Vice President JD Vance sounded like a presidential hopeful while honoring the legacy of his close friend, the late Charlie Kirk, stewarding the Christian conservative movement the latter helped build and lead in rousing remarks at Turning Point USA’s America Fest in Phoenix, Arizona.
Vance’s time on stage in Kirk’s home state was spent addressing the “infighting” taking place in the vacuum left after Kirk’s assassination this past September, redirecting political energy to coalesce around ideas and policies that would save and strengthen the country Kirk died fighting to preserve.
The speech, at times harkening to a presidential campaign – Erika Kirk remarked at the same conference on its opening day Vance would be their preferred candidate and help him get elected in 2028 – with calls to support him in exchange for “closed borders and safe communities” and at other times getting personal with fond remembrances of his kinship with the fallen warrior.
During his half-hour speech, Vance turned to the subject of debate within the conservative movement as many have jockeyed to fill the void left in Kirk’s death. “I know that some of you are impatient at the pace of progress, and my response to that is good. Be impatient. Use that desire for justice for your country as fuel to get involved in this movement in a bigger and better and more powerful way,” he remarked.
“I know some of you are discouraged by the infighting over any number of issues. Don’t be discouraged. Wouldn’t you rather lead a movement of free thinkers who sometimes disagree than a bunch of drones who take their orders from George Soros?” he then asked rhetorically, pointing out one of the many key differences between those on the left and the right.
The vice president then turned his attention to Charlie’s incredible impact on politics. “And I know many of you miss our dear friend, Charlie Kirk. So do I? I miss his optimism. I miss his energy. I miss the phone calls where we strategize about how to get this or that GOP congressman to get off their ass and do something.”
“But most of all, I miss Charlie’s wisdom. I miss this reminder that politics is not a dress rehearsal or a game. We are making decisions that will save our country and give the American people a shot at their dreams,” he said.
Vance closed out this portion of his speech with a call to action. “Again, if you miss Charlie Kirk, do you promise to fight what he died for? Do you promise to take the country back from the people who took his life? Do you promise to help defeat the radicals who cheered his death? Do you promise to honor his memory by having faith in the God he loves. My friends, commit to these things and I promise you victory. I promise you closed borders and safe communities. I promise you good jobs and a dignified life.”
“Only God can promise you salvation in heaven, but together, we can fulfill the promise of the greatest nation in the history of the Earth. Merry Christmas, my friends. Let’s keep fighting.” Watch what many have called the best speech from the event below:
Featured image: Screen shot from embedded video