Left-wing podcaster Kyle Kulinski, host of the popular *Secular Talk* YouTube show, is facing heavy backlash after mocking Erika Kirk — the grieving widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk — with a Halloween meme that many online are calling cruel and disgusting.
Kulinski, who boasts more than two million subscribers on YouTube and half a million followers on X (formerly Twitter), posted the meme on Halloween. The image mimicked the style of a Spirit Halloween costume package — but instead of a character or pop culture figure, it featured Erika Kirk with mascara streaking down her chest while holding what appeared to be a purse or bag overflowing with cash.
The edited costume description read “fake grieving widow grifter,” and listed the included items as “fake teardrops” and “skin-tight black leather mourning pants.”
The meme immediately went viral for all the wrong reasons. Across social media, both conservatives and moderates slammed the podcaster for mocking a woman whose husband had been assassinated just weeks earlier.
Erika’s late husband, Charlie Kirk, was murdered in September while hosting a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. Since his death, Erika has stepped into his former position as Chief Executive Officer of the conservative youth organization and has made several public appearances in his memory.
Throughout her speeches, Erika has often become emotional, visibly crying as she reflects on her husband’s death. Some critics — particularly online detractors — have accused her of being insincere or overly performative. Kulinski’s meme tapped into those attacks, portraying her grief as fake and motivated by money.
The reaction was swift and overwhelmingly negative.
Conservative commentator Blaire White posted a screenshot of Kulinski’s meme with the caption: “No one is requiring you to mourn Charlie Kirk. They’re asking you not to be a satanic piece of sh*t who celebrates brutal murder. The bar couldn’t be lower, and it’s still too high for millions of you. Sick.”
Other users fired back at Kulinski with memes of their own, including one mocking him with a fake Spirit Halloween costume labeled “Garbage Human.”
Many others expressed outrage more directly. One user wrote, “Awful. Shame on you.” Another said, “Wow, you’re a horrible human being.”
Despite the backlash, Kulinski doubled down. The following day, he posted another meme — this time aimed at House Speaker Mike Johnson — calling him a “deeply closeted self-loathing homosexual.”
Then, two days later, seemingly responding to the growing criticism, Kulinski shared an image from *Scooby-Doo* showing Fred pulling the mask off a villain wearing a MAGA hat to reveal a snowflake underneath. He captioned it in all caps: “THE SAME RIGHT-WING IDIOTS WHO DEFENDED EDGY JOKES FOR A DECADE AS SOON AS THE JOKE ISN’T ABOUT BLACK OR TRANS PEOPLE.”
Kulinski’s attempt to brush off the criticism only fueled the outrage. Many accused him of hypocrisy — arguing that “punching down” on a widow grieving her husband’s murder wasn’t edgy or brave, just mean-spirited.
Some of the jokes targeting Erika Kirk had already been circulating on social media since Charlie’s death. One viral TikTok video mocking Erika’s tears at a Turning Point USA event used the caption, “Everyone is such a hater. She is clearly going through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, marketing, world tour, run for Congress.” Another comment joked, “Nothing says grief like skin-tight leather pants.”
Kulinski echoed that tone in another meme posted after his Halloween costume image, writing, “She’s going through the normal five stages of grief: Pyrotechnics, Merch, Podcasting, Grifting, and Acceptance.”
Even some figures on the far right, such as white nationalist podcaster Nick Fuentes, have criticized Erika’s public appearances — though for very different reasons. “I’m getting this vibe from her that she’s very fake,” Fuentes said on his show. “I don’t really like how they — the whole organization — have been handling his death. It’s gratuitous.”
In the weeks since Charlie Kirk’s assassination, multiple individuals across different professions have lost their jobs after making comments mocking or justifying his killing — including an NBA employee, a Marine, and MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd. But unlike those figures, Kulinski owns his own platform and faces no professional consequences for his actions.
Still, the online blowback continues to mount. Many longtime viewers of *Secular Talk* said they were disgusted by the meme and accused Kulinski of crossing a moral line. Others defended him, claiming it was just “satire” about the commercialization of grief.
But for many, the outrage isn’t about politics — it’s about basic decency. Erika Kirk has publicly endured the trauma of her husband’s assassination, and to watch online influencers mock her appearance, her tears, and her faith has struck a nerve even among those who don’t share her politics.
One user summed up the general sentiment in a reply that went viral: “You don’t have to agree with Charlie Kirk. You just have to be human enough to know when a joke isn’t funny.”
