It's possible to laugh briefly even when grieving, hell it can make you laugh at weird things you wouldn't normally if you're the kind of person who gets nervous laughter, so that's not proof of anything. And I could probably pull off 90% of that call calmly too if it's a job that needs doing.

But that last 10% man, it's a little creepy. If my wife was murdered in front of me 11 days ago I could not do a calm and airy "My husband's dead, not to be morbid but he is.". That would make me crack. I'd have to avoid saying something so blunt if I didn't want to sound emotional, otherwise it'd be obvious fury or grief no doubt about it. So either all the beauty pageant bullshit has given her a hell of a poker face, or she didn't lose a real loved one so much as a cohabiting business partner.

We're not asking for Erika to break down and start bawling on a business call. We're asking for some kind of tell, nonverbal or otherwise that she is experiencing human emotions about the ridiculously traumatic events that just happened to her. Even when people keep it together you can tell when things are weighing on people from their tone, from stray remarks, their cadence, the subjects they bring up, and on and on.

There is zero tell in the entire call that she lost her husband. Besides, obviously, "I just lost my husband," said in the same affect as "I just crashed my car last week, isn't that crazy?"

Let's not forget that she had no formal role in TPUSA before and she was just handed the reins of the biggest conservative organization in the country. Less than two weeks ago. And juggling two toddlers at the same time! You'd think she'd been president for years! What a gal!