Charlie Kirk Vigil at Kennedy Center: Mourning, Hope -- and Joy

WASHINGTON, DC — “Charlie Kirk gave his life defending our civili liberties to engage in free and open debate.”

So declared State Senator Jake Hoffman of Arizona, a friend of Kirk’s, on opening the vigil for slain youth leader Charlie Kirk at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, Sunday night.

The evening began on a somber note, with the entire hall rising for prayer. But the mood quickly became energized, almost festive, as speaker after speaker celebrated Kirk’s life, achievements, and example.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) noted that Kirk would want his supporters to take up the principles he fought for, “to save this great Republic” — adding that Kirk did not merely want “just to save a country, but to save souls” as well. He led a prayer that was offered “in sadness, but also with grateful hearts.”

A star-studded lineup continued with praise for Kirk. “President Trump’s win in November was fueled, in no small part, by Charlie [and] by Turning Point,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt observed.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard spoke about attending campus debates with Kirk. She said that he believed in hearing everyone’s point of view, even those who were booed, because “No matter how horrible another person’s speech might be their ideas must be defeated by better ideas, not by violence.”

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., drew a sustained standing ovation, and cheers of “U-S-A!” as he approached the stage. He recalled bonding with Kirk after their first meeting, when he appeared on Kirk’s podcast in 2021, and called Kirk “the primary architect” of his agreement with President Donald Trump to unify their presidential campaigns in 2024. He added that faith and free speech were intertwined for Kirk, who “led the resistance” to censorship.. He saw dialogue as the only way to overcome the growing polarization in America that, he said, was driven by algorithms in social media.

Then Kennedy added a personal note about his own losses — referring to his brother, but alluding, implicitly, to his father, Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968. He said that the hole of a loss never grows smaller, but that our duty is to grow bigger around it — to tap into the virtues of the person who is gone, and lessen the pain, proportionally, over time.

Kennedy noted that the other half of America — the half that had driven the hatred of Charlike Kirk had little idea of how intolerant they had become — and that the rest of America had to preserve the civil liberties and principles of the Constitution “until they wake up.”

It was up to Charlie Kirk’s supporters and admirers — “he is no longer there to lead us — to rush in and fill the breach, and to win this battle — for our country, for God, and for our families,” Kennedy concluded.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.