JD Vance Issues Tear-Jerking Tribute To ‘True Friend’ Charlie Kirk

A 1,000-word social media post by Vice President J.D. Vance has broken the hearts of Charlie Kirk’s fans everywhere after the MAGA leader recalled the time they traded family stories, good-natured ribbing, and their hopes for the Republican Party.

Shortly before midnight on Wednesday, Vance shared the memory of first hearing from Kirk after appearing as a contributor on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program.

It was “that moment of kindness” that “began a friendship that lasted until today,” he wrote.

Kirk was horrifically gunned down on Wednesday while speaking at a Utah college campus, one stop in his nationwide tour to open a channel of dialogue between America’s youthful right and left. His killer is still at large after the FBI and local police briefly detained two suspects.

“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,” Vance continued.

“When others were right, he learned from them. When he was right–as he usually was–he was generous. With Charlie, the attitude was never, ‘I told you so.’ But: ‘welcome.'”

When Vance first considered an improbable run for U.S. Senate, Kirk was among the first to receive his call, he revealed.

“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,” Vance stated, adding that Kirk was the one who introduced him to members of the Trump family for the first time.

“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 to.”

“Long before I ever committed (even in my mind) to running, Charlie had me speak to his donors at a TPUSA event. He walked me around the room and introduced me. He gave me honest feedback on my remarks. He had no reason to do this, no expectation that I’d go anywhere. I was polling, at that point, well below 5 percent. He did it because we were friends, and because he was a good man.”

When Vance became the GOP nominee for vice president, it hit his young children especially hard as they struggled to adapt to public life. Kirk shared all the ways his own young family learned to cope with him being at the helm of Turning Point USA for years.

“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,” Vance said. “He wasn’t just a thinker, he was a doer, turning big ideas into bigger events with thousands of activists. And after every event, he would give me a big hug, tell me he was praying for me, and ask me what he could do.”

“Now that Charlie is in heaven, I’ll ask him to talk to the big man directly on behalf of his family, his friends, and the country he loved so dearly.”

“You ran a good race, my friend.”

“We’ve got it from here.”