Erika Kirk Takes Leadership of Turning Point USA After Charlie Kirk's Assassination and Memorial

[00:00] Heat

[00:02] [Music]

[00:17] up

[00:20] here.

[00:22] [Music]

[00:25] [Applause]

[00:32] [Music]

[00:33] [Applause]

[00:36] Heat. Heat.

[00:41] [Music]

[00:42] [Applause]

[00:46] Heat.

[00:48] [Applause]

[00:48] [Music]

[00:50] [Applause]

[00:53] [Music]

[01:02] Heat.

[01:24] Hello.

[01:27] God bless all of you

[01:30] for coming here from all over the world

[01:34] to honor and celebrate my Charlie.

[01:51] Just a few miles from here,

[01:54] two years ago at America Fest 2023,

[01:59] Charlie delivered a speech on stage for

[02:02] our TPUSA faith event.

[02:06] Charlie loved speaking off the cuff. He

[02:09] was very good at that without a script.

[02:13] So I personally didn't know what he was

[02:15] going to say.

[02:18] And what he chose to speak about that

[02:20] day was his his submission

[02:23] to the will of God.

[02:26] He quoted one of his favorite Bible

[02:28] verses, Isaiah 6:8.

[02:32] Here I am, Lord.

[02:36] Send me.

[02:40] After Charlie finished, I met him

[02:42] backstage

[02:44] and I spoke to him and I'll never forget

[02:46] this. I said, "Charlie, baby,

[02:49] please talk to me next time before you

[02:51] say that statement."

[02:55] Because when you say something like

[02:57] that,

[02:58] there is so much power in that verse.

[03:03] When you say, "Here I am, Lord, use me."

[03:10] God will take you up on that.

[03:14] And he did with Charlie.

[03:19] [Applause]

[03:30] 11 days ago,

[03:33] God accepted that total surrender from

[03:35] my husband

[03:37] and then called him to his side.

[03:41] More than anything, Charlie wanted to do

[03:43] not his will, but God's will.

[03:46] And over these past 11 days,

[03:50] through all the pain,

[03:53] never before have I found as much

[03:56] comfort

[03:58] as I now do in the words of our Lord's

[04:01] Prayer.

[04:03] Thy will be done.

[04:08] [Applause]

[04:17] God's love was revealed to me on the

[04:20] very day my husband was murdered.

[04:24] On the afternoon of September 10th, I

[04:28] arrived at a Utah hospital to do the

[04:30] unthinkable,

[04:32] to look directly

[04:34] at my husband's murdered body.

[04:39] I saw the wound that ended his life.

[04:43] I felt everything you would expect to

[04:46] feel.

[04:48] I felt shock.

[04:51] I felt horror

[04:54] and a level of heartache

[04:58] that I didn't even know existed.

[05:04] But there was something else, too.

[05:08] Even in death, I could see the man that

[05:11] I love.

[05:16] I saw the one

[05:20] on the side of his head which I never

[05:23] told him about.

[05:25] Now he knows. Sorry, baby. Telling you

[05:28] now. But never told him. Didn't want to.

[05:34] I also saw this.

[05:37] I also saw on his lips

[05:40] the faintest smile

[05:45] and that told me something important.

[05:49] It revealed to me a great mercy from God

[05:52] in this tragedy.

[05:56] When I saw that, it told me

[05:59] Charlie didn't suffer.

[06:02] Even the doctor told me

[06:05] it was something so instant that even

[06:08] even if Charlie had been shot in the

[06:10] operating room it itself,

[06:13] nothing could have done.

[06:16] There was no fame.

[06:18] There was no fear,

[06:21] no agony. One moment, Charlie was doing

[06:23] what he loved,

[06:25] arguing and debating on campus,

[06:30] fighting for the gospel

[06:33] and truth

[06:35] in front of a big crowd.

[06:38] And then he blinked.

[06:41] He blinked

[06:43] and saw his savior in paradise.

[06:48] [Applause]

[06:52] [Laughter]

[06:57] [Applause]

[06:59] and all the heavenly mysteries were

[07:01] revealed to him.

[07:05] God's love

[07:08] continued to be revealed to me in the

[07:09] days that followed.

[07:14] The next day on the tarmac

[07:17] in Air Force 2,

[07:21] I confronted Usha Vance.

[07:24] Precious woman.

[07:27] I held her hand and I told her honestly,

[07:30] I do not know how I am going to get

[07:33] through this.

[07:37] She told me something.

[07:41] She said,

[07:43] "You know when you're on an airplane

[07:45] with your kids and it's the last 15

[07:48] minutes of the flight and things are

[07:51] crazy, kids are not cooperating, toys

[07:53] are flying everywhere, and everyone's

[07:55] screaming

[07:56] and you think to yourself, I cannot wait

[07:59] for this flight to land." And it's 15

[08:02] minutes before you land.

[08:07] And she told me, "You will get through

[08:09] these 15 minutes

[08:12] and the next 15 minutes after that."

[08:17] Usha, I don't think you realized it

[08:19] then, but those words were exactly what

[08:22] I needed to hear.

[08:26] But most of all, God's mercy and God's

[08:28] love have been real revealed to me these

[08:30] past 10 days.

[08:33] After Charlie's assassination, we didn't

[08:35] see violence.

[08:38] We didn't see rioting.

[08:54] We didn't see revolution.

[08:57] Instead, we saw what my husband always

[09:00] prayed he would see in this country. We

[09:03] saw revival.

[09:18] This past week, we saw people open a

[09:20] Bible for the first time in a decade.

[09:24] We saw people pray for the first time

[09:26] since they were children.

[09:28] We saw people go to a church service for

[09:31] the first time in their entire lives.

[09:34] [Applause]

[09:44] Charlie liked to journal.

[09:47] And I say this because he did it to

[09:50] remember important moments and sayings

[09:52] that affected him.

[09:55] And one of the things he wrote in his

[09:56] journal was this.

[10:02] Every time you make a decision,

[10:06] it puts a mark on your soul.

[10:11] To those of you

[10:13] out there who just made that decision

[10:18] and took the first step toward a

[10:19] spiritual life,

[10:22] I say thank you and welcome.

[10:25] [Applause]

[10:34] One day I hope you look back and realize

[10:37] it was the most important decision of

[10:38] your life because it is

[10:43] all of you.

[10:47] All of you who are already believers, it

[10:49] is your job to shepherd these people.

[10:53] Do not take that lightly.

[10:57] Water the seed of their faith.

[11:01] Protect it and help it grow.

[11:06] Every day as Charlie rode into the

[11:09] office,

[11:11] he would go through his contact list,

[11:13] and I know there's many of you who were

[11:16] impacted by this. He would go through

[11:18] his contact list and send Bible verses

[11:20] for the day.

[11:23] He knew that faith was a habit.

[11:26] The more you live it, the more it grows.

[11:30] But know this, too.

[11:34] The seed has only just been planted.

[11:38] The enemy will tempt you

[11:41] the most in a time like this one.

[11:45] God will always be there for you, but

[11:47] you must choose to mark your soul

[11:51] again and again in the direction of

[11:55] Christ.

[11:57] [Applause]

[12:04] Pray again. Read the Bible again. Go to

[12:09] church next Sunday and the Sunday after

[12:12] that. And break free from the

[12:14] temptations and shackles of this world.

[12:19] [Applause]

[12:27] Being a follower of Christ is not easy.

[12:30] It's not supposed to be.

[12:34] Jesus said, "If anyone would come after

[12:36] me, let him deny himself, take up his

[12:39] cross, and follow me."

[12:43] He said he would be persecuted. He said

[12:45] we would be persecuted. And Charlie knew

[12:48] that and happily carried his cross all

[12:51] the way to the end.

[12:55] And I want all of you to know

[12:59] while Charlie died far too early,

[13:02] he was also ready to die.

[13:06] There was nothing nothing he was putting

[13:09] off. There was nothing that was too hard

[13:12] or too painful or nothing that he just

[13:15] felt like he didn't want to do it.

[13:19] He left this world without regrets.

[13:24] He did 100% of what he could every day.

[13:28] But I want you to know something.

[13:32] Charlie died with incomplete work,

[13:36] but not with unfinished business.

[13:41] [Applause]

[13:50] But I will miss him.

[13:56] I will miss him so much because our

[13:58] marriage and our family were beautiful.

[14:02] They still are.

[14:05] [Applause]

[14:11] The greatest cause in Charlie's life was

[14:13] trying to revive the American family.

[14:17] When he spoke to young people, he was

[14:19] always eager to tell them about God's

[14:21] vision for marriage

[14:24] and how if they could just dare to live

[14:27] it out,

[14:29] it would enrich every part of their life

[14:31] in the same way that it enriched ours.

[14:35] And someone once asked me, how Charlie

[14:39] and I

[14:41] how we kept our marriage so strong when

[14:44] he was busy traveling.

[14:48] In our little secret,

[14:52] it was love notes.

[14:56] Every Saturday,

[14:58] Charlie wrote one for me and he never

[15:00] missed a Saturday.

[15:05] And in every single one of them, he'd

[15:07] tell me what his highlight was for the

[15:09] week,

[15:11] how grateful he was for me and our

[15:13] babies.

[15:16] And always at the end, he would always

[15:18] end it with asking the most beautiful

[15:22] question.

[15:25] He'd always end it by asking, "Please

[15:27] let me know how I can better serve you

[15:30] as a husband,

[15:33] Charlie." perfectly understood

[15:36] God's role for a Christian husband.

[15:40] A man who leads

[15:44] so that they can serve

[15:50] [Applause]

[15:59] to all the men watching around the

[16:01] world.

[16:03] Accept Charlie's challenge

[16:06] and embrace true manhood.

[16:12] Be strong and courageous for your

[16:14] families.

[16:15] [Music]

[16:18] Love your wives and lead them.

[16:23] Love your children and protect them.

[16:28] Be the spiritual head

[16:31] of your home.

[16:34] But please be a leader worth following.

[16:39] Your wife,

[16:48] your wife is not your servant.

[16:52] Your wife is not your employee.

[16:57] Your wife is not your slave.

[17:00] She is your helper.

[17:03] You are not rivals.

[17:06] You are one flesh working together for

[17:09] the glory of God.

[17:12] [Applause]

[17:24] I was Charlie's confidant.

[17:27] I was his vault.

[17:30] his closest and most trusted adviser,

[17:33] his best friend.

[17:36] I poured into him and loved him so

[17:38] deeply,

[17:40] empowered him

[17:42] because his love for me drove me to be a

[17:45] better wife.

[17:47] Every day he honored me and I prayed

[17:50] that I could be the wife that God needed

[17:52] me to be for my husband.

[17:55] Women, I have a challenge for you, too.

[18:00] Be virtuous.

[18:03] Our strength is found in God's design

[18:05] for our role.

[18:08] We are the guardians.

[18:11] We are the encouraers.

[18:14] We are the preservers.

[18:17] Guard your heart.

[18:20] Everything you do flows from it.

[18:24] And if you're a mother, please recognize

[18:27] that is the single

[18:30] most important ministry you have

[18:34] [Applause]

[18:43] in our home.

[18:45] Cuz Charlie traveled a lot. We tried to

[18:47] travel with him where we could.

[18:51] But I made sure that when Charlie

[18:52] returned from work,

[18:55] it was his sacred landing place,

[18:58] away from the worries of the world.

[19:05] I didn't make him feel guilty

[19:09] for being away too long or too much

[19:13] or getting home too late. I always told

[19:15] him, "Home home is here for you and

[19:18] it'll be ready for you."

[19:20] and I made it into this place where he

[19:22] wanted to be as soon as possible when he

[19:26] was on the road.

[19:30] There was no keeping score between us.

[19:35] We were a team

[19:38] working together for the same mission.

[19:43] I never wanted to be the one standing

[19:44] between Charlie and the task that God

[19:48] prepared for him.

[19:51] had set for him.

[19:54] And I knew Charlie would always do his

[19:55] best to help me with the same.

[20:00] My marriage with Charlie was the best

[20:02] thing that ever happened to me. And I

[20:05] know it was the best thing that ever

[20:06] happened to him as well.

[20:08] He wanted everyone to experience that

[20:10] joy.

[20:12] And that's what's so beautiful about

[20:16] God's design for marriage is that

[20:18] everyone can.

[20:22] And I could talk endlessly about it in

[20:24] years to come I will.

[20:27] But Charlie's mission above all

[20:31] was aimed directly at those who aren't

[20:33] married.

[20:36] He named his organization well.

[20:39] He knew things were not right with

[20:40] America and especially with young people

[20:44] and they needed a new direction.

[20:48] Charlie passionately

[20:50] wanted to reach and save the lost boys

[20:53] of the West.

[20:55] The young men who feel like they have no

[20:57] direction,

[20:59] no purpose, no faith, and no reason to

[21:01] live.

[21:04] the men wasting their lives on

[21:06] distractions and the men consumed with

[21:08] resentment, anger, and hate.

[21:13] Charlie wanted to help them.

[21:16] He wanted them to have a home with

[21:19] Turning Point USA. And when he went onto

[21:22] campus, he was looking to show them a

[21:24] better path

[21:27] and a better life that was right there

[21:29] for the taking.

[21:31] He wanted to show them that

[21:39] my husband Charlie,

[21:43] he wanted to save

[21:47] young men

[21:50] just like the one who took his life.

[21:55] [Applause]

[21:59] [Laughter]

[22:06] [Music]

[22:09] That young man,

[22:13] that young man

[22:15] on the cross, our savior said,

[22:22] "Father, forgive them for they not know

[22:26] what they do

[22:29] that man.

[22:33] That young man,

[22:35] [Music]

[22:37] I forgive him.

[22:40] [Applause]

[23:06] Heat.

[23:09] Heat.

[23:25] I forgive him because it was what Christ

[23:28] did

[23:30] and is what Charlie would do.

[23:34] The answer to hate is not hate.

[23:38] The answer we know from the gospel is

[23:40] love and always love.

[23:44] love for our enemies

[23:47] and love for those who persecute us.

[23:53] The world needs Turning Point USA.

[23:57] It needs a group that will point young

[23:59] people away from the path of misery and

[24:02] sin.

[24:04] It needs something that will lead people

[24:06] away from hell in this world and in the

[24:08] next.

[24:10] that needs young people pointed in the

[24:12] direction of truth and beauty.

[24:17] And so I promise you today, every part

[24:19] of our work will become greater.

[24:23] I am tremendously honored

[24:26] to be the new CEO of Turning Point USA.

[24:47] I do not take that lightly.

[24:50] Charlie and I were united in purpose.

[24:53] His passion was my passion and now his

[24:56] mission is my mission.

[24:58] Everything that Turning Point USA built

[25:00] through Charlie's vision and hard work,

[25:03] we will make 10 times greater through

[25:05] the power of his memory.

[25:09] Chapters will grow.

[25:11] Thousands of new ones will be created.

[25:15] TPUSA faith will add thousands of new

[25:18] pastors and congregations.

[25:29] And yes, campus events will continue and

[25:32] we will continue to hold debates and

[25:34] dialogue.

[25:44] The first amendment of our constitution

[25:46] is the most human amendment.

[25:51] We are naturally talking beings.

[25:55] naturally believing beings.

[25:58] And the First Amendment protects our

[26:00] right to do both.

[26:03] No assassin will ever stop us from

[26:06] standing up to defend those rights ever.

[26:17] Because when you stop the conversation,

[26:22] when you stop the dialogue,

[26:26] this is what happens.

[26:30] When we lose the ability and the

[26:32] willingness to communicate,

[26:35] we get violence.

[26:41] And as I stand here now

[26:44] and I look at this beautiful

[26:48] photo of my husband in front of me

[26:50] hanging in the stadium.

[26:54] I think of my husband 13 years ago. I

[26:57] hadn't met him yet.

[26:59] He was 18 years old.

[27:03] A man barely out of high school.

[27:06] running around the halls of the RNC

[27:09] without a dollar in his pocket and a

[27:11] single contact in his phone.

[27:16] People who saw him said that he didn't

[27:17] know what he was doing.

[27:20] But he did.

[27:22] He did know what he was doing.

[27:26] He knew exactly what he was doing.

[27:31] He was going to change the world. And he

[27:33] did.

[27:36] Charlie's life was a turning point for

[27:39] this country. It was a miracle.

[27:43] Let that miracle.

[27:46] That was Charlie's life be your turning

[27:48] point as well.

[27:51] Choose prayer.

[27:54] Choose courage.

[27:57] Choose beauty.

[28:00] Choose adventure.

[28:04] Choose family.

[28:06] Choose a life of faith.

[28:10] Most importantly, choose Christ.

[28:13] [Applause]

[28:29] I love you, Charlie, baby.

[28:33] and I will make you proud.

[28:38] God bless you all and God bless America.

[28:41] [Applause]