Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may have intended to honor the late Charlie Kirk at a solemn vigil over the weekend, but instead, he ended up bewildering just about everyone listening.
Speaking to a packed crowd at the Kennedy Center, the Trump Health Secretary shared a glowing tribute to the far-right commentator, who was gunned down at a Utah Valley University event last week. Kirk was 31.
Kennedy began with what sounded like a typical eulogy. But things veered into the bizarre when he recounted his “first meeting” with Kirk.
“I met Charlie for the first time in July of 2001. I went on his podcast, and I think we approached each other with a lot of trepidation at that time, but by the end of the podcast, we were soulmates,” he said. “We were spiritual brothers, and we were friends, and over the next couple of years, our friendship blossomed.”
That would’ve been touching—if not for one glaring detail. In July 2001, Kirk was only seven years old.
The internet caught the math instantly. A flurry of posts on X noted how “odd” it was that Kennedy apparently became “soulmates” with a second-grader. Others, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, guessed he probably meant 2021, the year Kennedy appeared on The Charlie Kirk Show for a nearly hour-long conversation. That episode aired in July.
But it was too late. The damage was done. What was supposed to be a respectful tribute spiraled into viral confusion.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, shared the 2021 podcast stage with Kirk to promote his anti-Fauci book and rail against COVID restrictions. Their views overlapped often—both have been accused of spreading misinformation about the pandemic.
“That first conversation with him that I had, we talked a lot. We had a wide-ranging conversation,” Kennedy told the crowd Sunday. He then launched into a familiar tirade against Biden-era public health policies like lockdowns and social distancing.
“I had a conversation once with Charlie where we were talking about the danger that we both face from challenging entrenched interests, and he asked me if I was scared to die,” Kennedy continued. “And I said to him, there’s a lot worse things than dying, and the chief among those is losing our constitutional rights and having our children raised in slavery.”
That line drew gasps from some, nods from others. The internet, though, wasn’t buying it.
“It’s giving brain fog,” one user posted. “This man said he met a 7-year-old on a podcast???”
Sunday night’s vigil drew big names in conservative politics—Karoline Leavitt, Tulsi Gabbard, and House Speaker Mike Johnson were all in attendance. President Trump told reporters he would attend Kirk’s funeral in Arizona this weekend.
“It’s a very sad weekend in the sense that we lost a great person,” Trump said. “We’re going to Arizona, taking some people with us on Air Force One.”
But instead of the mourning and reverence that might normally follow a tribute of this kind, Kennedy’s comments kicked off a whole other conversation—one less about Kirk’s legacy and more about whether the Health Secretary had any idea what year it is.
Whatever he meant to say, Kennedy’s eulogy wasn’t the moment of grace he probably envisioned. Instead, it was a jarring mix of confusion, conspiracy, and head-scratching timelines. The kind of thing the internet doesn’t forget—and definitely doesn’t let slide.
