Erika Kirk, widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, said in an interview released on Saturday that “everyone has a responsibility” to dial down intensifying violent rhetoric in the wake of her husband’s assassination in September.
Kirk took questions from guests of a town hall, with CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss as the moderator. Weiss reiterated a question to Kirk about whether political leaders are responsible in turning “the temperature down right now.”
“Well, I think everyone has a responsibility to do that and I’m doing my part,” Kirk answered. “I’m not in control of other people.”
The original question was from Hunter Kozak, a Utah Valley University undergraduate student who asked Kirk’s husband a question moments before he was shot in September.
Kozak touched on political violence before he brought up President Trump. He referred to Trump’s claim last month that six Democratic lawmakers committed treason for urging U.S. service members to ignore unlawful orders. Trump accused them on Truth Social of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” and later added “punishable by DEATH!”
“Will you condemn the violent rhetoric of Donald Trump, the most powerful and influential person on Earth?” Kozak asked.
Kirk replied that the issue is “so much more deeper than just one person.”
“This starts at the home, OK?” she continued. “This starts with the family. This starts with a seed that grows and grows. You can choose to have evil in our heart or you can choose to have light. What you consume and what you absorb from the outside world will manifest itself.”
“No, I will never agree with political violence,” Kirk said. “My husband is a victim of it. I’m a victim of it.”
Kirk’s husband, the founder and former CEO of Turning Point USA, was killed while he was talking with Utah Valley University students at a rally on Sept. 10. Charlie Kirk was struck in the neck and later was pronounced dead at the hospital. Tyler Robinson was arrested and charged in connection with the shooting.
Robinson was charged with aggravated murder and six other counts, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty in the case. Robinson made his first in-court appearance of the trial on Thursday.
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