The murder of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, has shocked the conservative world and highlights the political violence suffered by those who defend faith and traditional values. The Vice President of the United States, J. D. Vance, has published an emotional message in which he remembers his friend as a man of deep faith in Christ, devoted to his family and generous in defending the truth and freedom.
We provide below the full message published on X:
A while ago, probably in 2017, I appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox program to talk about God knows what. Afterward, a name I barely knew sent me a direct message on Twitter saying I had done a great job. It was Charlie Kirk, and that moment of kindness started a friendship that lasted until today.
Charlie was fascinated by ideas and always willing to learn and change his mind. Like me, he was skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016. Like me, he came to see President Trump as the only figure capable of steering American politics away from the globalism that had dominated our entire lives. When others were right, he learned from them. When he was right—as was often the case—he was generous. With Charlie, the attitude was never “I told you so,” but: “welcome.”
Charlie was one of the first people I called when I thought about running for the Senate in early 2021. He was interested but skeptical that there was a path. We talked about everything: from strategy to fundraising and the base of the movement he knew so well. He introduced me to some of the people who would lead my campaign and also to Donald Trump Jr. “Like his father, he is misunderstood. He is extremely intelligent and very aligned with us.” Don (Donald Trump) took my call because Charlie asked him to.
Long before I committed (not even mentally) to running, Charlie asked me to speak to his donors at a TPUSA event. He walked me around the room and introduced me. He gave me his honest opinion on my remarks. He had no reason to do it, nor did he expect me to get anywhere. At that time, I was well below 5% in the polls. He did it because we were friends and because he was a good man.
When I became the vice presidential candidate—something Charlie advocated for both publicly and privately—Charlie was there for me. He was very happy to be part of the president’s team, but, frankly, surprised by the effect it had on our family. Our children, especially the oldest, suffered from the attention and the constant presence of the protection team. I felt a sharp sense of guilt for having recruited my children into this life without asking their permission. And Charlie was constantly calling and texting, asking about our family and offering guidance and prayers. Some of our most successful events were not organized by the campaign, but by TPUSA. He was not just a thinker; he was a man of action, turning big ideas into big events with thousands of activists. And after every event, he gave me a big hug, told me he was praying for me, and asked what else he could do. “You focus on Wisconsin,” he would say. “Arizona is secured.” And it was.
Charlie truly believed in Jesus Christ and loved Him. He had deep faith. We used to discuss Catholicism and Protestantism and who was right on minor doctrinal issues. Because he loved God, he wanted to understand Him.
Someone pointed out that Charlie died doing what he loved: discussing ideas. He entered those hostile environments and answered their questions. If it was a friendly audience and a progressive asked a question amid boos, he encouraged his followers to calm down and let everyone speak. He embodied a fundamental virtue of our Republic: the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas.
Charlie had a strange ability to know when to go further and when to be more conventional. I’ve seen people attack him for years for being wrong on this or that issue publicly, without realizing that, privately, he worked to expand the scope of acceptable debate.
He was a great family man. Today I was talking with President Trump in the Oval Office and he said: “I know he was a very good friend of yours”. I nodded silently, and the president noted that Charlie really loved his family. The president was right. Charlie was very proud of Erika and their two children. He was immensely happy to be a father. And he felt enormous gratitude for having found a woman of God with whom he could form a family.
Charlie Kirk was a true friend. The kind of person you could tell something to knowing he would always keep it. I’m in more than a few group chats with Charlie and people he introduced me to over the years. We celebrated weddings and births, joked around, and mourned the loss of loved ones. We talked about politics, public policy, sports, and life. Those chats include people from the highest levels of our government. They trusted him, loved him, and knew he would always be there to back them up. And because he was a true friend, you could instinctively trust the people Charlie introduced you to. Much of the success we’ve had in this administration is directly due to Charlie’s ability to organize and bring people together. He didn’t just help us win in 2024; he helped shape the entire government.
I was in a meeting in the West Wing when those chats started lighting up with people telling Charlie they were praying for him. And that’s how I found out my friend had been shot. I prayed a lot during the next hour as first good and then bad news arrived.
God did not answer those prayers, and that’s okay. He had other plans. And now that Charlie is in heaven, I will ask him to speak directly to the Lord on behalf of his family, his friends, and the country he loved so much.
You ran a good race, my friend.
From here on, we’ll carry it forward.