Overview

• White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller delivered a fiery eulogy for Charlie Kirk in the Phoenix area, casting the slain activist as a martyr and invoking a battle between light and darkness.
• Miller used militant imagery including the refrain “we are the storm,” celebrated a civilizational lineage from Athens to Monticello, and repeatedly addressed an unnamed “they,” “you,” and “those.”
• The Steady State, a coalition of more than 330 former national security officials, said Miller’s language mirrors Joseph Goebbels’ 1932 rhetoric, highlighting storm and warrior metaphors and glorification of martyrdom.
• The group warned that reviving fascist tropes functions as dehumanization and conditions the public for authoritarian rule, calling the portrayal of opponents as wicked and illegitimate a core feature of fascism.
• Social-media analysts and commentators amplified the parallels, with some alleging the speech closely tracked Goebbels, while The New Republic framed Miller’s remarks as using Kirk’s killing to justify broader crackdowns.