(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) The poignant speech delivered by Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika, the new chair of Turning Point USA, has had immediate ripple effects in helping shepherd wayward Christians back to the flock.
Among the most notable examples was sitcom and movie star Tim Allen, one of the few outspoken conservatives in Hollywood, who homed in on Kirk’s message of Christian grace and mercy to bury a six-decade grievance of his own.
When Erika Kirk spoke the words on the man who killed her husband: “That man… that young man… I forgive him.” That moment deeply affected me. I have struggled for over 60 years to forgive the man who killed my Dad. I will say those words now as I type: “ I forgive the man who…
— Tim Allen (@ofctimallen) September 25, 2025
“I have struggled for over 60 years to forgive the man who killed my Dad,” Allen said in a post Thursday that garnered more than 12 million views.
Inspired by Erika Kirk’s forgiveness of her husband’s assassin, Allen said he had finally allowed his own heart to be relieved of his personal burden.
Allen’s father, Gerald Dick, was killed at the age of 41 by a drunken driver in November 1964, while returning from a football game with his wife and six children—including some of Allen’s siblings.
“He died in my mother’s lap,” Allen said April interview with podcaster Mike Rowe. “All of the other kids were thrown around the car. My two older brothers were hurt.”
Allen, who was 11 years old at the time, was not in the car at the time, having instead gone to a neighbor’s house that day.
“I remember walking down to my house knowing something terrible happened, even though I didn’t do it, and praying and weeping,” he said.
During her speech, Erika Kirk drew a distinction between forgiveness and clemency, noting that while 22-year-old Tyler Robinson may receive the death penalty from the state of Utah, she hoped her husband’s alleged killer would be able to find his heavenly salvation.
“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men just like the one who took his life,” she said.
“… I forgive him, because it was what Christ did, and is what Charlie would do,” she added. “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is love, and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
She also recounted one of her husband’s favorite verses of scripture, Isaiah 6:8 (“Here I am Lord. Send me”), as a call to action for his followers—many of them young men who have been displaced by the woke Left’s emphasis on grievance culture and victimization.
Although male leadership was desperately needed, she said, the charge may not always be easy or without sacrifice.
“[T]here is so much power in that verse,” Erika Kirk said. “When you say, ‘Here I am, Lord, use me,’ God will take you up on that—and he did with Charlie.”
Nonetheless, the impact of the shocking Sept. 10 assassination—and the legacy that the 31-year-old Charlie Kirk leaves behind—have been widespread and profound.
Spencer Neale, features editor for the American Conservative magazine, was among those sharing his personal testament after noting that he had been unexpectedly stricken ill and was in the hospital during last Sunday’s memorial service.
“[O]f all the speeches recorded Sunday, it was Charlie Kirk’s wife Erika who had me lying awake in a hospital bed considering how the next stage of my own life can make up for the mistakes of my past,” Neale wrote.
“In a 30-minute haymaker that oscillated from grief and humor to grace and inspiration, Erika spoke with a clarity and passion that would’ve made any fallen husband proud,” he added. “Recounting the sincere love they shared, Erika noted how Charlie never wandered from his commitment to her, first and foremost.”
In another example of the ripple effect that Charlie Kirk’s legacy has had, conservative pundit Jack Posobiec, who cohosted the “Thought Crime” podcast with him, highlighted the story of how speaking to Kirk at a Turning Point USA event had inspired one formerly transgender follower to de-transition and join the Catholic church.
Unbeknownst to Charlie, he inspired one of our followers here on X to join the Catholic Church, find Jesus, and begin detransitioning after she talked with him at a campus event. I have permission to share the message she sent me (in the comments). And here is Jack discussing it. pic.twitter.com/exCry1OSkv
— The Redheaded libertarian (@TRHLofficial) September 26, 2025
“This person has said that Charlie was a huge motivation and says that they have decided to re-enter the church, accept Jesus into their life,” Posobiec said during an appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show.”
Regrettably, not all of those viewing were able to open their hearts to Erika Kirk’s message. In one case amplified by the conservative watchdog Libs of TikTok, a healthcare worker in North Carolina was caught mocking the grieving widow.
Meet Lauren Malinosky, a Healthcare worker at Atrium Health.
This despicable woman mocked Erika Kirk.
She needs to be fired! @AtriumHealth pic.twitter.com/eAxqxXmdO7
— Lucy (@TheLucyShow1) September 25, 2025
Meanwhile, ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who was briefly suspended by Disney executives after blaming “MAGA” for Kirk’s assassination, invoked Erika Kirk’s speech, upon returning to the air on Tuesday, in a weepy-eyed appeal not to be permanently canceled.
Kimmel: ‘Erika Kirk forgave the assassin, whose motives I covered up, so give me my show back, or you’re not a real Christian.’ pic.twitter.com/NA22TY1hkt
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) September 24, 2025
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
