The three words that have been romanticized in song for as long as there's been the ability to record music have revolved around 'I' and 'Love' and 'You'. Sometimes, you just call to say it. Other times, it's the hardest sentence in language to say. While love is indeed among the most powerful emotions, being that it can keep us together, tear us apart, happen in an elevator, vacuum, or among the ruins, be young, old, hard, or easy, if you want to truly get to the heart of what it means to love, all you had to do on Sunday was watch Erika Kirk's remarks at the memorial for her husband, Charlie.
Roughly 65,000 people from all over the world filled State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and another 20-25 thousand-plus filled overflow facilities and arenas nearby. Fox News, MSNBC, and ABC News covered the event, and as for streaming, Andrew Kolvet, Turning Point USA's spokesman and executive producer of Charlie's radio show on Salem Radio Network, reported the numbers as of Sunday night, which will only increase over time, and it's nothing short of incredible.
Our production and streaming partners tracked over 100 million overall streams for today’s tribute to Charlie. This is JUST what they know about. It’s likely much larger.
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) September 22, 2025
Over 100 million people just heard the Gospel proclaimed again and again by speaker after speaker. Truly…
Add to that cable and other outlets that broadcast it, it was seen by a ton of people all over the world.
After the debacle that was 2002's memorial service for late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, which turned into a very unseemly and partisan Democratic political rally, there was a lot of concern that the Memorial for Charlie would descend into the same sort of affair. Thankfully, it did not. From the beginning of the praise and worship music as the venue began filling up provided by some wonderful artists like Chris Tomlin, Phil Wickham, Brandon Lake, Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe, to the very first speaker, Pastor Rob McCoy, it was clear this was not going to be a political event so much as it was going to be church.
McCoy set the tone for the day by prioritizing the memorial in the way Charlie prioritized his life. Jesus Christ came first, and everything else flowed from that. There was an invitation for anyone in the building, with about a third of the people inside the stadium raising their hands, to begin their Christian walk in prayer. Imagine that kind of response on a global scale with tens or hundreds of millions of people watching, and you're starting to get the picture of the magnitude of what God is doing in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
In my own church, which is very much a proselytizing, Evangelical congregation, our pastor, Greg Laurie, gave the same invitation to faith in Christ he always does to wrap up his message. This time, however, he added something. He asked those believing Christians that have up to now shown up dutifully every Sunday, tithed, but otherwise have been very quiet and comfortable in not embracing the ferocity to share that faith Charlie demonstrated, if they would join him in making a commitment to God to increase their boldness and live by Charlie's example going forward. He was asking for a commitment to do more for God than ever before, but only if they truly meant it. Every hand went up and joined him in that prayer of commitment. Things have changed.
Every speaker varied in their tributes to Charlie based upon their own personal experiences with him. But to a person, each one in their own way encouraged all in attendance or watching online to pick up the baton left by Charlie and carry on the mission. A common refrain shared by several of the speakers was, "It's okay, Charlie. We got this."
There were so many highlights, it would take hours to list them all. The thought I kept coming back to, however, after watching audience shots of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and dozens of United States Senators and members of Congress, was that this was the first time in my lifetime that virtually the entire power structure of two branches of the American government just sat through four-plus hours of the Gospel being preached to them. And not only that, several members of the cabinet were among the speakers that also preached the Gospel. We literally have never seen anything like it before. I hope it's not a one-off occurrence.
My personal favorite until the final three speakers took the stage - J.D. Vance, Erika Kirk, and Donald Trump, was easily Secretary Rubio.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Catholic, beautifully shared the gospel of Jesus’ Incarnation in 90 seconds at Charlie’s memorial. pic.twitter.com/ENMDM5kmDi
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) September 21, 2025
It was heartfelt and lovely. And speaking of lovely, Dr. Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, helped set the overall tone of the service with this early on.
I delivered these remarks at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service. pic.twitter.com/pMcB7qricc
— Larry P. Arnn (@DrLarryArnn) September 21, 2025
It was poignant, and it was truth. Vice-President Vance was eloquent, passionate, and absolutely on target.
Charlie Kirk was a hero to this country and a faithful servant of God.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 22, 2025
Every day that we continue his mission is an honor to his memory.
We've got it from here, my friend. pic.twitter.com/Bh7NnEwsX4
But the moment I will take with me until my final breath, whenever God wills that to be, was watching the remarkable courage, grace, and faith Erika Kirk brought to the stage as the penultimate speaker. I have, in my personal and professional life, seen thousands of public remarks given, some of them as lovely as anything the founding fathers or Lincoln ever gave. Erika's speech was hands-down the most powerful and impactful oratory I've ever heard.
She was billed as being one of the speakers, but her voiceovers in some of the video tributes led one to believe that if the time came and she couldn't go out on stage, no one would have given it a second thought. There was an out for her if she became too overwhelmed by the moment. The President would have followed VP Vance, and it still would have been a remarkable service.
When Erika came out, exhaling cleansing breaths on her way across the stage to the podium, asking Jesus to help her deliver this speech with every step she took, all I could do was pray that the Lord would give her the words and strength to deliver them. Boy, did she. On the responsibilities of men:
🚨BREAKING: Erika Kirk has a MESSAGE for ALL of the MEN around the world watching.
— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) September 21, 2025
"To all of the men watching around the world, accept Charlie's challenge, and embrace true manhood."
"Be strong and courageous for your families. Love your wives and lead them. Love your… pic.twitter.com/MEMYyyk2WU
Strong, powerful words here. Imagine this being seen and heard in illiberal countries that do not respect the rights of women. It was such an amazing moment. But she wasn't done. Not by a long shot. She had a similar benediction for women.
🇺🇸 ERIKA KIRK TO WOMEN: MOTHERHOOD IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT MINISTRY
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 21, 2025
"Women, I have a challenge for you too:
Be virtuous.
Our strength is found in God's design for our role.
We are the guardians. We are the encourages. We are the preservers.
Guard your heart, everything you do… https://t.co/qzaZCCOa9n pic.twitter.com/S8f8uHINJH
I'm not meaning to play political gotcha here, but the words of Erika Kirk about the role of women struck with equal force. Women all over the arena were nodding through teary eyes. And I couldn't help but remember what former First Lady Michelle Obama said on a recent podcast.
Erika Kirk called for women to get married, raise a family, and bring glory to God. Michelle Obama thinks the least important part of a woman's reproductive system is making a baby. That's God's worldview versus the world's perspective in a nutshell. But Erika was building to an even bigger moment, one that will reverberate around the world for a very, very long time to come.
Again, fighting back tears, halting her delivery and looking both at a giant banner of Charlie hanging from the third deck in front of her, and then skyward to her Lord and Savior for the strength to continue, she delivered this incredible 102 seconds of what world-changing faith looks like.
If you watch one thing today, let it be this — the truly remarkable display of grace and compassion from Mrs. Erika Kirk as she forgives her husband's assassin because that's what Christ would do.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 21, 2025
We love you, Erika. pic.twitter.com/EsSUgeJx1F
I said on X the night Erika addressed the nation from Charlie's radio show, just a couple days after the assassination in reaction to how strong and courageous she was to speak at all, that you haven't seen anything, yet.
I'll go you one white pill further. Eventually, I believe Erika's strong faith will allow her to forgive him one day. And that will really move people. https://t.co/pXXMbGCiR2
— Duane Patterson (@Radioblogger) September 13, 2025
I had been praying that she could eventually get to that place of forgiveness in the passage of time. She got there in 11 days. There are no words to explain what a powerful testimony of Christianity this is. God is love. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for all of our sins for all time is perfect love. It's perfect love, because it's sacrificial. Jesus laid down his perfect life as atonement for all of imperfect humanity, for all time. And even as He was being tortured and killed, dying a death he didn't deserve on behalf of billions of people who received grace and forgiveness they didn't deserve, He still asked His Father to forgive those crucifying Him.
The Gospels are full of details where Jesus did not condemn people for their sin, but forgave them, healed them, and told them to go and sin no more. How many times were we supposed to forgive those that have wronged us? Matthew 18:21-22 says "Seventy times seven." Endless, is what He meant.
Love is the emotional result, but what makes that love possible is forgiveness. Millions of people identified with Charlie through his videos and his ministry work, and have felt angry and bitter at the unjustness of it all, especially after learning the motivation of the person who took his life and martyred him. But for all the anger and pain being experienced, if there's one person on the planet who would get a hall pass for life to hate the assassin and seek vengeance, it's Erika Kirk. No one was harmed by his actions more than her. And yet in front of a global audience of at least a hundred million, she beautifully personified the face and spirit of Christ in one moment more than anyone has done since man began to harness the power of electricity. Followers of Christ, men and women, were sobbing. Unbelievers have to be thinking something superhuman is taking place here, unless the Devil has such possession of their souls, they can no longer be reached.
Why is forgiveness such an essential part of every Christian's walk of faith? Forgiveness is the only way to keep from becoming bitter when something very bad happens in their life. Erika could have hung onto the anger, the resentment, and desire for revenge, all very human traits, and no one in this world would have blamed her. But she chose to not become embittered. She put her faith on full display, and conveyed a reaction that defies human understanding without faith in Christ.
Forgiveness is what defends Christians from the charge of hypocrisy. 'Sure', people will mock, 'you say Jesus forgave you of your sins, but you can't forgive others of their sins against you?'
'Doesn't the Lord's Prayer say something in there about forgiving those that trespass against you?' Erika rose to the moment and proclaimed her faith in a very real, transparent, and human way that flies in the face of the bitter division in this country sown by the godless left.
Her act of forgiveness stunned President Trump, who followed her on stage. He claimed at one point that he had no idea if he could ever bring himself to that point, of forgiving his enemies, because he hates his enemies. I'm sure there will be people that pile onto him over that line, but it's an understandable position. The natural human reaction is to hold onto grudges with those who have done you wrong. But Erika came back out and embraced the President at the end of his speech, and I'm sure she will have further conversations with him down the road. And I pray that as the President grows in his faith, which I believe after his near-death attack in Butler last year, is real, he comes to a place of forgiving the people who have wronged him.
That doesn't mean forgetting what they did. It doesn't mean to cease fighting for your beliefs and principles endlessly. But the freedom that comes from forgiveness is so powerful, it's the kind of act that can begin to unify and heal a nation threatening to unravel.
Let's pray that those in leadership that heard an entire day's worth of the heart of Christ reflect that going forward. And let's also pray a prayer of thanks that God, and the might of America's law enforcement at all levels kept everyone in attendance safe. Virtually the entire line of succession was present. If the unthinkable happened, we'd be waking up this morning to President Chuck Grassley of Iowa, being that he's the Senate Pro-Tempore, and was not in Arizona. He's fourth in line behind Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
As for the legacy of Charlie Kirk, which I believe will resonate for a very, very long time, I also think that after Sunday's incredible memorial service, we'll be talking about Charlie's secret weapon, Erika Kirk, for just as long in the future.
As Pete Hegseth said on Sunday, "The Devil overplayed his hand." Lord, let that be so.
Editor's note: We now have the room to run syndicated commentary by some of our favorite and most provocative thinkers on the Right. That only happens because of the support of our readers, who ensure that we have the resources to keep providing an independent platform and independent voices in a sea of Protection Racket Media domination.
Help us maintain that fight! Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member