Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, gestures next to U.S. President Donald Trump at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, U.S., September 21, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole
President Donald Trump quietly appointed Erika Kirk to the Air Force Academy board on Monday, prompting swift outrage and mockery from both sides of the political aisle.
Kirk replaces her husband, activist Charlie Kirk, who spent a short time on the board before his shooting death at a rally in Utah. Among his accomplishments on the board, Kirk held up construction of a chapel and urged academy cadets to "know that we are the greatest nation ever."
Neither Erika nor her far-right husband have any experience in any branch of military service. The closest the latter got was the claim that he received a congressional appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point but was replaced by a person of “a different ethnicity and gender," reported Politico in an extensive 2018 profile. In a 2017 New Yorker profile, Kirk claimed he lost the spot to "a far less-qualified candidate."
West Point told Politico that race is only considered for candidates who meet all of its other admission requirements. Of those who apply, only half meet such requirements, and only half of that half are accepted. As of 2024, the acceptance rate was 12 percent. Kirk ultimately attended a community college before he dropped out.
"She joins a high-profile board that includes several members of Congress, such as Representative Jeff Crank (CO-05), Senator Tommy Tuberville (AL), and Chairman August Pfluger (TX). If you don't think that they have BIG plans for Erika Kirk, think again!!" commented investigative journalist Amy Leigh.
"What in the actual hell are we doing?" complained conservative Christian activist Zach Costello.
He later added, "This Erika Kirk appointment to this Air Force Academy Board happened quietly over the weekend, with no formal announcement. I'm sorry, but being the widow of an influential husband does not qualify you to advise the Defense Department about Air Force standards."
"I am still team Erika Kirk but in all honestly, this doesn’t help her and it doesn’t look good for Trump. She has zero qualifications for this role and maybe she should read the room," posted one woman on X.
"Just when you think the timeline couldn’t get any dumber. ... Trump goes and appoints Erika Kirk to the Air Force Academy board that oversees morale, curriculum, and academic methods at the academy smh," lamented Wu Tang for the Children, a large X account.
One man called it "shady" and "greasy."
"We’re in hell," another account complained.