'I Don't Trust You': Joy Reid Lashes Out After Erika Kirk Joked the Ex-MSNBC Host Needs a 'Really Good Hug' During TPUSA Conference
Joy Reid wanted nothing to do with Erika Kirk's hug offer.
Dec. 23 2025, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
Joy Reid has turned up the heat on her feud with Erika Kirk after she mocked the former MSNBC host during the opening night of Turning Point USA's America Fest, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Charlie Kirk's widow, 37, made a snarky comment about Reid, 57, after the political commenter called out the way she hugged friend JD Vance at a TPUSA event following her husband's assassination.
'Don't Touch Me!'
Erika Kirk joked about giving enemy Joy Reid a hug during the opening night of TPUSA's America Fest.
"Joy Reid probably needs a really, really good hug. And honestly, I'm here for it if she needs it...I'll even touch the back of your head!" Erika told the audience to roars of laughter and cheers at the event's kickoff in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 18.
She was referring to Reid's mocking of the seemingly intimate onstage hug Vance, 41, received from Erika at a TPUSA stop on October 29 in Mississippi.
"Absolutely not. Uh, don't come near me. Don't touch me," Reid sneered on her eponymous YouTube show the following day.
"The last thing I will say to Erika Kirk is this: Dear young lady, I don't need a hug from you," the former cable host huffed.
Joy Reid Rages Over Erika Kirk's Comments
Joy Reid said she would 'never' let Erika Kirk get close enough to hug her.
"First of all, I would never let you get close enough to hug me 'cause I don't trust you," Reid snapped, directing her anger at Erika.
"And second of all, I don't know if anybody ever told you – you're pretty young – but don't be offering to touch Black women's hair. We don't allow it," she continued. "This is not the 19-teens. It's not the 1920s or the 1930s. You cannot come up to me, touch me, or touch my hair. It won't go. I don't allow it. So, don't offer to do that because that's not going to happen."
Reid doubled down on her previous criticism of Erika's hug with Vance, saying, "You're going to have to now figure out how you're going to explain to your Turning Point USA base why you working and why you out rubbing on JD Vance back of his head and offering to rub on the back of mine."
Controversial Comments About JD Vance's Wife
Joy Reid claimed JD Vance should leave his wife, Usha, for Charlie Kirk's widow to 'bring the houses of MAGA together.'
Reid also repeated similar claims she made when initially criticizing Erika's hug with the vice president, saying how Vance should leave his "Brown Hindu" wife, Usha, for his good pal Charlie's widow.
"MAGA is the one doing the racism. Not me. All I'm saying is the ultimate MAGA fairytale would be for JD to leave Usha Vance alone and go run off with Charlie Kirk's widow. It brings, like, the houses of MAGA together," the Brooklyn, New York native scoffed.
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Erika Kirk Explains Her JD Vance Hug
'I'll give you a free hug anytime. My love language is touch,' Erika Kirk explained to Megyn Kelly.
Erika finally addressed the controversy surrounding her hug with Vance during a live event with conservative SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly in Glendale, Arizona, on November 25. She said anyone critical of the embrace, "probably needs a hug themselves."
"So I will give you a play-by-play... They just played the emotional video. I’m walking over, [JD] is walking over. I’m starting to cry," Erika recalled.
"He says, '[Charlie] is so proud of you.' And I say, 'God bless you,' and I touch the back of his head," she continued. "Anyone whom I have hugged, that I have touched the back of your head when I hug you, I always say, 'God bless you.'"
The mother of two added that if anyone "wants to take that out of context," they could "go right ahead."
Kelly, 50, joked, "They were acting like you touched the back of his a--," to which Erika sighed, "I feel like I wouldn’t get as much hate if I did that."
