In a speech more fitting for a religious revival than a cable-news segment, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson called on the nation to repent in the wake of conservative icon Charlie Kirk’s funeral.

“The main thing about Charlie and his message, he was bringing the gospel to this country,” Mr. Carlson said in remarks at Mr. Kirk’s funeral in Glendale, Arizona. “He was doing the thing people hate, which is calling for them to repent. He knew … the only real solution is Jesus.

Mr. Carlson, who first became a public figure as a right-wing provocateur and publisher, made the most direct link between Mr. Kirk’s efforts and the story of Jesus, saying that both were “telling the truth about the people in power.”

Their opponents need to get them to stop talking, Mr. Carlson said, noting that both lives were ended because they were killed to “shut them up.”

“It doesn’t work that way. Everything is inverted and the Beatitudes tell it,” he said. “Everything is the opposite of what you think it’s going to be: Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. That is true and you can feel it here,” he said.

“Any attempt to extinguish the light causes it to burn brighter,” Mr. Carlson said of Mr. Kirk’s assassination.

Mr. Carlson said that change only begins with repentance.

“The only change that matters is when we represent our sins,” he said. “A recognition that the real problem is me and how fallen I am and that was the reason that Charlie was fearless at all times…there was no hate in his heart.”

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.