Vance to Visit Family, Friends of Charlie Kirk After Assassination

Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, will meet with Charlie Kirk’s family and a number of his close friends in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told The Daily Signal.

Air Force Two will then fly Kirk’s casket, along with his family and friends, to Phoenix, Arizona, the source said.

Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated on Wednesday at a rally at Utah Valley University.

The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of the gunman, who remains at large.

Vance shared on the social media platform X that he first interacted with Kirk when the conservative youth organizer reached out in 2017 to congratulate him on a well-done media interview. Vance said “that moment of kindness began a friendship that lasted until today.”

“Charlie Kirk was a true friend,” Vance said. “The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him. I am on more than a few group chats with Charlie and people he introduced me to over the years. We celebrate weddings and babies, bust each other’s chops, and mourn the loss of loved ones. We talk about politics and policy and sports and life.”

Vance applauded Kirk’s strong faith in God and devotion to his wife, Erika, and their two young children.

“Charlie genuinely believed in and loved Jesus Christ,” Vance said. “He had a profound faith. We used to argue about Catholicism and Protestantism and who was right about minor doctrinal questions. Because he loved God, he wanted to understand him.”

“You ran a good race, my friend,” the vice president said. “We’ve got it from here.”