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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., shared just a brief four-word response when a reporter asked him on Tuesday why he missed a congressional vigil for Charlie Kirk.
“I had a meeting,” Jeffries said when the matter was broached during his afternoon press conference.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced on Monday that Congress would hold a vigil later that evening to honor the conservative activist.
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Hakeem Jeffries spoke with reporters about why he missed the congressional vigil for Charlie Kirk on Monday evening. (Getty Images)
Kirk was assassinated last week when a gunman opened fire on him during a college campus speaking event in Utah.
Fox News Digital witnessed just a handful of House Democrats at the vigil, side by side with dozens of Republican lawmakers.
When asked why more Democrats did not attend, Jeffries said Tuesday, “I don’t know.”
“I guess you’d have to talk to the individual Democrats as to what else was going on and why they were present or why they weren’t present,” he said.
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Charlie Kirk was speaking at Utah Valley University, as part of his “American Comeback Tour,” on Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah, when he was shot in the neck and killed. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
The vigil was held in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall in the 6 p.m. hour on Monday evening.
Democratic lawmakers who attended include Reps. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., John Larson, D-Conn., Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., Chris Pappas, D-N.H., and Don Davis, D-N.C.
Notably absent were the top four House Democrats in senior leadership, including Jeffries.
Johnson, however, downplayed the lack of Democratic attendance in comments to reporters on Monday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson leads a vigil to honor conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed at an event in Utah last week, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
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“I honestly did not even see the composition of the group,” he said when asked if he was disappointed in the number of Democrats who showed up.
“I’m glad it was bipartisan, and I wish more had participated, and I’m not sure why they didn’t. So I don’t know what else we can do other than offer an all-member bipartisan vigil. And we’ve done that routinely for other things.”
Fox News’ Kelly Phares and Fox News Radio’s Ryan Schmelz contributed to this report.
