Fact Check: Erika Kirk Has NOT Lost Custody Of Her Kids -- Congresswoman Says She Misspoke

Fact Check

  • by: Alan Duke
Fact Check: Erika Kirk Has NOT Lost Custody Of Her Kids -- Congresswoman Says She Misspoke Corrected

Did Erika Kirk lose custody of her children, as indicated by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna in an interview? No, that's not true: Rep. Luna said in a podcast interview that Kirk "lost her kids," but later said she "meant to say the kids lost their dad." There is no evidence to conclude that the widow of Charlie Kirk lost custody of her two young children.

The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published by the @jvnior account on X on January 8, 2026. The text read:

🚨 BREAKING:

ERIKA KIRK LOST CUSTODY OF HER KIDS.

While Erika Kirk was busy celebrating her husband's death, custody of her children were transferred to Charlie Kirk's parents.

This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:

Screenshot 2026-01-09 024104.png

(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com)

The source for the claim that Kirk's children were taken from her was something that Rep. Luna said in the PBD podcast with Patrick Bet-David in October 2025. A short clip of the interview was repeated in a post (archived here) shared on X in which she said:

But I do think that when the information isn't put out there directly, that's when you have a lot of these, "Well, you know, could Erika have been involved in any of that?" And that's what I'm saying -- like, I don't think that she at all had any connection to that. When I see that, it's like, you're already victimizing the victim, if that makes sense. Because at the end of the day, she did lose her husband, she lost her kids. Like, I was just with her at the White House, and she's, you know -- that's anyone -- if that happened to your wife, my husband -- like, it's devastating.

Screenshot 2026-01-09 024330.png

(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com)

When that statement was amplified on social media more than two months later, Rep. Luna reacted in a post (archived here) shared on her X account which read:

To clarify: I meant to say the kids lost their dad* PBD podcast is not edited so it was not changed or taken out.

This is the video from the PBD Podcast posted on YouTube:

There is no source to support the claim that Erika Kirk lost custody of her children. A Google search (archived here) for "Erika Kirk children" found no reporting or information about this.

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  Alan Duke

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

Read more about or contact Alan Duke

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