WASHINGTON (Realist English). In her first public address since the assassination of her husband, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Erika Kirk delivered a moving tribute on Sunday, combining personal grief with a vow to continue his political mission.
Speaking before a packed audience, she recalled the moment she saw her husband in the hospital, describing the shock and heartbreak but also the comfort of knowing “he did not suffer.”
Kirk drew a standing ovation when she said she forgives the man accused of shooting her husband, quoting Jesus on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
She emphasized that her husband “died with incomplete work, but not unfinished business,” saying his foremost cause was to “revive the American family” rooted in conservative Christian values.
Accepting the role of chief executive officer of Turning Point USA, the organization her husband founded, she pledged to expand its presence nationwide: “Thousands of new chapters will be created, and the campus events Charlie began will continue.”
Kirk also shared a personal moment aboard Air Force Two a day after the shooting, when she confided to U.S. Second Lady Usha Vance that she did not know how to endure the loss. Vance, she said, told her the moment is like “the last 15 minutes of a plane ride with your kids” — words she described as unexpectedly comforting.