House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., encouraged Americans to turn to Scripture and “appeal to our better angels” when horrific events occur.
The speaker expressed his sentiment Monday when discussing the deadly shootings at Brown University and in Australia, the attack in Syria that killed three Americans, and the murders of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife.
Speaking to reporters at the Capitol, Johnson said he learned of the Reiner killings “as many did this morning,” calling the deaths an “unspeakable family tragedy” and “another reminder of just the senseless violence and evil that is so rampant in our society.”
Johnson said the preliminary information he had seen indicated the couple’s son was suspected, and he offered prayers for the family and all those affected.
Authorities have said Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead at their home, and that their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, was taken into custody as the investigation continued.
Johnson said that in moments of national grief, his thoughts go to Scripture — specifically Psalm 34: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
The speaker then broadened his remarks to a string of grim headlines that unfolded over the weekend.
He referenced the “slaughter of Jewish young people celebrating Hanukkah in Australia,” where an attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach left at least 15 people dead.
He also noted the deadly shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, which killed two and wounded nine during final exams.
Police initially detained a person of interest but later released him, saying the investigation had moved in a different direction and no charges had been filed.
Johnson further pointed to the loss of Americans overseas, referencing the Syria attack.
The U.S. military said two U.S. service members and a U.S. civilian interpreter were killed in an attack near Palmyra, with additional U.S. personnel wounded.
In a holiday season that traditionally centers on faith, family, and peace, Johnson urged the country to respond to evil with moral clarity rather than cynicism.
“We see evil all around us,” he said, adding that as Hanukkah begins and Christmas approaches, “we have to appeal to our better angels” and “amplify those voices and those sentiments.”
For conservatives, Johnson’s message underscored a familiar truth: Public safety matters, but so does spiritual resilience.
In the face of terrorism abroad, violence on campus, and tragedy at home, Johnson’s call was for the nation to lean on faith and strengthen the cultural foundations that reject hatred and refuse to normalize it.
