Erika Kirk’s speech at her husband Charlie Kirk’s memorial service on Sunday evening (September 21) drew widespread praise from pundits on MSNBC and CNN, who commended her for helping bring the country together.

Both news networks were covering the service, which took place at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday. The event saw speeches from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, but it was Erika’s eulogy, in which she forgave the suspected killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, that left the most significant impact.

“On the cross, our savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they not know what they do,’” Erika said toward the end of her speech. “That man, that young man, I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know, from the Gospel, is love and always love.”

Reacting to the speech, NBC White House Correspondent Vaughn Hillyard said on MSNBC, per Mediaite, “I think what honestly I’ll take away from tonight is watching the weight of a woman, a mother, lose her husband… One week after her husband’s passing, she went in front of a crowd of 40 to 50,000 people, people watching all over the world. And she delivered remarks in which she forgave the assassin that shot her husband and killed him.”

“It was just remarkable,” added co-host Elise Jordan.

Hillyard continued, “A remarkable moment because in so many ways, where America stands in 2025 is, how do we respond going forward? And the woman that just lost her husband stood there in front of the world and said, ‘I forgive.’”

Fellow panelist Ayman Mohideen compared Erika’s speech to Trump’s, saying the President had an opportunity “to try to heal and bring the country [together]” and didn’t do it “in the way that many people would expect a President to do.”

“There is that disconnect between the grief that a mother who is just going to bury her husband, the father of her children, and a president who’s talking about the politics of this moment,” Mohideen said.

Over on CNN, former communications director for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Xochitl Hinojosa shared similar sentiments, saying Trump’s speech did not unite the country.

“The person who really did that was Erika Kirk,” Hinojosa added, per Mediaite. “She came to the moment — she understood that people need to be brought together. She’s probably one of the only people besides Donald Trump who could do that. So much that she says… that she forgave the shooter. She also said, ‘The answer to hate is not hate.’”

She continued, “It came from the widow of Charlie Kirk, which I think is, I mean, I don’t know how she did it. First of all, giving that speech, but also rising to the moment when our country needs leadership, when our country needs to hear those messages of coming together. It was the widow who did it.”