Erika Kirk appeared on Wednesday at the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York, where she spoke about continuing to lead Turning Point USA following the murder of her husband, TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk.
Erika was the final speaker at the summit and was interviewed by journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin. She highlighted her husband’s death, saying her pain in the aftermath of his assassination has “morphed into a form of purpose that you see will outlive you.”
“It puts into perspective that this isn’t about me, this isn’t about my life, this is about the legacy my husband left behind,” Erika said. “But it’s also about how we’re fighting the good fight for our country.”
“Charlie was very good about creating and intentionally building a machine where it turns from founder-led to vision-led, and he shared everything with me,” she explained. “I knew his goals, I knew what his vision was for things, so this is not out of my orbit, this is not uncomfortable for me. It’s not, because I’m picking up a mantle that I understand.”
While at the event, Erika also pushed back against calls for gun reform following her husband’s assassination.
“He was a real believer, as you know, in the Second Amendment, and I’m curious how you think today about gun violence in America, given what happened to him,” Sorkin said.
“It’s a thoughtful question,” Erika replied. “And I wouldn’t wish upon anyone what I have been through. And I support the Second Amendment as well. I do. But there’s a bigger and much deeper conversation to all of that.”
She noted that when visiting college campuses, counselors often cite mental health issues such as anxiety and depression as top concerns for students.
“And what Charlie knew, and he was trying to explain to students on campus, was that you have to understand that brain health is so important — how you eat, how you take care of yourself, how you nourish yourself, how you rest. And to him, it was much more deeper and intricate,” Erika said.
“And what I’ve realized through all of this is that you can have — you can have individuals that will always resort to violence. And what I’m afraid of is that we are living in a day and age where they think violence is the solution to them not wanting to hear a different point of view. That’s not a gun problem. That’s a human, deeply human problem. That is a soul problem. That is a mental — that is a very deeper issue,” she continued.
“Social media, like many things, it can be used for such good. And it can be used for such evil,” she added. “And Charlie and I both intentionally, especially after he was murdered, I took it all off my phone. I don’t even have news apps on my phone. I have nothing on my phone. I let other people post for me and siphon through those comments. That is not — I do not have the brain space for that, and it would not be healthy for me either. I get called so many names, I genuinely don’t care. I really don’t. I told you this before — when you cast the bloody dead body of the person that you love, it pales in comparison to being called x, y, z.”
