Charlie Kirk transformed the American right through his nonprofit Turning Point USA before he was assassinated at an on-campus event in Utah three months ago. This week, his widow Erika, who now leads Turning Point, joined CBS News for a town hall where she reflected on grief, defended her husband’s controversial comments and explained the “game-time decision” of publicly forgiving the man accused in her husband’s murder.
The conversation, moderated by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, is the first of many planned CBS News town halls and debates. Invited guests who joined the conversation included Utah Valley University student Hunter Kozak, who was the last person to speak to Charlie Kirk, and Robert Milgrim, the father of Israeli Embassy staffer Sarah Milgrim, who was shot and killed in May.
Here are the highlights:
Erika Kirk’s message to people who sought to justify assassination: “Tell that to my 3-year-old daughter”
Erika Kirk said anyone who sought to justify her husband’s assassination is “sick” and said the internet has dehumanized people.
“He’s a human being. You think he deserved that? Tell that to my 3-year-old daughter.”
She continued: “You want to watch in high-res the video of my husband being murdered, and laugh, and say he deserves it? There’s something very sick in your soul, and I’m praying that God saves you.”
Erika Kirk: Charlie never incited violence
Charlie Kirk was known for his debates with college students, inviting them to step up to a microphone and “prove me wrong.”
Erika Kirk said her husband encouraged people of different political beliefs and backgrounds to come to the front of the line, saying, “‘I’ll put my mic down. Tell me why you believe that. That’s interesting. I never thought of that. But have you thought of this?'”
A recent poll by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and College Pulse found that 91% of undergraduates believe “words can be violence.” But Erika Kirk said her husband never incited violence: “He never once said, ‘Go after them because they’re saying X, Y, Z and they deserve to die.’He gave them a microphone. He didn’t take away a moment for them to speak back. He gave them a microphone. And what’d they do? They gave him a bullet in the neck. Totally different.”
She says her husband believed having conversations could save the world, referencing his new book, “Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life,” which emphasizes that you can’t communicate effectively with someone if you’re not at peace with yourself.
Erika Kirk: Charlie shouldn’t be “deteriorated” to “out-of-context” clips
Erika Kirk says some of her late husband’s controversial comments, shared widely in the wake of his assassination, lacked context and that he should not “be deteriorated” to a few sentences.
Weiss asked Erika Kirk about some of those much-shared comments: that some gun deaths are “worth it” to protect the Second Amendment; that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a mistake; and that if he sees a Black pilot, he’s “going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified,” while acknowledging “that’s not who I am, that’s not what I believe.”
Erika Kirk said she’d love for people to watch the full clips instead of taking comments out of context.
“Charlie didn’t care what skin color you were. He didn’t care what religion you were. He loved excellence,” she said, adding that “his favorite word was ‘earn’… He loved knowing that people worked hard to earn what they got.”
She said she didn’t know the context of the “gun deaths” quote but said, “There’s a lot more there than just that one little sentence.”
“My husband is not to be deteriorated to two sentences,” she said. “He’s not. He is a thought leader, and he was brilliant of a man. So that’s fine if you want to take words out of his mouth or out of context without the whole thing in perspective, but that’s the problem.”
The last student to talk to Charlie Kirk asks: Will you condemn President Trump’s rhetoric?
Kozak was the last person to debate Charlie Kirk before he was shot. Since that day, Kozak — a self-professed liberal — has continued to call for civil political discourse. “I think that one of the few things that we can agree on is this necessity for a conversation. I think that we need to remember that we still have to live with each other. That these are still our neighbors,” he told “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley after the shooting.
He attended the CBS News town hall, where he again took the microphone — this time, to ask Erika Kirk a question: “Will you condemn the violent rhetoric of Donald Trump, the most powerful and influential person on earth?”
Kozak specifically referenced President Trump accusing six Democratic lawmakers of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” and then reposting, “HANG THEM, GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!” Top Democrats called for Mr. Trump to be “condemned forcefully” over the social media remarks.
Erika Kirk didn’t mention Mr. Trump by name in her response, saying the issue is “so much deeper than one person” and that it “starts at the home.”
She urged parents to “look in the mirror” and reflect on how they’re raising their children.
“You can choose to have evil in your heart or you can choose to have light,” she said. “What you consume and what you absorb from the outside world will manifest itself.”
Weiss asked: “Do you think our political leaders have a responsibility to turn the temperature down right now?”
“Well, I think everyone has a responsibility to do that, and I’m doing my part,” Erika Kirk replied. “I’m not in control of other people.”
Dad of Israeli Embassy staffer killed in shooting asks: Will you condemn antisemitism?
Robert Milgrim, whose daughter Sarah was one of two victims of the Capitol Jewish Museum shooting in Washington, D.C., asked Erika Kirk: “Will you here condemn the individuals spreading that hate and speak out clearly enough against antisemitism so we can prevent another tragedy?”
“Hate is hate. It’s evil,” said Erika Kirk, adding that she and Charlie Kirk have always been “very clear on our stance” on Israel and the Jewish people.
She said: “What healing factor comes out of hating Jewish people? What healing factor comes out of hating Christians? What healing factor comes out? Hate in general. Nothing. Nothing. Charlie always would say very clearly, Jew hate was brain rot. He would always say it.”
Antisemitic incidents have increased nearly 900% in the U.S. over the past 10 years, according to a recent Anti-Defamation League audit.
Erika Kirk’s one-word message for Candace Owens
Weiss asked Erika Kirk about Candace Owens, a former Turning Point USA employee and onetime friend of Charlie Kirk, who has recently been peddling conspiracy theories about his assassination. Owens has also made unfounded fraud allegations about the nonprofit — the Treasury Department last week confirmed that none of the tax-exempt entities Erika Kirk runs are under investigation by the IRS.
What does Erika Kirk want to say to Owens and others making these unfounded claims?
“Stop. That’s it. That’s all I have to say. Stop.”
The “game-time decision” to forgive
Erika Kirk stunned millions when she proclaimed at her husband’s memorial service that she forgave her husband’s accused killer.
“I forgive him because it’s what Christ did and is what Charlie would do,” she said in her powerful eulogy.
She told Weiss that the moment was a “game-time decision” because she’d never say something she didn’t mean.
“But am I gonna take that moment to say, ‘Rally the troops, burn the city down, march in the streets?’ Or am I gonna take that moment and unleash something like we talked about, even greater, more powerful and say, ‘It’s a revival.’ And let that unleash, and let the Lord use it in ways that no one else could’ve ever imagined.”
Erika Kirk said she’s not forgetting or condoning, but rather “releasing myself from the enemy’s hands where he could have a foothold in me.”
When asked if she had any words for his accused killer, she said: “Nothing. I have nothing to say to you. Nothing.”
She added that there’s a difference between forgiving someone and still wanting justice. “We serve a just God, and I rest easy in knowing that. He’s sovereign, but he’s just. And so let the Lord handle that.”