On this September 11th, a day when Americans unite to remember our fallen, Vice President JD Vance faced a terrible choice between two sacred duties. Some moments demand we honor the past. Others call us to stand with people suffering right now. Which would you choose?
Today, Vance chose the present. And I’ll tell you why that matters.
The Vice President and Second Lady Usha Vance will travel to Salt Lake City instead of New York’s Ground Zero. They’re going to pay respects to Charlie Kirk’s family. Kirk, the conservative icon, was assassinated Wednesday during a campus event at Utah Valley University. He was shot in the neck while conducting his “Prove Me Wrong” tour—an initiative dedicated to open dialogue between left and right on college campuses. Let that sink in. A man promoting peaceful debate was murdered for it.
A Friendship Forged in Battle
The depth of Vance’s grief becomes clear in his moving tribute to Kirk. This wasn’t just politics. This was real friendship that began with simple kindness back in 2017.
From ‘The Post Millennial’:
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. 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.
That friendship helped Vance win his Senate race. Kirk introduced him to campaign staff and Donald Trump Jr. He stood by Vance when polls showed him below 5 percent. “He did it because we were friends, and because he was a good man,” Vance wrote. You know what takes real guts? Standing by your friends when everyone counts them out.
The Price of Free Speech
Here’s what’s sick about this whole thing. Kirk died promoting the exact civil discourse his killer wanted to silence. His events welcomed tough questions. He encouraged real debate. Think about that for a second. What kind of monster shoots someone for talking?
Reports say they found a weapon near the scene. It had “Trantifa ideology” written on the ammunition. While cops hunt for the college-aged suspect who blended into the campus crowd, the message is crystal clear. The left doesn’t want debate anymore. They want blood.
Kirk’s Christian faith kept him going through years of campus hate. Vance recalled their talks about God, noting “Because he loved God, he wanted to understand him.” That faith gave Kirk courage to walk into hostile crowds. To answer hard questions with grace instead of anger. Is this what the left means by “tolerance”?
President Trump will award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom after his death. As conservatives gather at vigils from Seattle to Salt Lake City, we’re not just mourning a leader. We’re mourning a brother who showed us how to fight with words, not violence. On this day of remembrance, Vance’s choice reminds us something important. Honoring the fallen means standing with their families—whether they fell twenty-four years ago or yesterday.
Key Takeaways
- VP Vance skipped 9/11 memorial to comfort Charlie Kirk’s grieving family
- Kirk was assassinated promoting civil dialogue at a college campus event
- The killer targeted Kirk specifically, with radical leftist ideology on ammunition
- President Trump will award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously
Sources: The Post Millennial, The Washington Post
