Erika Kirk, the widow of American conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, who was killed in the middle of a public meeting last week, has chosen to mourn her in a highly publicized way, determined to carry on the ideological struggle that the couple shared.

Aged 36, married since 2021 and mother of two young children, crowned Miss Arizona in 2012 and living with her family in this western state, the young widow with piercing blue eyes and long blond hair, a cross around her neck, defends the vision of Charlie Kirk, champion of a Christian and traditionalist America.

Two days after the standard-bearer of Trump's youth, head of the conservative movement Turning Point USA, was shot dead on an American university campus, she took to social media to make a statement that reads like a profession of faith.

"The movement my husband built will not die," she promised, standing next to the chair from which he hosted his popular podcast.

"Those who do evil and are responsible for the murder of my husband have no idea what they did," she insisted. "They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and God's merciful love."

Faith imbued

"You have no idea what you just unleashed. You have no idea the fire you lit inside this woman. This widow's tears will echo around the world like a battle cry," she continued, calling on young people who are sensitive to her message to join the movement co-founded by her husband and personally thanking Donald Trump for his support.

The Republican president announced that he would attend the tribute ceremony held Sunday in Glendale, Arizona, in a stadium with more than 60,000 seats.

Erika Kirk's entrepreneurial and podcasting activities are imbued with her avowed Christian faith. Her clothing line, "Proclaim," features Bible quotes and religious imagery. With "Biblein365," she offers daily guidance for reading the Bible in a year. Her weekly podcast aims to "allow you to breathe deeply and say, 'God's got this,'" she describes on her website.

A graduate in law, political science and international relations, she says she is currently pursuing a doctorate in biblical studies at an evangelical university.

With over 5 million followers on Instagram, Erika Kirk shares her grief up close. In a series of photos and videos posted Friday, she appears holding and kissing her deceased husband's hand, leaning over his half-open coffin. She also appears bowed in grief on an airport tarmac alongside JD Vance and his wife Usha, before Charlie Kirk's remains are transported aboard the US vice president's plane.

Model couple

Their public image as a couple may have been used by Charlie and Erika Kirk as a marketing tool for the conservative movement of the influencer close to Donald Trump.

In Dallas in June, she accompanied her husband on stage at the nation's largest gathering of young conservative women, organized by Turning Point USA.

"You don't waste your degree when you raise your children in wisdom, love, and truth. I don't want you chasing a paycheck," Erika Kirk told them, quoted by the New York Times, considering that getting married "after thirty" was "not ideal."

"God is so wonderful. When I met Charlie, having a career became the least of my worries," she confided.

"Our fight is not only political, it is above all spiritual," Charlie Kirk's widow stressed Friday, pledging that her movement would become "stronger, more vocal, more ambitious, and bigger than ever."

As a sign of the resonance of their shared cause, millions of dollars in donations have been accumulated by various support initiatives since the day the popular influencer was killed.