Comedian Drew Desbordes, known online as Druski, has provoked widespread criticism after posting a video in which he wore whiteface makeup, prosthetics and a blonde wig to mock conservative commentator Erika Kirk in the months following the fatal shooting of her husband Charlie Kirk.
The video, captioned “How Conservative Women in America act,” was posted on Wednesday and accumulated more than 670,000 likes, 110,000 reposts and 13,000 comments. In it, the 31-year-old comedian recreated and parodied a series of viral public appearances made by Erika Kirk after Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative non-profit Turning Point USA, was shot dead in September.
The clip featured a series of sketches, including a mock press conference in which Druski, dressed in a white trouser suit on a stage with sparklers and an American flag, gave evasive answers to questions about children killed in a US military attack. Other segments showed him singing along to pop music while driving, appearing on a fictional podcast holding a Bible, ordering organic items at a coffee shop drive-through, and standing at a podium alongside a Black mock police officer while delivering a speech about protecting “all white men in America” — with the officer visibly reacting to the remarks.
Several sequences appeared to reference specific viral moments involving Erika Kirk, including an imitation of a widely circulated clip in which she stared directly into a camera as dramatic music played.
The video drew a polarised reaction online. Many viewers condemned it as cruel and misogynistic, with one commenter writing “thought you were funny before — this is just disgusting” and another describing it as evidence of “a cruel, cruel world.” Others questioned whether the same content would have been acceptable if the racial dynamic had been reversed, with one user directly calling Druski “a racist.”
Erika Kirk had faced public scrutiny in the aftermath of her husband’s death, with some critics suggesting her grief appeared performative. She subsequently took on a prominent role within Turning Point USA following Charlie’s death.
Druski has not publicly responded to the backlash at the time of publication.
