President Donald Trump apologized to Charlie Kirk‘s wife Erika for refusing to join her call to forgive the man who assassinated her husband in cold blood.
Trump delivered a fiery 45-minute eulogy to the late conservative activist, 31, who was fatally shot on September 10 while debating students at the Utah Valley University college campus.
In his speech – delivered to a crowd of 60,000 inside State Farm Stadium in Arizona and tens of thousands more tuning in virtually – Trump revealed the key component of Kirk’s message that he disagreed with.
‘He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them,’ Trump said of Kirk.
‘That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.
‘I’m sorry. I am sorry, Erika, but now Erika can talk to me, and the whole group, and maybe they can convince me that that’s not right, but I can’t stand my opponent.’
Moments before Trump’s admission, Erika had stunned the crowd by publicly offering forgiveness to her husband’s killer.
‘He [Charlie] wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life,’ Erika said, sparking roars from the crowd and a standing ovation.
President Donald Trump hugs an emotional Erika Kirk after inviting her on stage at the end of his speech. Trump delivered a touching 45-minute eulogy to the late conservative activist, 31, who was shot dead on September 10 while debating students at the Utah Valley University college campus
Erika sensationally revealed she had forgiven her husband’s killer
President Donald Trump apologized to Charlie Kirk ‘s wife Erika for failing to see eye-to-eye on her decision to forgive his accused killer
‘That man, that young man, I forgive him.’
With tears streaming across her face, she praised Americans for turning towards the church for the first time in decades following her husband’s death and sensationally revealed her husband ‘was ready to die.’
‘Even though Charlie died too early, he was ready to die,’ Erika said. ‘Charlie died with incomplete work, but not unfinished business.’
‘There was nothing that was too hard or too painful or nothing that he just felt like he didn’t want to do.’
She shared a memory with Kirk from two years earlier, in which she was stunned to hear him quote Bible verse Isaiah 6:8: ‘Here I am, Lord. Send me.’
‘After Charlie finished, I met him backstage and I spoke to him … I said, Charlie, baby, please talk to me next time before you say that statement,’ she revealed.
‘Because when you say something like that, there is so much power in that verse … God will take you up on that, and He did.’
Spectators were in tears throughout her speech as she remembered the father of her two children, their marriage and his legacy.
Trump said he was a confidante he could often turn to before major events or policy announcements
Erika Kirk spoke through tears and had the crowd of mourners on their feet with her poignant speech
In another devastating portion of her moving speech, she described the moment she saw her husband’s dead body.
Erika tearfully said that she experienced a ‘level of heartbreak she didn’t even knew existed.’
‘I felt shock, I felt horror,’ she told the audience. ‘But even in death I could see the man that I love,’ she added.
‘Even if Charlie had been shot in the operating room, nothing could have been done.’
The audience broke out in to massive applause after Erika said Charlie joined his savior, Jesus Christ, in paradise.
Erika also gave thanks to Second Lady Usha Vance for comforting her in the moments following Kirk’s murder.
Vice President JD Vance had transported Kirk’s casket, along with Erika and their two young children, on board Air Force Two on September 11 – one day after Kirk was assassinated.
In emotional images, the grief-stricken Erika could be seen stepping off the plane hand in hand with Usha. The widow kept her head low and sunglasses on while the Second Lady guided her.
Erika spoke of the loving relationship she and Kirk shared, revealing several key details about their marriage
The State Farm Stadium reached capacity hours before the start of the memorial service
‘[Usha] told me, you will get through these 15 minutes and the next 15 minutes after that,’ she recalled.
‘Usha, I don’t think you realized it then, but those words were exactly what I needed to hear.’
Elsewhere in her speech, she revealed that throughout their marriage Charlie would write her love notes with the question: ‘How can I better serve you as a husband?’
‘I was Charlie’s confidant,’ Erika said.
‘My marriage with Charlie was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I know it was the best for him as well. He wanted everyone to experience that joy.’
Erika went on to claim Charlie wanted to save ‘the lost boys of the west’ by encouraging them all to experience marriage and build a family.
‘When he spoke to young people, he was always eager to tell them about God’s vision for marriage,’ she added.
‘And how, if they could just dare to live it out, it would enrich every part of their life, just as it enriched ours.’
The new Turning Point USA CEO was met with a standing ovation, with shouts of ‘we love you’ upon entering the State Farm Stadium.
More than 200,000 mourners lined up before the sun rose to try to get into the arena, the home to the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.
Elsewhere in her speech, she revealed that throughout their marriage Charlie would write her love notes with the question: ‘How can I better serve you as a husband?’
Robinson, 22, was arrested two days after he allegedly opened fire during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University
But thousands were turned away as both the stadium and the overflow venue next door reached capacity hours before the start.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance and members of the cabinet joined Erika to give emotional farewells to Kirk, while condemning his killer and the divisive rhetoric which many blame for the tragedy.
Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested two days after the assassination and has been charged with capital murder.
Prosecutors and the Trump administration are pushing for him to receive the death penalty in a state that uses the firing squad in executions.
But in an interview with The New York Times published hours before the memorial, Erika said she wants no part in the decision making process for the fate of her husband’s killer.
‘I’ve had people ask, “Do you feel anger toward this man? Like, do you want to seek the death penalty?” I’ll be honest. I told our lawyer, I want the government to decide this,’ Erika said.
‘I do not want that man’s blood on my ledger. Because when I get to heaven, and Jesus is like: “Uh, eye for an eye? Is that how we do it?” And that keeps me from being in heaven, from being with Charlie?’
Trump also credited the late firebrand for introducing him to Vice President J.D. Vance and for being an integral part of the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again)
Vice President JD Vance paid tribute to his close friend Charlie Kirk during his moving tribute
Kirk was recognized as a fearless Christian and conservative by the high powered speakers at his public memorial on Sunday.
Trump said he was a confidante he could often turn to before major events or policy announcements.
He also credited Kirk for introducing him to Vice President J.D. Vance and for being an integral part of the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement.
‘Charles James Kirk was heinously murdered by a radicalized leftist for speaking the truth that was in his heart,’ the president said.
‘He was violently killed because he spoke for freedom and justice, for God, touched for reason and for common sense. He was assassinated because he lived bravely.
‘He lived boldly, and he argued brilliantly without apology. He did what was right for our nation.
‘Charlie’s murder was not just an attack on one man or one movement, it was an attack on our entire nation.’
Vance, who credits Kirk for his political rise through the ranks and the success of the Trump administration, told the gathered crowd that his friend was a ‘martyr.’
‘We must remember that he is a hero to the United States of America. And he is a martyr for the Christian faith,’ he said.
‘I have talked more about Jesus Christ the past two weeks than I have my entire time in public office.
‘Our whole administration is here, but not just because we love Charlie as a friend, even though we did, but because we know we wouldn’t be here without him. Charlie built an organization that reshaped the balance of our politics.’
