Now Reading: JD Vance hosts Charlie Kirk podcast in wake of shooting. Live updates
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JD Vance hosts Charlie Kirk podcast in wake of shooting. Live updates
JD Vance hosts Charlie Kirk podcast in wake of shooting. Live updates
More information about the motive in the killing of Charlie Kirk will be released this week, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said.
Mourners honor Charlie Kirk in Utah candlelight vigil
In the wake of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, vigils and gatherings to honor him have sprung up around the country.
As new details about the investigation into Charlie Kirk’s killing emerged, Vice President JD Vance hosted the conservative commentator’s podcast and celebrated his life with other leading figures in the Trump administration.
Vance called Kirk, who was fatally shot during a campus event in Utah last week, a “visionary” and a “luminary” who created a “whole social network for an entire generation of young people.” Guests on the podcast included Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“He was a critical part of getting Donald Trump elected as president, getting me elected as vice president, and so much of our success over the last seven months is due to his efforts, his staffing, his support and his friendship,” Vance said.
The vice president’s remarks come as FBI Director Kash Patel revealed new details from the investigation, saying in an appearance on Fox News that the suspect’s DNA was found on items near the murder scene and that the alleged shooter wrote messages about a plan to “take out” the conservative activist.
Federal agents matched 22-year-old Tyler Robinson’s DNA to a screwdriver found on a roof at Utah Valley University and a towel that was wrapped around the rifle police believe was used in the attack on Sept. 10, Patel said on “Fox & Friends.”
Patel also confirmed the FBI has interviewed Robinson’s live-in partner, who Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said was in the process of transitioning from male to female. Cox, a Republican, has urged people not to jump to conclusions over Robinson’s possible motive and said more information will be released in charging documents on Tuesday.
The FBI director, who has faced scrutiny over his handling of the investigation, said law enforcement has also discovered a text message chain in which Robinson allegedly stated an intent to “take out” Kirk.
The bureau learned of a similar hand-written note the suspect allegedly wrote before the shooting and left in his apartment. Patel said the note had been destroyed but that investigators obtained forensic evidence and were able to confirm what it said through the FBI’s “aggressive interview posture.”
The vice president wrapped up two hours of hosting Kirk’s show by slamming an opinion article in The Nation, a progressive magazine, that was critical of Kirk.
Vance also appeared to choke up when sharing a conversation between Kirk’s widow and his wife, second lady Usha Vance. The vice president said Kirk’s widow asked his wife “for advice on how she should tell her children that their father had been murdered.”
“And as she was doing it,” Vance added. “There were people dancing on that father’s grave.”
Vance noted that many people have called “for unity and for healing” in recent days and that he’s heard from “Democratic friends and even former Senate colleagues” who offered their condolences.
“I am desperate to wrap my arms around them, as we all unite to condemn political violence and the ideas that cause it… but first, first, we must tell the truth,” Vance said.
Trump has lashed out at the left after Kirk’s murder, and administration officials are vowing to target left-wing organizations.
− Zac Anderson
The vice president’s decision to host Kirk’s show in memoriam demonstrated the conservative activist’s influence in the White House.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said the 31-year-old activist was a huge influence in shaping federal policy after the election, visiting the transition team every day, starting early and staying late.
“Volunteering his time to get into the weeds, the nitty gritty of government,” said Miller, adding that they discussed “every executive order, every new regulation, every new policy plan.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Kirk was the “primary architect” of his “unification” with Trump. Vance said Kirk was instrumental in getting him on the Trump ticket, saying “If it weren’t for Charlie Kirk, I would not be Vice President of the United States.”
The movement of young conservatives that Kirk led, Turning Point USA, has roughly 900 chapters on college campuses and its high school initiative, Club America, has about 1,200, said Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show.”
There are roughly 24,000 high schools in America, and Kirk wanted a chapter in every one, Kolvet told Vance. After Kirk’s death, there have been 37,000 applications to start chapters, Kolvet added.
“It almost brings a tear to your eye,” he said.
In response to Kirk’s assassination, Vance and top White House aide Stephen Miller vowed to target left-wing organizations and networks they accused of stoking political violence.
“We have to talk about this incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years, and I believe, is part of the reason why Charlie was killed by an assassin’s bullet,” Vance said as he hosted “The Charlie Kirk Show.”
Vance said the Trump administration plans to “go after” non-government organizations, or NGOs, that support violence – not free speech. Miller said the Trump administration is going to target left-wing groups he said have organized doxxing campaigns and riots.
Miller vowed to use “every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government” to disrupt such groups.
– Joey Garrison
Vance remembered the late Kirk as a “joyful warrior for our country” as the vice president hosted “The Charlie Kirk Show” on Monday just days after the conservative activist was killed by an assassin.
“He loved America. He devoted himself tirelessly to making our country a better place,” Vance said as he spoke from the vice president’s office at the White House.
– Joey Garrison
Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah said Monday that the newspaper fired her over her social media posts following Kirk’s assassination.
Writing on Substack, Attiah said that she was “being silenced” for posts focused on gun control and race following Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10. She said she referenced Kirk in just one post on Bluesky.
In it, Attiah shared a screenshot of a quote in which Kirk said several prominent Black women, including former First Lady Michelle Obama, did “not have (the) brain processing power to be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot.”
“As a columnist, I used my voice to defend freedom and democracy, challenge power and reflect on culture and politics with honesty and conviction,” Attiah wrote on Substack. “Now, I am the one being silenced − for doing my job.”
In a series of posts, the Washington Post Guild condemned the firing, calling it a wrong and saying that they would stand with her.
The Washington Post declined to comment.
– Fernando Cervantes, Jr.
A Texas Tech University student has been arrested after authorities say she got into a fight with classmates mourning Kirk’s death.
Video footage circulating on social media reportedly shows the 18-year-old female student chanting at people attending a vigil for Kirk on Friday, Sept. 12. “(Expletive), y’all homie dead, he got shot in the head,” the woman is heard saying in the video.
The woman was booked on a simple assault charge and released the following day on bond, Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Tracie Manthei told USA TODAY.
The woman, who USA TODAY is not naming because the charge she’s facing is a misdemeanor, is no longer enrolled at the university, reported KCBD-TV and KTSM-TV, citing a statement from the university.
The university said in a post on X that “any behavior that denigrates victims of violence is reprehensible, has no place on our campus, and is not aligned with our values.”
− Natalie Neysa Alund
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Robinson had expressed his intention to commit an act of violence against Kirk before the shooting and said the incident was “clearly an ideologically motivated attack.”
“I think it’s pretty clear based on the statements of family members, friends and some of the messaging we have on the digital footprints that he clearly had some obsession with Charlie Kirk,” Bongino said Monday on Fox News.
“Charlie Kirk is obviously a conservative commentator. That’s no secret, so while I don’t want to speak in advance and jeopardize the case, I think it’s fairly obvious to everyone out there, and there’s no need to parse words with it, that this was clearly an ideologically motivated attack,” Bongino added.
FBI officials and the governor of Utah have said Robinson held a “leftist ideology” and had become increasingly political in recent years. Authorities have not provided additional details about Robinson’s ideology, but said their claims are based on interviews with those close to Robinson and his online messages.
FBI Director Kash Patel will appear before members of Congress this week and is expected to field questions about the highly scrutinized investigation into Kirk’s killing.
Much of the criticism against the FBI centers around conflicting statements released to the public in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Hours after the killing, Patel took to X to proclaim that a “subject” was in custody. The alleged shooter, however, remained at large and wasn’t brought into custody until his father turned him in the next day.
Patel in a Fox News appearance on Monday, defended the FBI and himself. He directly addressed his initial post on X, which many took to mean Kirk’s alleged killer was in custody.
“Could I have worded it a little better in the heat of the moment? Sure. But do I regret putting it out? Absolutely not,” Patel said on “Fox & Friends.” “I was telling the world what the FBI was doing as we were doing it, and I am continuing to do that. And I challenge anyone out there to find a director that has been more transparent … than we have been.”
President Donald Trump over the weekend expressed his support of Patel, saying in an appearance on Fox News that “I’m very proud of the FBI. Kash and everyone else … have done a great job.”
Vance said he will host “The Charlie Kirk Show” on Monday as a tribute to his friend and close political ally.
“Tomorrow, I will have the honor of hosting the Charlie Kirk Show. Please join me as I pay tribute to my friend,” Vance said on X.
Kirk championed Vance to be Trump’s running mate ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Last week, after the assassination, Vance and his wife, Usha, met with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City, Utah, and flew with them on Air Force Two as Kirk’s casket was brought home to Arizona.
Cox, while speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said Robinson had a “leftist ideology” and was at some point “radicalized.”
The governor said while Robinson has not been cooperative, investigators have spoken with his family and his live-in partner, who Cox described as transitioning from male to female. Cox said the roommate had “no idea that this was happening” and has so far been helpful to the investigation. When asked about whether Robinson’s partner was linked to a potential motive, Cox expressed caution.
“We’re trying to figure it out. I know everybody wants to know exactly why and point the finger. And I totally get that. I do too,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I just want to be careful, as I haven’t read all of the interview transcripts.”
Cox did not detail Robinson’s political views in detail, but he offered more information about the time between when Robinson dropped out of college and when he was arrested in connection with the gruesome killing.
The governor said Robinson spent much of his time online, playing video games and interacting with people on message boards. He said the suspect was actively engaged in the “deep, dark internet.”
Contributing: Davis Winkie; Reuters
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