Erika Kirk tells Washington Post 'go touch grass' after paper runs article critiquing her wardrobe
Turning Point USA (TPUSA) CEO Erika Kirk had a pointed response to The Washington Post at her religious revival event on Wednesday, calling out its "fixation" with her wardrobe.
Earlier this month, the Post raised eyebrows with an article claiming in its headline that Kirk was "walking a fine line in a glittering pantsuit," putting a spotlight on wardrobe decisions she has made since her late husband, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated last year.
"Kirk, a mother to two toddlers, continues to take on public-facing leadership duties while promoting traditional ideas about prioritizing marriage and motherhood, and her clothes are attempting to walk the same high wire … her styling of late suggests that she’s aware that she now needs to be able to blend into mainstream, secular, political contexts well enough to be taken seriously — but not so well as to be mistaken for a career woman or a feminist," wrote Washington Post fashion writer Ashley Fetters Maloy.
Speaking at the kickoff to TPUSA Faith's inaugural "Make Heaven Crowded" tour just outside Los Angeles, Kirk drew a lesson from the Garden of Eden, linking Eve's "fixation" on the forbidden fruit to the needless distractions people face while not focusing on what matters.
"And that is our day and age right now. There's this kind of curiosity that is so innocent and God-given, which is precious. And that's the type where you're searching for more beautiful things, and the eternal things," Kirk said at Harvest Church in Riverside, Calif. "But then there's also this curiosity that just pulls you away from what matters most."
"And I am seeing it on full display," she continued. "It invites you to distraction. It feeds your fears. It makes you half of a person. It makes you even question your faith. It puts you in a position where you're reacting, feeling like you have to respond when you actually don't have to respond. And quite honestly, we live in a culture that is just endlessly curious about things that don't matter."
"I mean, for example, I had a Washington Post article come out about the clothes that I wear. Like, very slow news day out there," Kirk quipped. "If you are now attacking a widow's attire, like, that's where we're at."
"If you would like to know, Washington Post, I'm wearing a black outfit with a pair of Air Forces because I'm a sneakerhead. So if you would like to know what I'm wearing, you can call me, and I'd be happy to explain that I just wear what I wear because it's comfortable. I don't have a stylist. Like, I don't really care. I just am myself," Kirk continued, sparking cheers from the crowd.
"Again, go touch grass," Kirk told the Post. "Go walk in nature. Charlie loved to hike. Like, maybe take up hiking as a hobby? Just throwing it out there."
The Washington Post did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Critics slammed the "Democracy Dies in Darkness" paper for the article on social media.
Former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema wrote, "For crying out loud will this s--- never end."
"Erika isn’t ‘prioritizing marriage’ because a radical leftist shot and killed her husband. Good Lord. These people will never stop attacking the Kirk family," longtime Kirk family friend Jack Posobiec wrote.
"I've been reporting for a quarter century now, and I still remember at my first daily newspaper job, we had to read a style guide that specifically cautioned reporters to be very careful about describing women's clothes in depth because it can be viewed as sexist," Axios reporter Marc Caputo responded.
Conservative radio host Jason Rantz asked, "How does this get printed?"
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.