Updated September 15, 2025 at 5:41 PM EDT
Vice President JD Vance took the mic on Monday to host The Charlie Kirk Show, just five days after the 31-year-old right-wing activist was shot and killed in Utah.
The , with Vance at the helm, marked a striking reminder of how the White House viewed Kirk, both as a leader in the young conservative space and as a behind-the-scenes political player who they said helped shape President Trump's second term in office.
"The last several days have been extremely hard for our country," Vance said at the start of the broadcast. "The thing is, every single person in this building, we owe something to Charlie."
It featured appearances from several key Trump administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. They were joined by Kirk's former colleagues and friends, who reflected on the activist's legacy and discussed how leaders can sustain .
But ever-present throughout the episode was also a sense of loss and deep anger surrounding Kirk's death, with Vance and others repeatedly arguing that past criticism of Kirk from the left stoked the violence taken against him, despite in his killing.
Vance says political violence is not a 'both sides problem'
In his closing comments, Vance lambasted what he described as the "far-left" movement, referencing the assassination attempts against Trump's life last year and the shooting of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., in 2017. But he omitted more recent acts of violence targeting Democrats, such as the June attack in Minnesota that killed a Democratic state lawmaker and her spouse, and left another Democratic lawmaker wounded.
"This is not a both-sides problem. If both sides have a problem, one side has a much bigger and malignant problem, and that is the truth we must be told," he said.
Vance said the administration intended to "go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence," though he did not he detail what shape those plans might take.
Taking questions from Vance, Miller said the government planned to target what he said were "the actual organized cells that carry out and facilitate the violence," citing people behind doxing campaigns and speech intended to trigger or incite violence.
"With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people," he said.
As he closed out the episode, Vance told the audience that the best way to pay tribute to Kirk would be to follow his example.
"I can't promise you that all of us will avoid Charlie's fate," he added. "Can't promise you that I will avoid Charlie's fate, but the way to honor him is to shine the light of truth like a torch in the very darkest places. Go do it."
Kirk's influence
Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012 when he was just 18 years old, meant as a space for young conservatives to turn to at a time when more liberal groups dominated campus life. Since then, the organization has grown significantly, and in the days since Kirk's death, the group has reported an uptick in interest, receiving 37,000 applications to start chapters around the country, according to Andrew Kolvet, the executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Show.
As mourn Kirk's death, many say his efforts through Turning Point helped shape their political beliefs.
"I'm a Gen Z conservative, so I was really raised within the MAGA movement. And within the MAGA movement, as a Gen Z conservative, means you're very much a part of the Turning Point USA movement," Leavitt, 28, told Vance during her appearance on the show.
"My political education was not just through the rise of President Trump, but also the rise of Charlie Kirk," she added.
It remains unclear what the future of Turning Point looks like without Kirk, but in her conversation with Vance, Wiles suggested that the vice president, along with Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., stay leading figures in that movement.
"Now we have three and a half years to convert Trump voters to being Republicans so that in 2028 we can keep the White House, the House and the Senate. That's what Charlie helped us think through," she said. "He cannot be replaced by any one person."
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