JD Vance hailed Charlie Kirk as “the smartest political operative I ever met,” as he hosted his podcast, “The Charlie Kirk Show”, from the White House in honor of the conservative commentator who was shot dead last week.
The vice president called Kirk a “joyful warrior for our country,” and partly blamed his assassination on an “incredibly destructive movement of left wing extremism” that he said had grown within the U.S. over the past few years.
Kirk, 31, was a close ally of President Donald Trump, and Vance brought out several of the administration to pay tribute to him including Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The show broadcast at noon Monday on X and Rumble, less than one week after Kirk was killed during a college campus visit in Utah. Suspect Tyler Robinson has been charged with murder though authorities are still searching for a motive.
The podcast episode opened with a video and photo montage of Kirk speaking at various events, and pictures of him with his family and members of the Trump administration including Vance and President Donald Trump.
White text on a black background then read: “Dear Charlie, thank you.”
The vice president then launched into an opening monologue.
“Hey everybody, JD Vance here, live from my office in the White House and filling in for somebody who cannot be filled in for but I'm going to try to do my best,” he began.
“He was a critical part of getting Donald Trump elected as president, getting me elected as vice president, and so much of our success over the last seven months is due to his efforts, his staffing, his support and his friendship.
“I don't think that I'm alone in saying that Charlie was the smartest political operative I ever met.”
Vance previously described Kirk as a longtime friend and someone who advocated for him to become Trump’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election. During the broadcast, Vance made the surprising admission that following his VP debate with Democratic candidate, Tim Walz, he had “kinda liked him.”
“Charlie said 'that's why I do all these debates,’” Vance explained.
The vice president and his wife, Usha Vance, accompanied Kirk’s widow, Erika, and his casket home on Air Force Two from Salt Lake City to Phoenix, Arizona last Thursday, a day after the assassination.
Vance revealed on-air that he was concerned that Kirk’s wife would “collapse with grief” during the journey.
He added: “Erika asked me for advice on how she should tell her children that their father had been murdered, she asked my wife how to tell her beautiful kids that their father and my dear, very dear friend is no longer with us.
“And as she was doing it, there were people dancing on that father's grave."
Right-wing advocacy group Turning Point USA, co-founded by Kirk, will hold a memorial service for him Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
On the podcast Monday, Vance referenced the arrest of Robinson, and noted it was important he be brought to justice.
Vance then added: “We have to talk about this incredibly destructive movement of left wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years and, I believe, is part of the reason why Charlie was killed by an assassin's bullet.
“We're going to talk about how to dismantle that and how to bring real unity, real unity, that can only come when we tell the truth. And everybody knows that they can speak their mind about the issues of the day without being cut down by a murderer's gun.”
Closing out the show, Vance also claimed that “the data is clear” and that “people on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence.” The vice president did not specify which data set he was referring to.
A variety of analyses, including federally funded research, suggest extremists affiliated with right-wing political causes have killed more people than any other ideological group.
“This is not a both sides problem,” he said. “If both sides have a problem, one side has a much bigger and malignant problem, and that is the truth we must be told that problem has terrible consequences.”
He added: "While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far left.”
Vance’s broadcast comes after other members of the Trump administration paid tribute to Kirk at a memorial service Sunday. Speakers included House Speaker Mike Johnson, Intelligence boss Tulsi Gabbard, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., who described Kirk as his “spiritual brother.”
Leavitt and Kennedy were also guests of Vance’s on Monday’s live show, as were other members of the administration including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, as well as former Fox News host and fellow right-wing broadcaster Tucker Carlson.
“Watching Charlie from a distance was so inspiring to me as a young conservative woman, and then I got to know him personally when I decided to run for Congress, and he was a tremendous supporter and friend,” Leavitt said, adding that she often thought of Kirk debating college students when taking questions from reporters in press briefings.
“Some of these college kids ask way better questions than the radicals do in the White House press briefing room,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of Trump, Leavitt added that the president had loved Kirk “deeply.”
“I know he deeply is hurt by this loss, because Charlie played an instrumental role in returning the President to the Oval Office,” she said.
Miller described Kirk as “a treasured friend,” who “made you believe more in yourself.”
Speaking about the second Trump presidency, Miller said: “[Kirk] was so damn excited. I mean, it just, it really hurts to think about it right now. He was so excited about all of us being here, and we will be talking about every executive order, every new regulation, every new policy plan.
“Charlie would send me messages all the time, just saying, ‘Great work.’ Or ‘here's a new idea, or here's what I think will take this to the next level.’ And I took them all to heart.”
During his own segment, RFK Jr. credited Kirk as “the primary architect of my unification with President Trump.” The Health Secretary noted that he had officially endorsed Trump’s campaign for president at a Turning Point USA rally in Arizona.
“There was all these kind of fireworks and sparklers on the stage when we shook hands, and that was all Charlie's orchestration,” he said.
Memorials for Kirk have been set up in Washington, D.C., Phoenix, Arizona, and Utah Valley University, with American flags, flowers, and letters laid in tribute.
