Vice President JD Vance stressed on Wednesday that America cannot allow discussion and debate to “pass away” after the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Vance spoke about the importance of public discourse at the Hatch Stamping Plant in Howell, Michigan.
“I would like to think that whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, this basic idea of young people gathering to discuss and debate, that is the thing that we cannot let pass away just because the leader of Turning Point USA was gunned down by an assassin,” Vance said.
“I want to let you know that whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, whatever your belief is, I will fight for your right to speak your mind,” he added. “We reject political violence, and we reject the crazy left-wing radicals that gunned down our friend Charlie Kirk. Let’s talk to one another and not try to shoot each other down for disagreeing.”
WATCH — Charlie Kirk Never Stopped Talking to People Who He Absolutely Disagreed With:
Vance also hailed Kirk as more than a political activist, but a “good guy” and “good friend” before highlighting the tremendous legacy he has built in Turning Point USA and the home it has provided for countless young conservatives around the country:
I mean, all of these people who’ve been involved in TPUSA, you know, Turning Point USA wasn’t just a debate society. It wasn’t just a political organization. It gave these kids a sense of home and a sense of purpose in often very hostile places. If you were a young conservative or you were a young Christian and you were worried that a professor might give you a bad grade for being who you were, Charlie’s Turning Point USA gave you a home. If you were worried that you had an idea that was maybe disfavored by your social group, if you were worried that you believed something that was just a little too controversial for a college campus, Turning Point USA gave you a home, it gave you friends, it gave you moral support, and that is what I think must live on in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death. I have friends who met a husband, a wife, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, who met the best man at their wedding at Turning Point USA because it was an organization of patriots dedicated to making this country the very best country that it could be.
Vance will attend Sunday’s memorial service for Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, as will President Donald Trump.
WATCH — “Charlie Kirk Is a Martyr for Free Speech and America”:
Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University last Wednesday at an event billed as part of his “Prove Me Wrong” roundtable, the purpose of which is to promote public discourse. Per authorities, the alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, wrote in a message to his transgender boyfriend after Kirk’s assassination that he did it because he had “had enough of [Kirk’s] hatred.”
“I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out,” he wrote in the message. “If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven’t seen anything about them finding it.”
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