Why Erika Kirk failed as Turning Point USA’s leader: One year after Charlie Kirk’s death, the organization is a joke — even on the right

A bit from the commentary:

> At a recent TPUSA Chapter Leadership Summit, Kirk inadvertently illustrated her brand’s incoherence in her keynote. Her rhetoric about being a submissive housewife contrasted with her role as TPUSA’s CEO. After beginning her pitch for traditional gender roles by insisting that “submission is not a dirty word,” she rolled out a strange metaphor. Marriage, she said, was like a cathedral, with the husband serving as the building itself, “strong” and “hold[ing] the weight.” But “those stained glass windows are the wife.” She summed up her comparison this way: “If you remove the frame of the cathedral, those stained glass windows shatter. They’re useless.”

> But does Kirk think of herself as a shattered, useless person now, a year after her husband’s killing? Judging from the rest of the speech, it’s hard to imagine she does. At points, she compared herself to a soldier in “this battle against Satan.” She offered detailed advice on how to build TPUSA chapters. She outlined the work she’s been doing to run the organization and the plans she is implementing to secure its future. She described herself as someone who has turned her “grief into purpose.”

> It makes no sense: Erika Kirk really wants to lead TPUSA while also insisting that a woman’s place is in the home. This dissonance is why she is failing. She can’t offer any real leadership, and that vacuum has invited chaos.