September 23, 2025 • 14 mins
Charlie Kirk built his reputation through campus debates, setting up tents where he'd engage students with his signature challenge: "prove me wrong." When a sniper's bullet ended his life at a Utah university, it threatened to become another flashpoint in America's increasingly volatile political landscape. Instead, something remarkable happened.
Just days after her husband's murder, Erica Kirk stepped forward with composure, grace and forgiveness. And she demonstrated a level of inspiration and leadership that will help calm many souls, and lead many to Christ as well.
The true revelation came at Charlie's memorial service, attended by numerous high-profile politicians and approximately 90,000 other mourners. While anger would have been understandable, Erica made the extraordinary declaration: "That man, that young man, I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do." This singular act of moral courage transformed a moment of potential division into one of transcendent leadership.
We'd love to hear from you. Email the show at Tom@leadinginacrisis.com.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tom Mueller (00:08):
Hi everyone and welcome back to the Leading in a
Crisis podcast.
As you know, on this podcast wetalk all things crisis
management and we like todeliver our content through
stories from frontline crisisleaders.
I'm Tom Mueller from FrontlineCrisis Leaders.
I'm Tom Mueller.
On our episode this week, we'regoing to talk about an issue
(00:30):
that's been consuming much ofthe oxygen here in America over
the last week to two weeks andthat is the murder of
conservative activist CharlieKirk.
Conservative activist, charlieKirk Now there's.
We talk about leadership incrisis, and that can take a
variety of different forms,whether it's a company that's in
(00:53):
crisis or a nonprofit.
In this case, it is a nonprofit, but it's also a family, and
we're going to focus on theleadership aspects of the
response to this incident byErica Kirk, who is the wife now
(01:14):
widow of Charlie Kirk.
Now, if you're not familiar,charlie Kirk was well known in
conservative circles here inAmerica.
He was very active on collegecampuses and his modus operandi
was he would go onto a campus,set up a little pop-up canopy
(01:35):
tent and then just engagestudents in debate and dialogue
right there on the campusgrounds, and his famous saying
was prove me wrong.
And he would invite students todebate on key issues of our day
and make some comment or otherand say prove me wrong.
(01:59):
And then explore the optionsand the issues with those
students.
Then explore the options andthe issues with those students.
Now he built a huge followingand a movement on college
campuses, with more and morestudents turning up for those
debates and following him.
Now, sadly, charlie was murderedon September 10th of this year
(02:26):
as he was sitting under his tentand engaging in debate with
students at a university in Utah.
He was shot by a sniperbasically while he was there and
he died on the scene almostimmediately after being struck,
(02:50):
but in an already polarizednation and even a polarized
world.
As we look more broadly, thisassassination hit hard and you
know it follows multipleassassination attempts on
President Trump last year.
So there's this theme ofviolence that's starting to play
(03:11):
out, and you know it begs thequestion, you know if, how would
you respond if your husband orwife was murdered in front of
the whole world?
And so I've paid particularattention to how Charlie Kirk's
wife has responded in thisincident and the conservative
(03:32):
movement more generally in theirresponse.
I was taken with how Charlie'swife, erica, responded to this
event that so deeply affectedher family and her friends.
She showed true poise andleadership throughout this
(03:52):
unimaginable crisis.
Now, in her first remarks justtwo days after the murder, erica
was emotional, yet clear in herresolve.
She started off by thankingthose who had helped in the
immediate aftermath of theattack, which is always, you
know, a terrific approach totake if you're fronting a press
(04:16):
conference or making a publicstatement around a crisis.
Let's listen to her remarks.
(04:23):
Good evening.
My name is Erica Kirk.
Charlie Kirk is my husband.
I first want to thank the local, state and federal law
enforcement who workedtirelessly to capture my
husband's assassin so that hecan be brought to justice.
I want to thank the firstresponders who struggled
(04:45):
heroically heroically to saveCharles's life, and the police
who acted bravely to make surethat there were no other victims
on that terrible afternoon.
I want to thank the officerswho have protected our Turning
(05:05):
Point USA family these past twodays and I want to thank the
Turning Point USA board, the COO, Justin Strife, and my
husband's chief of staff, theamazing Mikey McCoy, for all
their work in these terribledays to be the stability for our
(05:27):
family and for the widerTurning Point USA family as well
.
Tom Mueller (05:31):
Now, in her comments, she went on to thank
Vice President JD Vance and hiswife Usha.
Comments.
She went on to thank VicePresident JD Vance and his wife
Usha, who supported her throughthose first very difficult days
after the murder and, as youmight expect, she also expressed
great resolve that Charlie'smurder would not derail his work
(05:52):
and she warned that thoseresponsible for his murder have
awakened a sleeping giant.
(06:01):
The evildoers responsible for my husband's assassination have
no idea what they have done.
They killed Charlie because hepreached a message of patriotism
, faith and of God's mercifullove.
(06:22):
They should all know this.
If you thought that myhusband's mission was powerful
before, you have no idea.
You have no idea what you justhave unleashed across this
entire country, in this world.
(06:44):
You have no idea.
You have no idea the fire thatyou have ignited within this
wife.
The cries of this widow willecho around the world like a
battle cry.
Tom Mueller (07:02):
That was quite a statement of resolve from Erica
Kirk, and she went on to saythat the programs that her
husband had started would becontinued and there would be no
pause in activities.
They're continuing theircollege outreach programs and
other programs that they haveplanned.
(07:23):
Those comments from Erica camejust two days after the murder
of Charlie Kirk and wereunderstandably emotional.
I want to fast forward a weekor so to the memorial service
(07:43):
that was held for Charlie Kirk.
This memorial service wasattended by many high-level
politicians, including membersof the Trump administration and
the president himself, as wellas the vice president, all of
whom spoke, and you would againhave expected a lot of vitriol
(08:10):
and themes of retribution in thecurrent environment that we're
living through now, in thecurrent environment that we're
living through now, but wedidn't really see those types of
themes play out in thismemorial service.
While some speakers, you know,appeared angry, the message they
(08:33):
delivered were not.
Instead, they led with messagesof salvation and Christian love
and forgiveness.
The most powerful message camefrom Erica Kirk herself, when
she told the world that she hasforgiven the man who murdered
her husband.
It was an incredible moment ofleadership and faith and trust
(09:03):
in a horrific time.
Let's hear it from Ericaherself.
(09:10):
That man, that young man, I forgive him.
I forgive him.
I forgive him because it waswhat Christ did and is what
(09:39):
Charlie would do.
Tom Mueller (09:43):
Wow, what an inspirational act of leadership
and forgiveness.
She's demonstrating herparticular leadership not only
to herself, but to her family,to her colleagues, to her
husband's friends, to herhusband's friends, to people
(10:05):
across America who are lookingand wondering what's the next
step in a crisis like this, andshe demonstrated very clearly
through her leadership that thenext step is forgiveness.
It's not escalation, it's notmore violence.
(10:25):
It's not more violence, it'sforgiveness.
Now she closed with oneadditional story.
(10:40):
That's again a little bit of a tearjerker, but spoke to her
state of mind and how she'sdealing with things and how
she's looking to the future.
When I got home last night,gigi, our daughter, just ran
(11:04):
into my arms and I talked to herand she said Mommy, I missed
you.
I said I miss you too, baby,she goes.
Where's daddy?
What do you tell athree-year-old?
She's three.
I said, baby, daddy loves youso much, don't you worry.
(11:24):
He's on a work trip with Jesusso he can afford your blueberry
budget.
And, my goodness, am I sohumbled to witness, charlie, you
alongside Jesus right now,doing what you always want to do
.
Baby, making heaven crowdedright, that's what it's.
(11:45):
Baby, making heaven crowdedright, that's what it's all
about.
Making heaven crowded.
I can't wait to see you againone day.
Thank you all again who love myhusband, who supported him, who
wrote him an email every singleday during his radio show he
(12:08):
read all of them, all of them.
God bless you all, and may Godbless America.
Tom Mueller (12:25):
You know I can't listen to Erica's comments and
her stories without feeling sadbut also feeling inspired.
The courage, the bravery it tookfor her to stand up to publicly
forgive the man who murderedher husband forgive the man who
murdered her husband to sharethe other stories that she's
(12:47):
shared, to be an inspiration forpeople around her.
All of that demonstrates trueleadership, and somebody that
people want to follow and ofcourse that's one definition of
a leader is somebody who sets agood example that people want to
(13:07):
follow.
We certainly get that fromErica Kirk in this most horrific
of crisis situations.
And that's going to do it forthis episode of the Leading in a
Crisis podcast.
Thanks for joining us.
This one's been particularlychallenging for me to get
(13:30):
through, but thanks for hangingwith us and coming along on the
journey with us for this episode.
If you have thoughts orcomments you'd like to share,
please drop me a line at tom, atleadinginacrisiscom, and I hope
you'll look for your ownopportunities to be a good
(13:51):
leader in your daily life and inyour daily walk.
And we'll see you next time forthe next episode of the Leading
in a Crisis podcast.
Hi everyone and welcome back to the Leading in a
Crisis podcast.
As you know, on this podcast wetalk all things crisis
management and we like todeliver our content through
stories from frontline crisisleaders.
I'm Tom Mueller from FrontlineCrisis Leaders.
I'm Tom Mueller.
On our episode this week, we'regoing to talk about an issue
(00:30):
that's been consuming much ofthe oxygen here in America over
the last week to two weeks andthat is the murder of
conservative activist CharlieKirk.
Conservative activist, charlieKirk Now there's.
We talk about leadership incrisis, and that can take a
variety of different forms,whether it's a company that's in
(00:53):
crisis or a nonprofit.
In this case, it is a nonprofit, but it's also a family, and
we're going to focus on theleadership aspects of the
response to this incident byErica Kirk, who is the wife now
(01:14):
widow of Charlie Kirk.
Now, if you're not familiar,charlie Kirk was well known in
conservative circles here inAmerica.
He was very active on collegecampuses and his modus operandi
was he would go onto a campus,set up a little pop-up canopy
(01:35):
tent and then just engagestudents in debate and dialogue
right there on the campusgrounds, and his famous saying
was prove me wrong.
And he would invite students todebate on key issues of our day
and make some comment or otherand say prove me wrong.
(01:59):
And then explore the optionsand the issues with those
students.
Then explore the options andthe issues with those students.
Now he built a huge followingand a movement on college
campuses, with more and morestudents turning up for those
debates and following him.
Now, sadly, charlie was murderedon September 10th of this year
(02:26):
as he was sitting under his tentand engaging in debate with
students at a university in Utah.
He was shot by a sniperbasically while he was there and
he died on the scene almostimmediately after being struck,
(02:50):
but in an already polarizednation and even a polarized
world.
As we look more broadly, thisassassination hit hard and you
know it follows multipleassassination attempts on
President Trump last year.
So there's this theme ofviolence that's starting to play
(03:11):
out, and you know it begs thequestion, you know if, how would
you respond if your husband orwife was murdered in front of
the whole world?
And so I've paid particularattention to how Charlie Kirk's
wife has responded in thisincident and the conservative
(03:32):
movement more generally in theirresponse.
I was taken with how Charlie'swife, erica, responded to this
event that so deeply affectedher family and her friends.
She showed true poise andleadership throughout this
(03:52):
unimaginable crisis.
Now, in her first remarks justtwo days after the murder, erica
was emotional, yet clear in herresolve.
She started off by thankingthose who had helped in the
immediate aftermath of theattack, which is always, you
know, a terrific approach totake if you're fronting a press
(04:16):
conference or making a publicstatement around a crisis.
Let's listen to her remarks.
(04:23):
Good evening.
My name is Erica Kirk.
Charlie Kirk is my husband.
I first want to thank the local, state and federal law
enforcement who workedtirelessly to capture my
husband's assassin so that hecan be brought to justice.
I want to thank the firstresponders who struggled
(04:45):
heroically heroically to saveCharles's life, and the police
who acted bravely to make surethat there were no other victims
on that terrible afternoon.
I want to thank the officerswho have protected our Turning
(05:05):
Point USA family these past twodays and I want to thank the
Turning Point USA board, the COO, Justin Strife, and my
husband's chief of staff, theamazing Mikey McCoy, for all
their work in these terribledays to be the stability for our
(05:27):
family and for the widerTurning Point USA family as well
.
Tom Mueller (05:31):
Now, in her comments, she went on to thank
Vice President JD Vance and hiswife Usha.
Comments.
She went on to thank VicePresident JD Vance and his wife
Usha, who supported her throughthose first very difficult days
after the murder and, as youmight expect, she also expressed
great resolve that Charlie'smurder would not derail his work
(05:52):
and she warned that thoseresponsible for his murder have
awakened a sleeping giant.
(06:01):
The evildoers responsible for my husband's assassination have
no idea what they have done.
They killed Charlie because hepreached a message of patriotism
, faith and of God's mercifullove.
(06:22):
They should all know this.
If you thought that myhusband's mission was powerful
before, you have no idea.
You have no idea what you justhave unleashed across this
entire country, in this world.
(06:44):
You have no idea.
You have no idea the fire thatyou have ignited within this
wife.
The cries of this widow willecho around the world like a
battle cry.
Tom Mueller (07:02):
That was quite a statement of resolve from Erica
Kirk, and she went on to saythat the programs that her
husband had started would becontinued and there would be no
pause in activities.
They're continuing theircollege outreach programs and
other programs that they haveplanned.
(07:23):
Those comments from Erica camejust two days after the murder
of Charlie Kirk and wereunderstandably emotional.
I want to fast forward a weekor so to the memorial service
(07:43):
that was held for Charlie Kirk.
This memorial service wasattended by many high-level
politicians, including membersof the Trump administration and
the president himself, as wellas the vice president, all of
whom spoke, and you would againhave expected a lot of vitriol
(08:10):
and themes of retribution in thecurrent environment that we're
living through now, in thecurrent environment that we're
living through now, but wedidn't really see those types of
themes play out in thismemorial service.
While some speakers, you know,appeared angry, the message they
(08:33):
delivered were not.
Instead, they led with messagesof salvation and Christian love
and forgiveness.
The most powerful message camefrom Erica Kirk herself, when
she told the world that she hasforgiven the man who murdered
her husband.
It was an incredible moment ofleadership and faith and trust
(09:03):
in a horrific time.
Let's hear it from Ericaherself.
(09:10):
That man, that young man, I forgive him.
I forgive him.
I forgive him because it waswhat Christ did and is what
(09:39):
Charlie would do.
Tom Mueller (09:43):
Wow, what an inspirational act of leadership
and forgiveness.
She's demonstrating herparticular leadership not only
to herself, but to her family,to her colleagues, to her
husband's friends, to herhusband's friends, to people
(10:05):
across America who are lookingand wondering what's the next
step in a crisis like this, andshe demonstrated very clearly
through her leadership that thenext step is forgiveness.
It's not escalation, it's notmore violence.
(10:25):
It's not more violence, it'sforgiveness.
Now she closed with oneadditional story.
(10:40):
That's again a little bit of a tearjerker, but spoke to her
state of mind and how she'sdealing with things and how
she's looking to the future.
When I got home last night,gigi, our daughter, just ran
(11:04):
into my arms and I talked to herand she said Mommy, I missed
you.
I said I miss you too, baby,she goes.
Where's daddy?
What do you tell athree-year-old?
She's three.
I said, baby, daddy loves youso much, don't you worry.
(11:24):
He's on a work trip with Jesusso he can afford your blueberry
budget.
And, my goodness, am I sohumbled to witness, charlie, you
alongside Jesus right now,doing what you always want to do
.
Baby, making heaven crowdedright, that's what it's.
(11:45):
Baby, making heaven crowdedright, that's what it's all
about.
Making heaven crowded.
I can't wait to see you againone day.
Thank you all again who love myhusband, who supported him, who
wrote him an email every singleday during his radio show he
(12:08):
read all of them, all of them.
God bless you all, and may Godbless America.
Tom Mueller (12:25):
You know I can't listen to Erica's comments and
her stories without feeling sadbut also feeling inspired.
The courage, the bravery it tookfor her to stand up to publicly
forgive the man who murderedher husband forgive the man who
murdered her husband to sharethe other stories that she's
(12:47):
shared, to be an inspiration forpeople around her.
All of that demonstrates trueleadership, and somebody that
people want to follow and ofcourse that's one definition of
a leader is somebody who sets agood example that people want to
(13:07):
follow.
We certainly get that fromErica Kirk in this most horrific
of crisis situations.
And that's going to do it forthis episode of the Leading in a
Crisis podcast.
Thanks for joining us.
This one's been particularlychallenging for me to get
(13:30):
through, but thanks for hangingwith us and coming along on the
journey with us for this episode.
If you have thoughts orcomments you'd like to share,
please drop me a line at tom, atleadinginacrisiscom, and I hope
you'll look for your ownopportunities to be a good
(13:51):
leader in your daily life and inyour daily walk.
And we'll see you next time forthe next episode of the Leading
in a Crisis podcast.
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