Erika Kirk says guns aren’t the root problem following husband’s assassination

Erika Kirk, CEO of Turning Point USA and widow of conservative icon Charlie Kirk, rejected the claim that gun violence was the underlying issue that led to her husband’s assassination.

On Wednesday, Kirk joined journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin to close out the New York Times DealBook Summit, which previously featured prominent figures like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Sorkin stated that her husband was scheduled to attend the DealBook Summit before his assassination.

Sorkin said the issue of gun violence is something he and Charlie Kirk discuss frequently in the wake of mass shootings in America.

“As you know, he truly believed in the Second Amendment. “I’m wondering what you think about gun violence in America today, given what’s happened to you,” Sorkin said.

“That’s a thoughtful question,” Kirk replied. “And I wouldn’t wish what I went through on anyone. I also support the Second Amendment. I do. But there’s a bigger and much deeper debate behind all of this.”

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Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times asked Erika Kirk if her views on gun violence have changed in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images for the New York Times)

When visiting college campuses, counselors always say the top issues facing students are “mental health, anxiety,” Kirk said. [and] depression.”

“What Charlie knew and tried to explain to students on campus was that you have to understand that brain health is very important; how you eat, how you take care of yourself, how you nourish yourself, how you rest. And for him, it was much deeper and more complex,” Kirk told Sorkin.

“And as a result of all of this, I realized that you can always have individuals who resort to violence. What I fear is that we live in a day and age where they don’t want to hear a different point of view, where they think violence is the solution for them. This is not a gun problem. This is a human, very human problem. This is a soul problem. This is a mental problem, this is a much deeper issue,” he continued.

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Erika Kirk said it was a “deeply human problem” when individuals resorted to violence to silence a different point of view. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images for the New York Times)

Kirk also revealed that she removed all social media from her phone following her husband’s murder.

“Social media, like many things, can be used for good. It can also be used for bad,” Kirk said. “And Charlie and I, especially after he was killed, I purposely took them all off my phone. I don’t even have news apps on my phone. I don’t have anything on my phone. I allow other people to post and review those comments on my behalf. This isn’t it; I don’t have the brains for that, and it wouldn’t be healthy for me. I get called so many names that I really don’t care. I really don’t care. I told you this before – when I posted that fucking body Your loved one’s name is x, y, “It pales in comparison to being called z.”

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She said Charlie “understands the importance of social media” but will also “honor the Sabbath” and make them turn off their phones every week.

“It didn’t happen overnight. It was something he enjoyed. He would come home from work on a Friday night and turn his phone off and stuff it in the junk drawer and say, ‘Shabbat Shalom’ and throw it in the drawer and he was in full dad mode, goofing around with the kids, on Saturdays he was in gym mode for college football and he could breathe,” Kirk said. “He had this sacred moment to just breathe and rest and step away from the chatter, to step away from the world and realize that life is so much bigger than the To Do list, the little problem you face that you will laugh at five years, five months or five minutes from now. And he was really good at it.”