Student who last spoke with Charlie Kirk asks Erika if she would condemn Trump’s 'violent rhetoric'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, joined a CBS News town hall to talk about her late husband and clear up some of the rumors surrounding him. During the discussion, one question caught her by surprise. It came from the last person who had spoken to Charlie at Utah Valley University, shortly before he was tragically shot and killed.

Despite the question referencing President Donald Trump, Erika made a point not to mention him while responding to the current CEO of Turning Point USA at the town hall. 

Erika Kirk sidesteps heated Trump question in CBS town hall exchange

Hunter Kozak, a Utah Valley University student and the last person to speak with Charlie, posed a pointed question to Erika about President Trump. Kozak was standing just 5 to 10 feet away when Charlie was killed. 

At the CBS News town hall, he asked the current Turning Point CEO if she would condemn Trump’s remarks calling for the six Democrats he accused of "seditious behavior" to be "punished by death." "Will you condemn the violent rhetoric of Donald Trump, the most powerful and influential person on earth?" Kozak pressed.

Erika remained composed, avoiding any direct mention of Trump, and said the issue is “so much deeper than one person.” “You can choose to have evil in your heart, or you can choose to have light,” she said. “What you consume and what you absorb from the outside world will manifest itself.”

When CBS’s new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, asked, “Do you think our political leaders have a responsibility to turn the temperature down right now?” Erika replied, “Well, I think everyone has a responsibility to do that, and I’m doing my part. I’m not in control of other people.”

Erika joined the CBS News town hall just days after her late husband’s final book, 'Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life', was released posthumously.

Erika Kirk confronts online hatred in emotional CBS News town hall

The discussion was moderated by Weiss. Erika didn’t hold back when talking about those celebrating her husband’s assassination. She called them “sick” and highlighted how the internet has stripped away empathy.

“He’s a human being. You think he deserved that? Tell that to my three-year-old daughter,” she said, holding back tears. “You want to watch in high-res the video of my husband being murdered, and laugh, and say he deserves it? There’s something very sick in your soul, and I’m praying that God saves you. I pray because that is what is so wrong…”