The man is gone, but the fire he lit still burns.
So wrote Vice President J.D. Vance in a post on X as he reached back into his years of friendship with conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down in Utah on Wednesday while trying to pass on the fire of conservatism to a new generation.
Vance initially offered a prayer when news of Kirk’s death broke, writing on X, “Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord.”
Later, he reflected on the long journey he made from the edges of politics to its core, walking with Kirk every step of the way.
“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 wrote.
“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 moving American politics away from the globalism that had dominated for our entire lives,” he wrote.
Vance revealed that when he first considered putting his tow in the waters of politics in 2021, in what would become his successful campaign to win the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat and then the general election, he went to Kirk for advice.
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.…
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 11, 2025
“When I became the VP nominee — something Charlie advocated for both in public and private — Charlie was there for me,” he said.
Vance said that beyond issues, Kirk understood the impact of the political spotlight on family.
“I was so glad to be part of the president’s team, but candidly surprised by the effect it had on our family. Our kids, especially our oldest, struggled with the attention and the constant presence of the protective detail. I felt this acute sense of guilt, that I had conscripted my kids into this life without getting their permission. And Charlie was constantly calling and texting, checking on our family and offering guidance and prayers,” he wrote.
Kirk, Vance wrote, “wasn’t just a thinker, he was a doer, turning big ideas into bigger events with thousands of activists.”
Faith was at the core of Kirk’s life, Vance wrote.
“Charlie genuinely believed in and loved Jesus Christ. 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,” he wrote.
Vance noted that Kirk never shied away from confronting those with different ideas.
“Someone else pointed out that Charlie died doing what he loved: discussing ideas. He would go into these hostile crowds and answer their questions. If it was a friendly crowd, and a progressive asked a question to jeers from the audience, he’d encourage his fans to calm down and let everyone speak,”
“He exemplified a foundational virtue of our Republic: the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas. Charlie had an uncanny ability to know when to push the envelope and when to be more conventional. I’ve seen people attack him for years for being wrong on this or that issue publicly, never realizing that privately he was working to broaden the scope of acceptable debate,” he wrote.
Kirk “was a great family man,” Vance wrote, adding “Charlie really loved his family. The president was right. Charlie was so proud of Erika and the two kids. He was so happy to be a father. And he felt such gratitude for having found a woman of God with whom he could build a family.”
“Charlie Kirk was a true friend. The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him” he wrote, noting that Kirk and he were on group chats where keeping private thoughts private was essential.
“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene. He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government,” he wrote.
Vance recalled how he heard of Kirk’s tragic death.
“I was in a meeting in the West Wing when those group chats started lighting up with people telling Charlie they were praying for him. And that’s how I learned the news that my friend had been shot. I prayed a lot over the next hour, as first good news and then bad trickled in. 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,” he wrote.
“You ran a good race, my friend. We’ve got it from here,” Vance wrote.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
