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The widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk delivered a major early endorsement in the 2028 presidential race Thursday night, throwing her support behind Vice President JD Vance and signaling the beginning of a succession battle within the Make America Great Again movement.
Erika Kirk announced her backing of Vance before thousands of attendees at AmericaFest, the first major gathering of Turning Point USA since her husband's assassination on a Utah college campus earlier this year. The endorsement carries significant weight within conservative circles, as Turning Point USA emerged as a crucial force in mobilizing young voters for Donald Trump's 2024 campaign.
"We are going to get my husband's friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible," Kirk told the crowd Thursday.
Vance, who is scheduled to address the gathering Sunday, has not formally announced plans to seek the presidency but is widely expected to launch a campaign. The vice president has not publicly responded to the endorsement.
The endorsement comes as the MAGA movement begins contemplating its future in a post-Trump era, with the 2028 race already taking shape despite being more than three years away. An early show of support from Turning Point USA, which has grown increasingly influential in conservative politics, could help establish Vance as the presumptive frontrunner.
However, the political landscape remains fractured. Last month, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene launched a sharp critique of Trump's second-term agenda, accusing the administration of betraying voters. Greene, previously among Trump's most steadfast allies in Congress, announced she will resign her seat in January. Some political observers have speculated she may pursue her own presidential bid.
Other figures on the right, including white nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes, also appear to be positioning themselves for influence in the movement's next chapter.
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Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot and killed on a Utah college campus in what authorities classified as a political assassination. The killing sent shockwaves through conservative circles and prompted widespread mourning among right-wing activists.
Vance, who had grown close to Kirk in the years before his death, flew to Utah to support Erika Kirk and accompanied the activist's body back to the couple's home in Arizona aboard Air Force Two. Video footage captured the vice president walking alongside the coffin as it was loaded onto the aircraft.
Kirk built his reputation as a combative debater who toured college campuses challenging students on conservative talking points. He leveraged edited clips of these confrontations to amass a substantial social media following, which he transformed into Turning Point USA, an organization focused on engaging young people with right-wing politics.
A month after Kirk's death, Trump awarded him a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. The former president praised Kirk as a "martyr for truth and freedom" during the ceremony.
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