The announcement was made in front of the crowd who had turned up expecting to watch the her interview the vice president. School principal tackles active shooter to the floor “I’m going to address it right at the front, Mr. Vice President, I’m on stage here instead of our friend Erika Kirk because unfortunately she has received some very serious threats,” the Turning Point USA spokesman said. 

“It’s a terrible reflection on the state of reality and the state of the country,” he continued. JD Vance defended Erika Kirk (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Vance responded, indicating he was aware of the ‘threats’ Erika received and was concerned that the event would be canceled. However, he decided to attend after consulting with the Secret Service. “Obviously these guys do a very good job,” the VP said. “And I said, ‘You know what? Let’s let Erika do what she needs to do for herself and her family, I’m sure Andrew will fill in, and let’s go and make this an amazing event.’” 

Erika's late husband, conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed aged 31 last September while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. Following his death, Erika took over running the conservative group and toured the country, even interviewing Nicki Minaj, which led to mounting criticism online about her conduct.

Nicki Minaj sat down with Erika Kirk during a controversial appearance (Caylo Seals/Getty Images) Erika has since addressed her absence, writing on X: “I was so looking forward to tonight’s event at the @universityofga with our Vice President @JDVance, but after all our family has been through, I take my security team’s recommendations extremely seriously. 

“Thank you to our amazing Georgia chapter for your support. God bless you all!” Vance claimed at the University of Georgia event - where he was also heckled mid-speech - that Erika has been on the receiving end of ‘disgraceful attacks’ following her husband’s death. “Everybody is attacking her over everything, and they’re lying about her, and it’s one of the most disgraceful things that I’ve ever seen in public life,” he claimed, before adding: “The people telling you that Erika wasn’t grieving her husband are full of s**t.” 

Vance argued that the response to Kirk’s killing ‘should have been, let’s go after left wing violence and terrorism’. He went on: “If you’re going after Erika Kirk, and not the people who are trying to destroy the United States of America, you’re part of the problem, not part of the solution.” 

Meanwhile, Kolvet said that threats against Erika are taken ‘extremely seriously’, explaining that she ‘has to live with this constant reality that her kids are one parent away from being orphans’.