How’s this for political analysis in 2025: Joy Reid, Jennifer Welch, and Angie Sullivan, huddled together like a cauldron of AWFL outrage, speculating that the grieving widow of a murdered man is… too cheerful? Too poised? Too composed in public?
Her husband was murdered 75 days ago and these women are making up a scandalous sexual rumor to defame her and saying she can’t wear certain kinds of pants bc she’s a widow. Puritan ministers with injectables. https://t.co/A9chpoQ59Y
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) November 25, 2025
The target this time is Erika Kirk, the wife of Ryan Kirk, who was assassinated on September 10 — a shocking and tragic loss that most decent people, regardless of politics, met with sympathy and grace. But not everyone. Within weeks, Kirk found herself under attack not for anything she said or did — but for smiling on stage, wearing a dress, and embracing Vice President JD Vance during a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi. It was a moment of public solidarity, not scandal. But for the perpetually aggrieved, it became cannon fodder.
Joy Reid and her AWFL commentary crew (Welch and Sullivan) didn’t just run with the smear — they escalated it. The embrace? Clearly an affair. The public composure? Obviously fake. Vance’s wife, Usha, a brilliant Indian-American attorney and mother of his children? Just collateral damage in their bizarre fantasy where Vance is already plotting a 2028 ticket with Kirk as his “white queen.” And yes, that’s the actual term floating around in this fever dream of racialized speculation and character assassination.
Joy Reid pushes the deranged conspiracy theory that JD Vance is going to leave his wife for Erika Kirk:
“Rubbin on his head? Babyyyy… you in leatha pants?… Wouldn’t it be the most perfect MAGA fairy-tail if he finally sees the light that he needs a White Queen instead of this… pic.twitter.com/BFj4vmcsYT
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) November 25, 2025
Wajahat Ali jumped into the fray, accusing Kirk and Vance of being poor Christian role models — because nothing says moral clarity like mocking a widow’s grief on the internet. John Cleese, for reasons no one fully understands anymore, fell for a doctored video that made it seem as if Kirk was applying fake tears before going on stage — a clip that was immediately debunked but widely shared by the usual crowd desperate to score points off a grieving woman.
It’s bad enough that they celebrated her husband’s death, but fantasizing about a loving married couple ending their marriage is whole new low.
— Lauren (@scoobyswine) November 25, 2025
There’s a venom to all of this that can’t be ignored. These aren’t just political attacks. They’re personal, calculated attempts to dehumanize and discredit someone who has already suffered a devastating loss — and to rope in her political allies as part of some imagined MAGA soap opera.
For some reason I feel like she has a crush on @JDVance . Joy has become obsessed with Vance. She can’t resist talking about him 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/vfxWUwv9Oe
— Sara TFTB1 (@SaraTftb1) November 25, 2025
JD Vance, for his part, handled it with a grace his critics would do well to emulate. Rather than sink to their level, he offered Joy Reid some honest advice: Show a little gratitude. Life, after all, is short. And it’s made shorter by the kind of bitterness that feeds on tragedy.
