In the early months of 2026, online users claimed an image showed an authentic photo of Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk with Tyler Robinson, the man charged with shooting and killing her husband, conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Utah state prosecutors charged Robinson, 22, on several counts including aggravated murder, accusing him of killing the Turning Point USA co-founder. The incident occurred during an outdoor speaking event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025.
For example, a popular Threads post (archived) from Feb. 25, 2026, displayed the image with the caption, "Well looky here, who is this guy? I think we had some Kirk on Kirk crime! No AI or photo shop!"
(@budsbarn/Threads)
In short, the image was fake. It showed clear signs of being AI-generated. Searches on Bing, DuckDuckGo and Google found no news outlets or independent political blogs reporting on the fake picture. Many outlets would have reported on the image if it were real.
The image combined an AI-generated likeness resembling Erika Kirk's appearance from a CBS News town hall airing on Dec. 13, 2025, along with a likeness of Robinson wearing a shirt and tie matching his outfit during a court appearance on Jan. 16, 2026. The AI tool created moments showing the pair that did not actually occur during the town hall or court appearance, including Kirk purportedly turning her head to her left and placing her left hand on her face and Robinson supposedly staring into a camera with an open mouth.
We contacted Turning Point USA to ask if they wished to provide a statement about users sharing the inauthentic image and will update this article if we receive a response.
Examining the fake image
Reverse image searches found users sharing the fake image on Facebook (archived), TikTok (archived), X (archived) and YouTube (archived).
A video (archived) from TikTok user @codebreakerlechler displayed the earliest date we found yet in searches: Jan. 27. In a private message, @codebreakerlechler told Snopes, "I found the picture on Facebook. Can't remember who posted it. I do remember seeing the poster saying it came from Erika's Insta." A search of Erika Kirk's entire Instagram account history did not locate any photos matching the image.
The AI-generated image portrayed Erika Kirk with the same outfit, hairstyle, cross necklace and lapel microphone that she wore during the CBS News' program "A Town Hall with Erika Kirk." Bari Weiss, CBS News' editor-in-chief, hosted the town hall, which aired on Dec. 13, 2025.
Readers can view Kirk's appearance during one of several clips from the interview, including during a moment when she directly addressed conspiracy theories about her husband's death.
Kirk's cross necklace hung slightly lower than the lapel microphone, matching the position of faintly-visible artifacts for the microphone in the lower-quality, AI-generated image.
Artifacts for the shape and shadows of Erika Kirk's lapel microphone from the CBS News town hall very faintly showed up in the AI-generated image. (@budsbarn/Threads and CBS News/YouTube (Snopes Illustration))
At no time during the extended version of the broadcast did Erika Kirk turn to her left and place her left hand on her face in the same way depicted in the image, nor did still photos from the discussion show that same moment.
Robinson's depiction in the fake photo — both with the powder blue dress shirt and striped, three-color blue and black necktie — matched his outfit from a Jan. 16, 2026, courtroom appearance, visible in the photo shown below. That date, combined with the date of the earliest-known post, suggested a user asked an AI tool to create the image sometime between Jan. 16-27.
(Getty Images)
For further reading, we previously reported the facts after users claimed federal lawsuits and documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein showed Erika Kirk was involved in child trafficking.