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Riley Gaines had high praise for Erika Kirk on Sunday as she spoke in front of thousands of mourners during a memorial service for her husband, Charlie Kirk, in Arizona.
Erika Kirk stepped up to the podium at State Farm Stadium in Glendale – home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. She showed immense courage and grace as she spoke about her husband, who was assassinated during an event at Utah Valley University nearly two weeks ago.
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Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, arrives on stage to speak during the public memorial service for political activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“Erika Kirk’s remarks…I have no words,” the women’s sports activist wrote on X. “This is exactly what America needed to hear. Filled with love, strength, compassion, honesty, and forgiveness. This is the most powerful speech I’ve ever heard.”
Kirk told the crowd that she would forgive her husband’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, and said that the conservative influencer’s mission was reaching young men in search of direction.
“Charlie passionately wanted to reach and save the lost boys of the West. The young men who feel like they have no direction, no purpose, no faith, and no reason to live. The men wasting their lives on distractions and the men consume with resentment, anger and hate,” she said. “Charlie wanted to help them. He wanted them to have a home with Turning Point USA. And when he went on to campus, he was looking to show them a better path and a better life. That was right there for the taking. He wanted to show them that.
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, wipes away tears onstage during a memorial service for slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025. (REUTERS/Daniel Cole)
BROWNS PAY TRIBUTE TO CHARLIE KIRK WHILE MEMORIAL SERVICES TAKES PLACE IN ARIZONA
“My husband, Charlie. He wanted to save. Young men, just like the one who took his life. That young man. That young man on the cross. Our Savior said that. Father. Forgive them, for they not know what they do,” she continued. “You, that man. That young man. I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did. And is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
Gaines lauded her bravery.
“Only God can give a grieving widow the heart, serenity, and strength to forgive her husband’s assassin only 11 days after he shot him,” the OutKick “Gaines for Girls” host added. “Only God.”
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The memorial service featured several speakers as more than 70,000 people were on hand.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
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