Turning Point USA, the conservative youth activist organization founded by Charlie Kirk, announced that his wife Erika Kirk will step into the CEO role after the co-founder's assassination.

Turning Point USA said in an X post on Sept. 18, that its board unanimously elected Erika Kirk as its new CEO and chair of the board.

"In prior discussions, Charlie expressed to multiple executives that this is what he wanted in the event of his death," the group said in its announcement.

Turning Point USA was founded by Kirk in 2012 when he was 18 and has since become a prominent political force. Along with its presence on hundreds of college and high school campuses, the organization hosts conferences, encourages youth organizing on conservative issues and produces various media such as the “The Charlie Kirk Show."

The group and Kirk have been closely aligned with the MAGA movement and are credited with helping mobilize support for President Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.

Erika Kirk, 36, vowed in a speech days after Charlie Kirk was killed by a gunshot wound that she would continue her husband’s work. She said that “the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.”

It was her first public appearance since her husband was killed Sept. 10 while speaking with students at Utah Valley University days earlier.

“The evil-doers for my husband’s assassination have no idea what they have done,” she said in her address, posted to Turning Point USA's YouTube page.

Erika Kirk is slated to give keynote addresses at the public memorial service in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday, Sept. 21, alongside Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, to take helm of Turning Point USA

Reporting by Kathryn Palmer, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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