Erika Kirk says some of her late husband's controversial comments, shared widely in the wake of his assassination, lacked context and that he should not "be deteriorated" to a few sentences.

In a CBS News town hall airing Saturday, editor-in-chief Bari Weiss asked Kirk about some of those much-shared comments: that some gun deaths are "worth it" to protect the Second Amendment; that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a mistake; and that if he sees a Black pilot, he's "going to be like, boy, I hope he's qualified," while noting "that's not who I am, that's not what I believe."

Kirk said she'd love for people to watch the full clips instead of taking comments out of context.

"Charlie didn't care what skin color you were. He didn't care what religion you were. He loved excellence," she said, adding that "his favorite word was 'earn'… He loved knowing that people worked hard to earn what they got."

She said she didn't know the context of the "gun deaths" quote but said, "There's a lot more there than just that one little sentence."

"My husband is not to be deteriorated to two sentences," she said. "He's not. He is a thought leader, and he was brilliant of a man. So that's fine if you want to take words out of his mouth or out of context without the whole thing in perspective, but that's the problem."

Erika Kirk talks more about her husband, her journey through faith and grief, and the state of the American right in a CBS News town hall. It will air just days after Charlie Kirk's book, "Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life," was posthumously released.

Watch the one-hour town hall Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. An extended version of the conversation will air on CBS News 24/7 on Sunday at 9 a.m., 3 p.m., 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET, and will be available on CBS News' YouTube channel.