Erika Kirk has weighed in on the anti-ICE protests sweeping the nation.
“I think it’s demonic,” she said.
The Turning Point USA CEO delivered the remarks Wednesday night from the stage of Harvest Church in Riverside, California, kicking off her new faith-based tour, “Make Heaven Crowded.”
Kirk, 37, has become one of the most watched figures in American public life. Since her husband Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September, she has assumed leadership of his conservative organization, given a eulogy that upstaged a sitting president, sparked viral moments dissected by body language experts, fired back at The Washington Post for critiquing her wardrobe, and now launched a national religious revival tour.
People, it seems, cannot stop talking about Erika Kirk. And on Wednesday, she gave them something new to discuss.
Kirk told the church audience she had been following media coverage of the protests, including a recent exchange between MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
“I can’t even believe I’m saying their names in a church,” Kirk joked.
Erika Kirk called the protests against ICE and Trump “demonic” pic.twitter.com/ccCds3eWp8
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) January 22, 2026
She noted that Kimmel had asked Maddow whether she believed the protests were making a difference. Maddow invoked the “3.5% rule” — the idea that sustained nonviolent protest by just 3.5% of a population can force political change.
Kirk borrowed the framework, then flipped it.
“Personally, I do not think they’re helping,” she said of the protests. “I think it’s demonic. But I understood the sentiment of what she said.”
She continued: “Charlie, in a way, believed deeply in the power of a faithful few that would rise up and stand for Christ, stand for the church, stand for what’s good and what’s beautiful in this world, and fight against evil. And it only just takes a small percentage, 3.5%.”
She then held up her husband’s memorial service as an example of what that 3.5% could look like. The event filled State Farm Stadium in Arizona, with an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 attendees and over 100 million streams, according to Turning Point USA.
“It did not matter if you were Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic — it didn’t matter,” she said. “You were all there under the banner of Christ.”
Then she drew the contrast.
“You showed the difference of when 3.5% of this nation rises up and prays for this nation and is in revival,” Kirk said, “compared to the other side of what they think can change this nation but actually destroy it.”
“The view of that is striking.”
Anti-ICE protests have intensified in recent weeks following the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations. Demonstrations have included street marches, church occupations, and confrontations with federal agents. The movement gained additional momentum after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis.
Outside Harvest Church on Wednesday, dozens of protesters gathered to demonstrate against Kirk’s event.
The “Make Heaven Crowded” tour is set to travel to more than 30 cities nationally, with Kirk leading events aimed at unifying Christians across denominations. Wednesday’s kickoff was the first stop.
Kirk offered a closing thought to the crowd inside: “The fire of the Holy Spirit is not supposed to be contained within the four walls of the church.”
Outside, the protesters remained.
