The Concert Hall at the John F. Kennedy Center, which seats 2,460 people, was filled to capacity Sunday evening to pay tribute to the late Turning Point USA founder and conservative activist, Charlie Kirk.
Kirk was tragically killed by a gunman on Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where he had been making the initial stop of his fall speaking tour, which was intended to cover various locations across the nation.
Outside the gathering, hundreds or potentially thousands tuned in to a livestream of the prayer vigil on their phones, unable to enter the already full venue.
The vigil was organized by over 80 volunteers, many of them alumni of Kirk’s organization.
The event elicited some of the strongest reactions from the crowd when Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. described Kirk as the ‘main architect behind the unification of President Trump.’
Secretary Kennedy shared how Kirk had influenced his family, particularly his niece, who carried a Bible in her suitcase on her way to college in Europe in an effort to ‘live like Charlie Kirk.’
Over 85 members of Congress were in attendance at the vigil.
The first speaker to address the audience was U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson. He followed emcee Jake Hoffman, a close friend of Kirk and an Arizona state senator, who initiated the lineup of speakers.
Johnson said that Kirk ‘loved a vigorous debate, but he loved people more.’
‘Charlie was never motivated by hate,’ Johnson also noted.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, following Johnson, recounted her time as a congressional candidate in New Hampshire in 2022, at the age of 25. Leavitt mentioned the help Kirk offered to her race was just one example of how he reshaped the Republican Party, eliminating the ‘establishment’ that ‘no longer exists.’
‘When Washington Super PACs poured money into the coffers of my opponents’ campaigns, Charlie and Turning Point gave more to me to help me across the finish line. Charlie and his team flew me out to Arizona to introduce me to some of the biggest donors in Republican politics so I could fuel my race.’
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a Turning Point Action Rally in Duluth, GA on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024
People wait in line prior to a prayer vigil for political activist Charlie Kirk outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on September 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kirk was shot and killed by a gunman on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University
‘Charlie welcomed me on stage to speak at the Student Action Summit in Florida, to raise national awareness for my candidacy, and to speak directly to young voters,’ Leavitt recalled.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, speaking after Leavitt, said that ‘Charlie lived by the principle that no matter how horrible a person’s speech may be, their ideas must be defeated by better ideas.’
Mourners queue to attend a vigil for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 14, 2025
‘It’s up to us to continue Charlie’s legacy,’ Gabbard also noted.
Kari Lake, Senior Advisor for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, was the first speaker to bring up Kirk’s reported assassin, Tyler Robinson.
Kari Lake speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, Feb. 21, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Md.
Donald Trump welcomes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at a Turning Point Action campaign rally at the Gas South Arena on October 23, 2024 in Duluth, Georgia
Kari Lake, Senior Advisor for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, was the first speaker to bring up Kirk’s reported assassin, Tyler Robinson.
‘How does a 22-year-old become so filled with hate,’ Lake asked, while mentioning that Robinson’s parents did a good job raising him, ‘by all counts.’
‘Charlie is not dead, he’s got everlasting life,’ Lake also pledged.
Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, who worked as Turning Point’s Hispanic engagement before her run for Congress, recalled Kirk’s impact on her life as she was about to leave for medical school when she was hired for the role at his non-profit.
‘I saw Turning Point grow from those early days of a few hundred attendees to conferences with thousands upon thousands of young people all inspired by Charlie’s vision,’ Luna recalled.
‘Turning Point isn’t just a nonprofit, it’s a movement, a force for change, to empower young conservatives to take a stand,’ the Florida Congresswoman added.
One of those young people, James, 22 of Great Falls, Virginia, told the Daily Mail at the Kennedy Center that one thing he learned from Charlie Kirk, was that ‘he wanted a very civil country where we could all voice our opinions, regardless of what side we are on.’
Another Virginian, Andrew, 24, shared a similar sentiment with the Daily Mail, adding that a lasting element of Kirk’s legacy is that he was willing to talk to anyone, regardless of party or ideology.
