JD Vance hosts 'The Charlie Kirk Show,' paying tribute with top White House officials

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7906x5271+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F39%2F1b%2Fcfe7252542988cbccadd1f6cb2a7%2Fgettyimages-2235094702.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7906x5271+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F39%2F1b%2Fcfe7252542988cbccadd1f6cb2a7%2Fgettyimages-2235094702.jpg" class="img" alt="Vice President JD Vance hosts an episode of the Charlie Kirk Show in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Monday. Kirk was killed last week while speaking at Utah Valley University." fetchpriority="high"/> Vice President JD Vance hosts an episode of the Charlie Kirk Present within the Eisenhower Government Workplace Constructing on Monday. Kirk was killed final week whereas talking at Utah Valley College. Doug Mills/AFP through Getty Photos disguise caption

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Doug Mills/AFP through Getty Photos Vice President JD Vance took the mic on Monday to host The Charlie Kirk Present, simply 5 days after the 31-year-old right-wing activist was shot and killed in Utah.

The 2-hour livestream, with Vance on the helm, marked a placing reminder of how the White Home seen Kirk, each as a pacesetter within the younger conservative area and as a behind-the-scenes political participant who they mentioned helped form President Trump's second time period in workplace.

"The final a number of days have been extraordinarily laborious for our nation," Vance mentioned at first of the printed. "The factor is, each single particular person on this constructing, we owe one thing to Charlie."

It featured appearances from a number of key Trump administration officers, together with White Home Chief of Workers Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Workers Stephen Miller, press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. They have been joined by Kirk's former colleagues and pals, who mirrored on the activist's legacy and mentioned how leaders can maintain the motion he constructed over the previous 13 years.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6540x4360+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa3%2Ffd%2F24d31a9b4c759a76c2b895263d6d%2Fgettyimages-2169616873.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6540x4360+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa3%2Ffd%2F24d31a9b4c759a76c2b895263d6d%2Fgettyimages-2169616873.jpg" class="img" alt="Turning Point executive director Charlie Kirk (L) moderates a conversation with US Senator and Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance during Turning Point Action's Chase the Vote campaign event at Generation Church in Mesa, Arizona, on September 4, 2024. (Photo by Rebecca NOBLE / AFP) (Photo by REBECCA NOBLE/AFP via Getty Images)" loading="lazy"/> Kirk and Vance have been shut pals, one thing the vice chairman spoke about at size throughout Monday's taping. Above, Kirk moderates a dialog with Vance throughout a Turning Level Motion's Chase the Vote marketing campaign occasion at Era Church in Mesa, Ariz., on Sept. 4, 2024. Rebecca Noble/AFP through Getty Photos disguise caption

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Rebecca Noble/AFP through Getty Photos However ever-present all through the episode was additionally a way of loss and deep anger surrounding Kirk's demise, with Vance and others repeatedly arguing that previous criticism of Kirk from the left stoked the violence taken in opposition to him, regardless of authorities having but to announce a identified motive in his killing.

In his closing feedback, Vance lambasted what he described because the "far-left" motion, referencing the assassination makes an attempt in opposition to Trump's life final yr and the taking pictures of Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise, R-La., in 2017. However he omitted more moderen acts of violence focusing on Democrats, such because the June assault in Minnesota that killed a Democratic state lawmaker and her partner, and left one other Democratic lawmaker wounded.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4522x3014+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F70%2Fc8%2Ffcb6872a451eb6b5aebf63340331%2Fgettyimages-2234217123.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4522x3014+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F70%2Fc8%2Ffcb6872a451eb6b5aebf63340331%2Fgettyimages-2234217123.jpg" class="img" alt="Air Force Two carrying Vice President JD Vance, with the casket of Charlie Kirk on board, flies past the Utah State Capitol while departing from Salt Lake City International Airport last Thursday." loading="lazy"/> Air Power Two carrying Vice President JD Vance, with the casket of Charlie Kirk on board, flies previous the Utah State Capitol whereas departing from Salt Lake Metropolis Worldwide Airport final Thursday. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP through Getty Photos disguise caption

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Patrick T. Fallon/AFP through Getty Photos "This isn't a both-sides downside. If each side have an issue, one facet has a a lot greater and malignant downside, and that's the reality we have to be informed," he mentioned.

"I can not promise you that every one of us will keep away from Charlie's destiny," he added. "Cannot promise you that I'll keep away from Charlie's destiny, however the way in which to honor him is to shine the sunshine of reality like a torch within the very darkest locations. Go do it."