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Riley Gaines praised Erika Kirk on Sunday while talking in front of thousands of mourners during a commemorative service for her husband, Charlie Kirk, in Arizona.
Erika Kirk approached the podium at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, home in the NFL Arizona cardinals. She showed immense courage and grace while talking about her husband, who was killed during an event at the University of Utah Valley almost two weeks ago.
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Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, arrives on stage to speak during the public memorial service for political activist Charlie Kirk at the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP through Getty Images)
“Erika Kirk’s comments … I have no words,” wrote the women’s sports activist in X. “This is exactly what the United States needed to listen. Full of love, strength, compassion, honesty and forgiveness. This is the most powerful speech I have heard.”
Kirk told the crowd that she would forgive her husband’s alleged murderer, Tyler Robinson, and said that the mission of the conservative influencer was reaching young men in search of direction.
“Charlie wanted to reach and save the lost children of the West. Young men who feel they have no direction, purpose, faith and no reason to live. Men waste their lives in distractions and men consume resentment, anger and hate,” he said. “Charlie wanted to help them. I wanted them to have a home with Turning Point USA. And when he went to the campus, I was looking to show them a better way and a better life. That was there to take. He wanted to show them that.
Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, cleans the tears on stage during a commemorative service for the conservative commentator murdered Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025. (Reuters/Daniel Cole)
Browns pays tribute to Charlie Kirk while Memorial Services takes place in Arizona
“My husband, Charlie. I wanted to save. Young men, like the one who took his life. That young man. That young man on the cross. Our Savior said that. Father. Forgive them, because they don’t know what they do,” he continued. “You, that man. That young man. I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did. And it is what Charlie would do. The answer to hatred is not hate. The answer we know of the Gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
Gaines praised his courage.
“Only God can give a widow afflicted the heart, serenity and strength to forgive her husband’s murderer only 11 days after she shot her,” added the host of Outkick “Gaines for Girls.” “Only God.”
The commemorative service had several speakers since more than 70,000 people were available.
