On September 14, 2025, thousands, including White House cabinet officials, gathered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to pay their respects to Charlie Kirk, who was killed earlier last week at Utah Valley University. During his eulogy, Speaker Johnson suggested that Kirk’s murder continues to reveal a growing spiritual darkness that has shaken even those in positions of power. “The overarching mission of Charlie Kirk was Jesus and also free speech, and he saw that these were intertwined,” Kennedy said. We can die fighting for these things,’” Kennedy continued. “Charlie gave his life so that the rest of us would not have to suffer those fates worse than death,” Kennedy concluded.