Vice President JD Vance said he will host "The Charlie Kirk Show" at the White House on Monday as a way to honor his late friend. The eponymous show will be aired at noon, just days after Kirk was shot and killed while visiting a college campus in Utah, which sent shockwaves through Washington, D.C.
Vance and Kirk were close friends for several years—well before Vance even entered politics. He was also among the very first to pay tribute to Kirk after his death, even helping carry his coffin onto Air Force Two the day after the tragedy, as it made its way to Kirk's home state of Arizona.
Tribute to His Friend
Vance has now shared that he will step in behind the microphone to host the next episode of Charlie Kirk's podcast. Kirk's show had built a huge audience, reaching about 500,000 listeners each month and racking up more than 120 million downloads in 2024 alone.
Since his death, even more people have been drawn to his work, with thousands flocking to his social media pages to hear his political views and faith-based messages.
This comes after Kirk's wife Erika vowed that his legacy would live on through his podcast and his organization, Turning Point USA.
A funeral for the prominent conservative figure is set for next week. President Donald Trump has confirmed he will attend, adding that he spoke with Erika after the tragedy and described her as "devastated, absolutely devastated."
Emotional Farewell
Vance and Kirk first became friends back in 2017, years before Vance's meteoric rise to prominence in MAGA circles. "A while ago, probably in 2017, I appeared on Tucker Carlson's Fox show to talk about God knows what. Afterwards a name I barely knew sent me a DM on twitter and told me I did a great job. It was Charlie Kirk, and that moment of kindness began a friendship that lasted until today,' Vance revealed in his moving tribute.
"Charlie was one of the first people I called when I thought about running for senate in early 2021. I was interested but skeptical there was a pathway.
"We talked through everything, from the strategy to the fundraising to the grassroots of the movement he knew so well. He introduced me to some of the people who would run my campaign and also to Donald Trump Jr. 'Like his dad, he's misunderstood. He's extremely smart, and very much on our wavelength.' Don took a call from me because Charlie asked him too.
"When I became the VP nominee –– something Charlie advocated for both in public and private –– Charlie was there for me."
The vice president found out about Kirk being shot through a text message while he was in a West Wing meeting. Some of those messages came from group chats that Kirk himself was part of, with people sending prayers and support for him.
"God didn't answer those prayers, and that's OK. He had other plans. And now that Charlie is in heaven, I'll ask him to talk to big man directly on behalf of his family, his friends, and the country he loved so dearly," Vance wrote.
