Erika Kirk Had A Bigger Age Gap With Her Husband Charlie Than We Knew

Charlie Kirk's wife, Erika Kirk, was actually the older half of the couple. Charlie was 31 when he died on September 10, 2025, while Erika was 36. Born on October 14, 1993, the Turning Point USA founder and prominent Donald Trump ally was almost five full years younger than his wife, born on November 20, 1988. When Charlie and Erika met in August 2018, he was just 24 while she was about to celebrate her 30th birthday. Their age gap may not seem wildly large, but it stands out when taking his rhetoric into consideration.

Charlie contended that Americans, women in particular, should marry young. "I think that we've gone wrong here; that women should prioritize family and children way above career; that they should try to find their husband before they're 25; that they should try to get married way younger," he said on "The Iced Coffee Hour" podcast in June 2025. Charlie and Erika tied the knot in May 2021, when he was 27 and she was 32. 

The irony here didn't go unnoticed. "Kirk married a wom[a]n in her early thirties when he was in his late twenties all while saying women over thirty are past their prime and everyone should marry in their early twenties," one user commented on Reddit. Another also called him out for it. "He married her and had kids with her in her 30s while openly bashing this exact relationship type," the Redditor argued. Perhaps he believed people should do as he said, not as he did.

Charlie Kirk may have believed women shouldn't put much stock in their careers, but he met Erika Kirk thanks to her work aspirations. Their paths first crossed after she applied for a job at Turning Point USA. She was in the office for the recruiting process when she exchanged pleasantries with its executive director, who wasn't involved in the hiring process at that stage. Despite only meeting briefly, she caught his eye. So he sent her a message on social media asking her to contact him.

"I said I urgently need to meet with her, and she said, 'Why?' And it was partially a job interview and also partially something else," he recalled in a 2021 Instagram video. They met at Bill's Burger in New York City. Erika was initially confused but quickly realized Charlie meant business. "I'm ready to debate you about Aristotle and Socrates, and you want to talk about theology? Let's do it," she recalled. Her knowledge and aspirations were partly why Charlie fell for her. "I'd never met anyone quite like her," he said.

Erika is also highly educated, with a double degree in Political Science and International Relations from Arizona State University and a Juris Master from Liberty University, where she is also a doctoral student in Biblical Studies. On her website, her career takes center stage. "Erika Kirk is a driven social entrepreneur, passionate ministry leader, and woman of deep faith," her About page reads. It doesn't sound like she was just a woman in search of a husband.