Viewers were left stunned by what Donald Trump did when he hugged Erika Kirk during her husband’s memorial.
Charlie Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University during the launch of his “American Comeback” campus tour.
On Sunday (September 21), tens of thousands gathered at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, for a memorial service for the Turning Point USA founder.
Many in the nearly 100,000-strong crowd wore red, white, and blue outfits, MAGA hats, and Trump merchandise.
Donald Trump hugged Erika Kirk and shocked some observers
At the service, Kirk’s widow Erika told the crowd that she forgives Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of the shooting.
“My husband, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” she said. “That man, that young man, I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and it is what Charlie would do.”
She promised to continue her husband’s mission as the new head of Turning Point USA.
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she said.
“The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love - love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
Erika also recalled the devastating moment she saw Kirk's body in the hospital, sharing: “I saw the wound that ended his life. I felt everything he would expect to feel."
"I felt shock. I felt horror, and a level of heartache that I didn’t even know existed. But there was something else, too. Even in death, I could see the man that I love… I also saw on his lips the faintest smile," she added, as reported by The Guardian.
She explained that a surgeon told her the gunshot was so catastrophic that even if it had happened in the operating room, it wouldn’t have been survivable.
“There was no pain, there was no fear, no agony. One moment, Charlie was doing what he loved… then he blinked. He blinked and saw his savior in paradise," she concluded.
When President Trump took the stage, he praised Kirk as “a martyr now for America’s freedom” and described him as “a great of his generation,” per BBC News.
He also revealed that he and Kirk disagreed on one thing: “He did not hate his opponents, he wanted the best for them.
"That’s where I disagree with Charlie.
"I hate my opponents and I don’t want what’s best for them.”
At the end of his speech, the 79-year-old was joined on stage by Erika.
Trump's face drew the focus as he met Kirk on stage
The two embraced to applause from the crowd.
But it wasn’t the hug itself that caught people’s attention - it was the president’s facial expression.
Clips of the moment quickly circulated on TikTok, where users speculated about what Trump might have been thinking.
One user, @literally_lyd, audibly gagged while watching the footage, reacting: “We can all read the thoughts going through his mind right? Like it’s not just me?... what is this timeline?”
Others agreed the expression looked odd. “I was crawling out of my skin about how weird it was,” one wrote.
Another added: “It’s my fault for having eyes.”
A third said: “Omg!!! there are things I never needed to see.”
Prosecutors have shared that Robinson faces multiple felony charges, including aggravated murder - a charge that could carry the death penalty.