Vice President JD Vance announced late Sunday that he will guest host “The Charlie Kirk Show” in honor of his late friend, who was assassinated Wednesday.
“Tomorrow, I will have the honor of hosting the Charlie Kirk Show. Please join me as I pay tribute to my friend. 12:00PM ET,” JD Vance wrote on X.
The conservative leader, 31, was fatally shot while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. The suspect is currently in custody.
JD Vance’s connection to Charlie Kirk was both political and deeply personal.
The pair became friends in 2017, following one of JD Vance’s appearances on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show.
Charlie Kirk reached out afterward to praise the appearance, but in that moment, “began a friendship that lasted until today,” JD Vance said, according to the Associated Press.
Over the years, Charlie Kirk not only encouraged JD Vance’s rise in the conservative movement but played significant roles in making it possible.
He introduced him to key donors, to campaign strategists, even to Donald Trump Jr., helping to build the network behind JD Vance’s Senate run and later his vice-presidential campaign.
When Charlie Kirk was shot Wednesday, JD Vance reacted immediately.
He canceled previous commitments, including participation in the 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York, to travel with his wife, second lady Usha Vance, to Utah to meet with Charlie Kirk’s family.
Usha Vance reportedly accompanied him throughout the journey. She stepped off Air Force Two alongside Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, when the casket arrived in Arizona.
JD Vance himself helped carry the casket with military personnel, an image that has already become a powerful symbol for many.
In his X post, Vance described Kirk as “a true friend. The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him.”
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