JD Vance hosts ‘The Charlie Kirk Present’ : NPR

[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 on Monday. Kirk was killed final week whereas talking at Utah Valley College. Doug Mills/AFP by way of Getty Photos conceal caption

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Doug Mills/AFP by way of 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 putting reminder of how the White Home considered Kirk, each as a frontrunner within the younger conservative house 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 arduous for our nation," Vance mentioned in the beginning of the printed. "The factor is, each single individual 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 Employees Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Employees Stephen Miller, press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. They had been joined by Kirk's former colleagues and associates, 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 had been shut associates, 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 by way of Getty Photos conceal caption

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Rebecca Noble/AFP by way of Getty Photos However ever-present all through the episode was additionally a way of loss and deep anger surrounding Kirk's dying, 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 recognized motive in his killing.

Vance says political violence just isn't a 'either side drawback' 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 capturing of Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise, R-La., in 2017. However he omitted newer acts of violence concentrating 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.

"This isn't a both-sides drawback. If either side have an issue, one aspect has a a lot larger and malignant drawback, and that's the reality we have to be advised," he mentioned.

Vance mentioned the administration meant to "go after the NGO community that foments, facilitates and engages in violence," although he didn't he element what form these plans may take.

Taking questions from Vance, Miller mentioned the federal government deliberate to focus on what he mentioned had been "the precise organized cells that perform and facilitate the violence," citing individuals behind doxing campaigns and speech meant to set off or incite violence.

<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 Pressure 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 by way of Getty Photos conceal caption

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Patrick T. Fallon/AFP by way of Getty Photos "With God as my witness, we're going to use each useful resource now we have on the Division of Justice, Homeland Safety, all through this authorities to establish, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America secure once more for the American individuals," he mentioned.

As he closed out the episode, Vance advised the viewers that one of the best ways to pay tribute to Kirk could be to comply with his instance.

"I can not promise you that each 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."

All through the present, Vance additionally spoke of his friendship with Kirk and credited him with serving to push for Trump to pick out him as his vice chairman. At 41, Vance is the second youngest vice chairman in U.S. historical past. He is performed an lively function within the White Home's response to Kirk's dying. Final Friday, he transported Kirk's physique from Utah again to his dwelling in Arizona, touring alongside Kirk's widow and household.

Kirk's affect Kirk co-founded Turning Level USA in 2012 when he was simply 18 years previous, meant as an area for younger conservatives to show to at a time when extra liberal teams dominated campus life. Since then, the group has grown considerably, and within the days since Kirk's dying, the group has reported an uptick in curiosity, receiving 37,000 purposes to start out chapters across the nation, in response to Andrew Kolvet, the chief producer of The Charlie Kirk Present.

As younger conservative organizers and content material creators mourn Kirk's dying, many say his efforts by way of Turning Level helped form their political views.

"I am a Gen Z conservative, so I used to be actually raised throughout the MAGA motion. And throughout the MAGA motion, as a Gen Z conservative, means you are very a lot part of the Turning Level USA motion," Leavitt, 28, advised Vance throughout her look on the present.

"My political schooling was not simply by way of the rise of President Trump, but additionally the rise of Charlie Kirk," she added.

It stays unclear what the way forward for Turning Level appears like with out Kirk, however in her dialog with Vance, Wiles steered that the vice chairman, together with Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., keep main figures in that motion.

"Now now we have three and a half years to transform Trump voters to being Republicans in order that in 2028 we will hold the White Home, the Home and the Senate. That is what Charlie helped us assume by way of," she mentioned. "He can't be changed by anybody individual."