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Erika Kirk on gun violence being root problem that led to Charlie's murder, ‘I support the…’
Erika Kirk has addressed the argument that gun violence was the root problem that led to her husband Charlie Kirk's murder.
Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow and Turning Point USA CEO, rejected the argument that gun violence was the root problem that led to her husband’s murder. Tyler Robinson allegedly fatally shot Kirk, 31, in the neck on September 10 during an appearance at a campus event in Utah.
Erika made the remarks during a conversation with journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin to close out The New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday, December 3. Sorkin noted that gun violence was a subject he and Charlie often debated in the wake of mass shootings in America.
‘There's a bigger and much deeper conversation to all of that’
"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 responded. "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."
Erika said that while visiting college campuses, counselors always say that the biggest problems students are facing are "mental health, anxiety [and] depression." "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," she 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 added.
Erika revealed that after Charlie’s assassination, she removed all social media from her phone. "Social media, like many things, it can be used for such good. And it can be used for such evil," she said.
"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,” Erika added.
Erika said that her husband "understood the importance of social media” but would also "honor the Sabbath" and urge them to turn off their phones each week.
"It did not happen overnight. This is something that he leaned into. And on Friday night, when he would get home from work, he would turn off his phone and he would shove it in the junk drawer, and he would say, ‘Shabbat Shalom,’ shove it in the drawer, and he was full Dad mode, fooling with the kids, sports mode on Saturdays for college football, and he could breathe," Erika said. "He had this sacred moment to just breathe and to rest and get away from the chatter, get away from the world and just have a moment to understand that life is so much bigger than the To-Do list, than the small problem that you're facing that you'll laugh at five years or five months, or five minutes from now. And he was really good about that."
Notably, Charlie said of gun violence in April 2023, "I think it's worth it. I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights."
