that Vance was “likely” to be his successor to the MAGA movement. But then he also quickly name-checked Secretary of State Marco Rubio and mused that Vance and Rubio might, in the future, appear together on a hypothetical ticket.
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