U.S. Vice-President JD Vance hosts an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show from his ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, in Washington, on Monday. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Pool/Reuters)
U.S. Vice-President JD Vance said Monday while hosting Charlie Kirk’s radio show that he is “desperate” for national unity after the conservative political activist’s killing but that finding common ground with people who celebrated the assassination of his friend is impossible.
The Republican vice-president filled in as host of The Charlie Kirk Show from his ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House. The livestream of the two-hour program was broadcast in the White House press briefing room and featured a series of appearances by White House and administration officials who knew the 31-year-old Kirk.
Vance, who transported Kirk’s body home from Utah to Arizona aboard Air Force Two last week, opened by saying he was “filling in for somebody who cannot be filled in for, but I’ll do my best.” He recounted his conversations with Kirk’s widow, Erika, and her remembrances of him as a kind, loving husband.
In his closing remarks, Vance criticized what he said were lies about Kirk that he blamed for the killing. He also promised that the Trump administration will act to stop anyone who would kill another person because of their words.
Kirk made comments over the years that some Democrats and others said were anti-immigrant, racist, misogynistic or offensive in other ways.
“I’m desperate for our country to be united in condemnation of the actions and the ideas that killed my friend,” Vance said on the program. “I want it so badly that I will tell you a difficult truth. We can only have it with people who acknowledge that political violence is unacceptable.”
WATCH | What made Kirk a target:
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Kirk’s influence with Trump, Vance
Vance’s self-described “moonlighting” as substitute radio host, as well as the broadcasting of the program from the White House complex, served as a powerful reminder of Kirk’s close relationship with the Trump-Vance team and the valuable role Kirk’s operation played in boosting young voter turnout during the last election campaign.
Vance and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller appear on video monitors in the press briefing room. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters )
Vance, 41, was especially close to Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA, one of the nation’s largest political organizations with chapters on high school and college campuses. The two began a friendship nearly a decade ago, and Kirk advocated for Vance to be Trump’s choice for vice-president last year. Kirk also was someone who had Trump’s ear.
Others who joined Vance on Kirk’s program were White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., press secretary Karoline Leavitt and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
On the broadcast, Vance said the “incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism” had helped lead to Kirk’s killing, and the conversation turned toward fighting what Vance described as “festering violence on the far left” with Miller, the first guest.
“With God as my witness, we’re going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks,” Miller said. “It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.”
Law enforcement officials have said they believe Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspect accused of killing Kirk during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University last Wednesday, acted alone.
Utah governor says suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting became ‘radicalized’
Authorities are sharing new details about Tyler Robinson, accused of fatally shooting right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Utah’s governor described him as a smart young man who became radicalized. His alleged actions continue to fuel political division across the U.S.
Suspect’s partner co-operating
Robinson was taken into custody at his parents’ house, about 420 kilometres southwest of the crime scene after a 33-hour manhunt.
Robinson has not co-operated with authorities, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said on Sunday, but investigators have been interviewing his friends and family in an effort to determine a motive for the shooting.
One person who is apparently talking to investigators is Robinson’s roommate, who was also a romantic partner, Cox said, citing the FBI. Cox described the roommate as “a male transitioning to female,” and said the roommate has been “incredibly co-operative.”
Asked on CNN’s State of the Union program whether the roommate’s gender identity is relevant to the investigation, Cox said, “That’s what we’re trying to figure out right now.”
Reuters has not been able to locate the roommate, or representatives for the roommate, to seek comment. Reuters could not determine who is serving as Robinson’s legal representative.
“There was a romantic, personal relationship there. We are still investigating whether that individual had any involvement,” Utah Department of Public Safety commissioner Beau Mason told The Associated Press.
State records show Robinson had registered as a voter without choosing a political party affiliation and had not voted in the 2024 presidential election. But a relative told police that Robinson had grown more political and had expressed dislike for Kirk in a recent conversation.
Separately, the Washington Post reported on Monday that Robinson had sent a message via the online platform Discord to friends apparently confessing to the crime.
“It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this,” read a message from the account belonging to Robinson that was sent on Thursday night, shortly before he was arrested, the newspaper reported, citing two people familiar with the chat as well as screenshots it had obtained.
33 Hours: How the FBI caught Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer
The National’s Eli Glasner breaks down how a combination of digital evidence, police work and a family intervention led to the arrest of a suspect in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.
High-profile political attacks
Kirk’s killing was the latest in a series of high-profile episodes of U.S. political violence.
Last year, Trump was the subject of two assassination attempts, including one in which his ear was struck by a bullet.
In April, a man started a fire at the home of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, though the governor and his family escaped harm.
In June, a senior Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota and her husband were assassinated in their home, and a man threw Molotov cocktails at a pro-Israel march in Colorado, killing one.
In August, a gunman obsessed with COVID-19 conspiracies fired at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, killing a police officer.
