Erika Kirk’s canceling her appearance at the TPUSA event in Akins Ford Arena in Athens, Georgia, with Vice President JD Vance continues to draw scrutiny. After Candace Owens, a close friend of Erika’s late husband and former TPUSA CEO Charlie Kirk, claimed Erika’s no-show stemmed from poor ticket sales, the Secret Service confirmed there were no credible threats before she announced her decision to skip the event.
A person speaking anonymously to CBS News and familiar with Secret Service operations said the agency did not track any specific or credible threats to the venue or Vance.
However, Erika’s update on X announcing her decision not to attend mentioned something different. She wrote, “I was so looking forward to tonight’s event at the @universityofga with our Vice President @JDVance, but after all our family has been through, I take my security team’s recommendations extremely seriously. Thank you to our amazing Georgia chapter for your support. God bless you all!”
On Thursday, a TPUSA representative stated, “Threats related to Erika Kirk’s travel outside the secured perimeter led our team to make the difficult decision to withdraw her participation. Our security team continuously assesses security considerations, and this was the right call in the interest of her safety. We are grateful to law enforcement and the U.S. Secret Service for ensuring a safe event.”
The Secret Service insider said no threats were detected, raising questions about Erika canceling due to other factors, including low ticket sales, as Candace Owens suggested.
Taking to X, Owens directly responded to Erika’s post: “The Secret Service sits above your security team. Were there actually a viable threat, the Vice President would not have continued the event.” She added, “Your closest threat is the shit PR team you hired that continues to operate under the delusion that they are smarter than the public. They aren’t.”
Owens’ claims about Vance’s attendance at the event are supported by the fact that a viable threat would have prevented him from attending. Vance himself said he initially thought the event would be canceled, given the security threats Erika mentioned. But he added, “I talked to the Secret Service, and obviously, these guys do a very good job. And I said, ‘You know what? Let’s let [her] do what she needs to do for herself and her family.’”
Charlie Kirk was shot at an event at Utah Valley University, so some online commenters said Erika’s fears were valid. However, the Secret Service refuted her claims, and some in the MAGA base questioned her motives—especially after the Georgia TPUSA event drew only 25% audience capacity. Questions linger over Erika’s next response.