Erika Kirk delivered a profoundly moving tribute to her husband, filled with saintly faith and eternal love, even forgiving the twisted young man who murdered the husband she adored.
As his wife and the mother of his children, Erika was closer to Charlie Kirk than anyone else, and the loss she and her kids suffered is worst and most irreparable of all. Yet even with tears on her cheeks, she stood strong and dedicated to her husband’s mission, overflowing with love for Charlie and his allies and with forgiveness for his killer.
She recalled a speech Kirk gave at a TPUSA faith event in which he described his submission to the will of God and his desire to do whatever God wills. Backstage, Erika said, “‘Charlie baby, please talk to me next time before you say [that]…God will take you up on that.’ And he did.”
Erika Kirk’s full speech at Building a Legacy: Remembering Charlie Kirk@mrserikakirk pic.twitter.com/bTrMLDpJPj
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) September 22, 2025
And indeed, “more than anything, Charlie wanted to do not his will but God’s will,” Erika emphasized. “Never before have I found as much comfort in the words of the Lord’s Prayer ‘thy will be done,” as after his assassination.
Related: Trump Praises Kirk: The ‘Martyr for American Freedom’
Harking back to the afternoon of Sept.10, she talked about the unspeakable horror of having “to look directly at my husband’s murdered body. I saw the wound that ended his life,” suffering “a level of heartache that I didn’t even know existed.”
Amidst the irreparable loss, “there was something else too…even in death I could see the man that I loved,” and “I also saw this, I saw on his lips the faintest smile.” This, Erika said, “revealed to me a great mercy from God in this tragedy/…it told me Charlie didn’t suffer.” One moment he was debating and doing the work he loved, then he “blinked and saw his Savior in Paradise.”
Erika was proud to note that “after Charlie’s assassination we didn’t see violence, we didn’t see rioting,” but “instead we saw what my husband always prayed we’d see in this country, we saw revival.” She urged Americans to follow God and asked that “all of you who are already believers, you are called to shepherd these people.” Faith is not mere words or a one-time action, it is “a habit, the more you live it the more it grows.” Each person “must choose to mark your soul again and again in the direction of Christ,” because “being a follower of Christ is not easy, it’s not supposed to be.”
Jesus told us to take up our crosses (Matthew 16:24) and Charlie “happily carried his cross all the way to the end.” While Charlie planned years of work, still “he was also ready to die, there was nothing—nothing he was putting off,” and “he left this world without regrets; he did 100% of what he could every day.” That can be said of very few people.
She made the important distinction that “Charlie died with uncompleted work, but not with unfinished business.” Weeping in heart-wrenching sorrow, Erika mourned, “I will miss him, because our love and our marriage were beautiful, and they still are.” She shared their “little secret, it was love notes. Every Saturday he wrote one for me and he never missed a Saturday.”
Charlie would write about “how grateful he was for me and our babies,” and “he’d always end by asking ‘please let me know how I can better serve you as a husband.’” What an exceptional Christian man he was!
Erika challenged young men to be like Charlie, “a man who can lead because he can serve,” asking them to “embrace true manhood.” She begged, “Please be a leader worth following,” recognizing that “your wife is not your servant… you are not rivals, you are one flesh.” She described how she “poured into [Charlie] and loved him so deeply” because “every day he honored me.” She also asked young women to “be virtuous,” because “we are the guardians…we are the preservers” of civilization, especially as mothers.
As a young wife, Erika said she “made sure that when Charlie returned from work it was his sacred landing place,” a place “he wanted to be as soon as possible” whenever he had to travel. “We were a team, working together for the same mission.” Her marriage with Charlie “was the best thing that ever happened to me” and to him, she affirmed. “He wanted everyone to experience that joy.”
While this was true, still “Charlie’s mission above all was aimed directly at those who were not married,” Erika said. “Charlie passionately wanted to save the lost boys of the West.” Her beloved husband “wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life.” And in a supreme act of charity, imitating Christ, Erika Kirk said “that young man, I forgive him.” No words can describe that moment. It was sublime.
Erika Kirk: “My husband Charlie he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life…On the cross, our savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they not know what they do.’ That young man. I forgive him.” pic.twitter.com/jy8W7YrmVs
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 21, 2025
Erika urged the audience, “The answer to hate is not hate, the answer we know from the Gospel is love.” She vowed that “every part of our work will become greater.” Charlie was killed for free speech, but we cannot be deterred. “The First Amendment of our Constitution is the most human amendment,” Erika said. “No assassin will ever stop us from standing up to defend those rights.”
From his teenaged years on, Charlie Kirk was determined that “he was going to change the world, and he did. Charlie’s life was a turning point in this country, it was a miracle.”
Superb in her love and determination, the young widow made a promise to Kirk about TPUSA and his legacy: “I love you, Charlie baby, and I will make you proud.”
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