The ‘tacky’ reason Charlie Kirk’s wife didn’t wear black to memorial is worse than the fireworks

In what some people referred to as a glorified Donald Trump rally, Erika Kirk and 90,000 Americans celebrated the life of right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk.

After Charlie Kirk was killed in a shooting at Utah Valley University earlier this month, with 22-year-old Tyler Robinson arrested in connection, Erika Kirk broke her silence and soon took over the reins of Turning Point USA, the nonprofit Charlie founded.

Then, on September 21, a memorial was held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Over 90,000 people were in attendance, with a further 20,000 in another stadium down the street. But this was not your grandmother’s funeral.

There were pyrotechnics, lights, and entrance music, most of which created an image of a WWE show or Megachurch sermon. It was all rather odd, and not exactly the mourning experience many of us expected – maybe we’re just too European.

Why are there fireworks at the "memorial service" for Charlie Kirk?

This is a WWE script… pic.twitter.com/RbA23Wk504

— Truth Seeker (@_TruthZone_) September 21, 2025

The memorial was slammed far and wide, and the reason Erika Kirk wore white to Charlie’s memorial might just be the cherry on top of one very American pie.

There was a dress code for Charlie Kirk’s memorial

Credit: Eduardo Barraza/UPI/Shutterstock

During Charlie’s memorial, Erika spoke to the crowds while dressed in a white pant suit not dissimilar to the one she wore during her initial statement about her husband’s passing. It was a far cry from what you’d usually expect at a memorial, but she did wear a black t-shirt beneath the blazer. Donald Trump was more of the same, bundling himself into his usual blue suit and red tie combo.

“Odd that she is not wearing black,” one person wrote on Twitter.

Trump and Erika Kirk stood side by side at the memorial for Charlie Kirk, under Turning Point banners, red lights, and cameras rolling.

Then Trump grabbed the mic and turned it into a campaign event.

Nothing is sacred. Not even this. pic.twitter.com/VXsmHMhPnQ

— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) September 21, 2025

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Another said: “My grandmother wore black for a year when my grandfather died young. Erika is out of pocket for not putting on mourning colours.”

“See it through a reality lens. This was a performance. Literally, you call this a funeral memorial?,” a third said.

So, why didn’t Erika wear black to her husband’s memorial? Because that wasn’t the vibe, obvs.

As per the official invite to the memorial, the dress code was “Sunday best” but in the colours of the American flag: Red, white and blue.

Literally Erika Kirk arriving at her own husband’s memorial service… pic.twitter.com/5BxYZZ10Cy

— Dick Coughlan aka Brother Neuro (@1DickCoughlan) September 22, 2025

The dress code certainly didn’t do much to disprove the argument that Charlie’s memorial was essentially a Trump rally.

“Erika Kirk participating in this memorial* (merch table and pyrotechnics included) doesn’t mean she’s some deep agent in on her husband’s murder. It’s worse. It shows how tacky and capesh*t these people are. There actually doesn’t seem to be anything deeper,” one person said on Twitter.

Another person argued: “The Charlie Kirk memorial is a Christian Nationalist political rally.”

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Featured image credit: Gage Skidmore/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock and Eduardo Barraza/UPI/Shutterstock