While he longs for unity among Americans, Vice President JD Vance said Monday no unity can exist as long as the “radical left” and Democrats espouse and incite violence.
Vance hosted the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s podcast on Monday saying that some Democrats and former Senate colleagues reached out to him to express condolences and called for unity. Vance, a close friend of Kirk’s, said, “I’m so thankful and I know there are so many like them all across our great country. I am desperate to wrap my arms around them as we all unite to condemn political violence and the ideas that cause it.”
He cited Psalm 1:33 from the Bible, which says, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head,” saying he has “craved that precious ointment in recent days.”
While he believes unity is possible, “first we must tell the truth,” he said. “There are difficult truths we must confront in our country,” he said, citing polls that show 24% of self-described “very liberal” Americans believe it is acceptable to be happy about the death of a political opponent and 26% of young liberals believe political violence is sometimes justified.
“The data is clear. People on the Left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence. This is not a both sides problem. If both sides have a problem, one side has a much bigger and malignant problem,” which has had “terrible consequences,” he said. They include two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump, one that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise barely survived, and Kirk’s assassination, which didn’t “come from nowhere.”
He said political violence is being funded by donors supporting activists, reporters, social media influencers and politicians. While the majority of them aren’t committing murder, many are celebrating murder, he said. “Many of these people are creating an environment where things like this [political violence] are inevitably going to happen.”
Vance described a situation where his children were shouted at by a “deranged” women on the political Left. “While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far Left,” he said.
He also described how after Kirk’s assassination, “left-leaning operatives” encouraged neighbors to harass a senior White House staffer. “While he was mourning his dead friend, he and his wife had to worry about the political terrorists drawing a big target on the home he shares with his young children. Are these people violent? I hope not, but are they guilty of encouraging violence? You damn well better believe it,” Vance said.
While “most Democrats don’t share these attitudes,” he said, “something has gone very wrong with a lunatic fringe, a minority, but a growing and powerful minority on the far Left.
“There is no unity with people who scream at children over their parents’ politics. There is no unity with someone who lies about what Charlie Kirk said in order to excuse his murder.
“There is no unity with the people who celebrate Charlie Kirk’s assassination, and there is no unity with the people who fund articles, who pay the salaries of these terrorist sympathizers who argue that Charlie Kirk, a loving husband and father, deserved a shot to the neck because he spoke words with which they disagree.”
Vance also said billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundation and the Ford Foundation, among others, are funding reporters writing articles justifying Kirk’s death, saying they also “benefit from generous tax treatment” through federal subsidies.
“I’m desperate for our country to be united,” he said, but “We can only have it with people who acknowledge that political violence is unacceptable, and when we work to dismantle the institutions that promote violence and terrorism in our own country.” The Trump administration is taking action towards this end, he said, however, he encouraged Americans to call out those celebrating political assassination.
“We don’t believe in political violence, but we do believe in civility and there is no civility in the celebration of political assassination,” he said.
The best way to honor Kirk’s legacy “is to shine the light of truth like a torch in the very darkest places,” Vance said. “We owe it to our friend to ensure that his killer is not just prosecuted but punished. And the worst punishment is not the death penalty, but the knowledge that Charlie’s mission continues after he’s gone.”
