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Erika Kirk took the stage at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) to a packed house Wednesday night for her first performance on the Turning Point USA campus since her husband’s murder. Charlie Kirk.
“It’s hard not to cry after watching it,” she said of the video tribute that played before she took the microphone. “I haven’t seen this… this video since that day.”
“Being on campus right now for me is likespiritual reconquest of territories“There’s a lot of symbolism today.” It’s Wednesday, seven weeks. And the more I come to terms with the permanence of this nightmare, the more I begin to see and witness that the enemy does not want you.”
He wants your territory. He wants your influence. And I could just hear Charlie in my heart. I could hear him saying, “Go take back this territory, baby.” Go – the battles God’s love wins.’ And that’s why I’m here today,” she added.
Erika Kirk speaks during a “This Is the Turning Point” campus tour event at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Erika thanked the students who filled the arena. Many wore “Freedom” T-shirts like the one she wore to the podium. “You have no idea how helpful it is to have you all in my life because you help me feel even more deeply connected to my husband,” she told them.
She remembered how Charlie made a point each time Turning Point USA event to stop and talk to student leaders. “He would ask you what your name is, what you study, what issues are happening on campus,” she said. “He wanted you to know that he was invested in you: in your chapter, in your school. That was a momentum point for him.”
“Earn your vote,” she urged. “You are the brave generation. This is you. All of you, Gen Z, you are the brave generation. Make him proud.”
Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, speaks during a Turning Point USA event where Vice President JD Vance also spoke at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., on Wednesday. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“I lost my friend. I lost my best friend,” she said. “If you’re afraid to stand up for the truth, my husband’s murder puts all of those fears into perspective. My husband never went with the flow. He believed the harder path was always the right one, because comfort doesn’t change the world.”
She told the audience in attendance for the first time that she had avoided her bedroom at home for weeks after Charlie’s murder.
“It took me a while to even make it back to our bedroom,” she said. “I used to run into the bathroom from the door that opened and sprint back out. I wasn’t ready to go into our bedroom, so when I finally got to sleep in our bed for the first time, I slept on his side of the bed.”
ERIKA KIRK SAYS LATE HUSBAND’S DEATH TRIGGERED A “REVIVAL” AT THE ARIZONA MEMORIAL
Attendees listen as Vice President JD Vance speaks during a “This Is the Turning Point” campus tour event at Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
From there, she said, she finally saw what Charlie saw every morning: the framed words on the wall: “You will be known by the boldness of your faith.”
“He saw that he woke up every morning,” Erika said. “I didn’t do that because I was on the other side looking at the window. But from his side he saw it first.”
On his desk, she added, were three questions that Charlie had written down and asked himself every day: “What can I do for someone today? What can I do to add value to the world today? How can I honor God today?”
“Those were his action points for courage,” Erika said. “Ask yourself these questions every day and I promise you will gain courage. What death reinforces is that you only have one life. So live like it matters.”
“Love your family fearlessly. Love your spouse fearlessly. “I love this country,” she said. “Defend it and serve our God.” And don’t think it’s someone else’s job to do this. You do it. You can do it.” The audience burst into applause.
“This moment can either be your breaking point or your wake-up call,” she said. “Essentially your tipping point.”
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She then introduced the Vice President JD Vancea friend of her late husband, calls him someone who “understands the struggle we face and can articulate it in a way that transcends race and background.”
“There will never be another Charlie,” she said, “but I know he would be proud to see us here tonight.”
