When a clip of Vice President JD Vance embracing Erika Kirk at a Turning Point USA event began circulating online, it quickly turned into one of the week’s most talked-about moments.
Some saw the hug as a gesture of close emotional support, while others saw it as a sign that the VP and the Turning Point USA CEO were in an intimate relationship. Now, body language experts have weighed in on the matter, proving some much-needed context on the pair’s controversial interaction.
Body language experts stated that Erika Kirk and JD Vance’s hug showed that they were comfortable with each other
In the viral video, Erika Kirk, the widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, hugged Vance tightly as they met onstage at the University of Mississippi.
At one point, she placed her hand in his hair and he rested his hand near her waist.
The pair’s level of intimacy raised eyebrows, especially since Kirk’s husband was slain in public less than two months ago.
To analyze the pair’s actions, The Huffington Post asked several body language experts to weigh in on the pair’s actions.
“That’s a super-intimate move, but beyond that, it controls his attention, so she’s controlling what he’s looking at,” Traci Brown, who is also a behavior analyst, said.
“In the hug, also, they’re pressed up against each other, he is smiling, and the little crème de la crème on the s**ual aspect of that interaction, besides the pelvis placement, is she’s running her hands through his hair,” said Patti Wood, an expert in nonverbal communication.
Wood added that Kirk’s fingers curled around Vance’s hair during the hug, subtly pulling him closer. Vance’s facial expression during the interaction also seemed positive, the expert noted.
Karen Donaldson, another communication and body language specialist, stated that the pair’s interaction suggests that they are comfortable around each other.
“It suggests, or signals, she’s comfortable. And there’s some type of familiarity there. He’s familiar to her as well,” Donaldson said.
Experts stated that the controversial hug fell into “intimate space,” but that doesn’t mean romantic
The positioning of Vance’s hand drew just as much attention as Kirk’s. “His hands drop to her hips, and that is not formal, and that is, in many instances, not appropriate.
“However, it’s what they’re doing,” Brown said. Kirk, notably, didn’t pull away, suggesting mutual ease.
“Could it be a deep friendship? Yeah. Could it be more than that? Absolutely. Is there any one move that says, ‘Hey, they’re a couple now?’ No, there’s not,” Brown said.
Donaldson clarified that physical closeness doesn’t automatically equal romantic connection.
“When we go just below the lower part of your ribs, that’s someone’s intimate space. That signals that there’s a connection, but it’s a little bit more on the intimate side,” she said.
“Intimate space doesn’t always mean romantic.”
According to Donaldson, human interaction can be understood through proxemics, the study of how distance reflects relationships.
Impersonal encounters usually happen 12 to 25 feet apart, while friendly ones are within 1 to 4 feet.
“When we talk about intimate space, we’re talking really close. Usually within a foot and all the way up to touching,” she said.
In this case, she said, Kirk and Vance are “150%” in each other’s intimate space.
“They’re facing each other directly and they are in each other’s intimate space, and what I want to say about that is it’s mutual, because no one’s pulling away,” Donaldson said, adding that this “heavy emotional connection” can refer to close friendships and romantic relationships.
Experts stated that grief typically changes how people connect with others physically
Experts also emphasized that grief changes how people connect physically. There is a range of behaviors that are “normal” in grief, loss, and trauma, so no two people grieve the same way, Wood explained.
Typically, people give a grieving person more physical distance, Wood said, because “they don’t approach a person in grief at a close range.” Vance did the opposite during his interaction with Kirk, which could indicate several things.
“Typically, the only dearest, closest people feel super comfortable going into face-to-face full body (connection),” Wood said.
Donaldson added that the two were “touching chest to chest and pelvis to pelvis,” which could indicate an emotional connection.
Overall, experts agreed that while the moment naturally drew attention, the interaction itself showed no discomfort from either party. “It was likely a choice on both of their parts to partake in this kind of hug on a world stage,” Wood said.
“Think about how much media is concerned about these two people and the event when everything else is going on,” she added.
Netizens shared their reactions to Erika Kirk and JD Vance’s controversial hug on social media
