Vice President JD Vance shared a deeply private remembrance of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot Wednesday whereas talking at Utah Valley College.
In a prolonged publish on X, Vance honored his late buddy as a person of “braveness,” “religion” and profound loyalty.
Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of Turning Level USA, was a detailed confidant of Vance’s each personally and politically.
Their friendship stretched from early skepticism about Donald Trump in 2016 to the heights of the 2024 marketing campaign path.
Vance’s candid social media reflection gave a uncommon glimpse into Kirk’s affect not solely on the conservative motion but additionally on the very formation of the Trump-Vance staff.
“Charlie was fascinated by concepts and at all times prepared to study and alter his thoughts,” wrote the Vice President. “Like me, he was skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016. Like me, he got here to see President Trump as the one determine able to transferring American politics away from the globalism that had dominated for our total lives.”
“Charlie was one of many first individuals I referred to as once I thought of working for senate in early 2021. We talked by the whole lot, from the technique to the fundraising to the grassroots of the motion he knew so effectively. He launched me to among the individuals who would run my marketing campaign and in addition to Donald Trump Jr.”
Kirk, a longtime advocate for younger individuals within the conservative motion, was described by Vance as pivotal to President Trump’s decision-making course of in his choice as working mate in 2024.
“Once I turned the VP nominee—one thing Charlie advocated for each in private and non-private—Charlie was there for me… Charlie was continuously calling and texting, checking on our household and providing steering and prayers,” Vance added.
He additionally highlighted the father-of-two’s robust religion in Christ, saying, “Charlie genuinely believed in and cherished Jesus Christ.
He had a profound religion. We used to argue about Catholicism and Protestantism and who was proper about minor doctrinal questions. As a result of he cherished God, he wished to grasp him.”
His “true,” friendship and loyalty had been valued by Vance, with the Vice President recalling Kirk as “a real buddy. The sort of man you might say one thing to and know it could at all times stick with him.”
Vance additionally credited Kirk with serving to energy the Trump motion in 2024, noting that “a lot of the success we’ve had on this administration traces on to Charlie’s means to prepare and convene.”
After studies got here out Wednesday afternoon, the Vice President mentioned he spoke with President Trump about Kirk candidly.
“I used to be speaking to President Trump within the Oval Workplace as we speak, and he mentioned, ‘I do know he was an excellent buddy of yours.’ I nodded silently, and President Trump noticed that Charlie actually cherished his household,” mentioned Vance. “The president was proper.”
“I used to be in a gathering within the West Wing when these group chats began lighting up with individuals telling Charlie they had been praying for him. And that’s how I discovered the information that my buddy had been shot,” recalled Vance.
“God didn’t reply these prayers, and that’s OK. He had different plans. And now that Charlie is in heaven, I’ll ask him to speak to huge man straight on behalf of his household, his mates, and the nation he cherished so dearly.”
“You ran an excellent race, my buddy. We’ve acquired it from right here,” Vance concluded.
In a resurfaced video, Kirk as soon as mentioned he wished to be remembered “for braveness, for my religion.” For these now mourning, that legacy is strictly how he will likely be remembered.
