U.S. Vice-President JD Vance hosted The Charlie Kirk Show on Monday and claimed “left-wing extremism” was “part of the reason” Charlie Kirk was shot and killed last week while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
During his opening monologue on the livestream, Vance said, “We have to make sure that the killer is brought to justice.”
“And importantly, we have to talk about this incredibly destructive moment of left-wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years and, I believe, is part of the reason why Charlie was killed by an assassin’s bullet.”
Vance, hosting from his ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House, encouraged listeners to respond to social media posts that mock Kirk or celebrate his death online.
“When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder, call them out. And hell, call their employer. We don’t believe in political violence, but we do believe in civility, and there is no civility in the celebration of political assassination,” Vance said.
Vance, who hosted the podcast for more than two hours, was joined by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who spoke about how the administration plans to take action against groups they say are promoting violence.
“We’re going to go after the network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence,” Vance said. “That’s not OK. Violence is not OK in our system, and we want to make it less likely that it happens again.”
Miller said Kirk’s final message to him had called for a coordinated effort against unnamed left-wing groups accused of promoting violence, pledging the federal government would use “every available resource” to dismantle them.
“It is a vast domestic terror movement, and with God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people,” he said. “It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.”
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Miller did not identify any specific groups on The Charlie Kirk Show, but Vance named two institutions: the Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation, accusing the philanthropic organizations of funding an article in The Nation magazine that he criticized. Both groups said they do not currently fund The Nation.
“I read a story in The Nation magazine about my dear friend Charlie Kirk,” Vance said during the podcast. “George Soros’ Open Society Foundation funds this magazine, as does the Ford Foundation and many other wealthy titans of the American progressive movement.”
“Charlie was gunned down in broad daylight, and well-funded institutions of the left lied about what he said so as to justify his murder. This is soulless and evil,” Vance added.
Elizabeth Spiers, who wrote the article headlined “Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning,” noted she “explicitly stated that no one should ever be killed for their views” in her article, and suggested Vance either misunderstood her piece or was deliberately misrepresenting her words to sow division and personally target her.
A spokesperson for the Open Society Foundations called Vance’s accusations “disgraceful” and said the group’s work is “entirely peaceful and lawful.”
“The Open Society Foundations have unequivocally condemned the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk. Our thoughts are with his family and all who are mourning his loss,” the foundation said in a statement. “A free and open society depends on people being able to express their views without fear of violence.”
“We are dedicated to upholding the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and strengthening democracy. We oppose all forms of violence and condemn the outrageous accusations to the contrary,” they added.
“It is disgraceful to use this tragedy for political ends to dangerously divide Americans and attack the First Amendment.”
The Open Society Foundations have unequivocally condemned the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk. Our thoughts are with his family and all who are mourning his loss.
A free and open society depends on people being able to express their views without fear of violence.
We are…
— Open Society Foundations (@OpenSociety) September 15, 2025
A spokesperson for the Ford Foundation told Reuters The Nation has received only a single grant, in 2019, and currently provides no funding to the outlet.
The Nation said it stood by Spiers’ critique of Kirk. “In our 160 years of publication, we’ve long believed that dissent is the highest form of patriotism and we are proud of our journalistic legacy in pursuit of a more equal and just world,” the publication added in a statement.
Charlie Kirk remembered by supporters across the U.S.
In his closing remarks on the podcast, Vance said he was “desperate” for the United States to be “united in condemnation of the actions and the ideas that killed my friend.”
“I want it so badly that I will tell you a difficult truth. We can only have it with people who acknowledge that political violence is unacceptable,” he said.
If we want to stop political violence like what happened to Charlie Kirk, we have to be honest about the people who are celebrating it and the people who are financing it.
My closing remarks on today's episode of the Charlie Kirk Show: pic.twitter.com/pEAqbAL3yr
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 15, 2025
Others who joined Vance on Kirk’s program were White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Earlier in the show, Vance spoke about his meeting with Kirk’s widow, Erika.
“The last several days have been extremely hard for our country,” Vance said. “He was a critical part of getting Donald Trump elected as president, getting me elected as vice president and so much of our success over the last seven months is due to his efforts — his staffing, his support and his friendship. I don’t think that I’m alone in saying that Charlie was the smartest political operative I ever met.”
When he met with Erika, Vance said he “had no idea what to say.”
“I didn’t try to console her, because how can you console a person who just lost a loving husband and father? But we just talked about Charlie. We talked about who he was, we talked about some of our favourite stories,” he added.
Last week, Vance accompanied Kirk’s casket as it arrived in his home state of Arizona aboard Air Force Two.
Vance honoured Kirk with the final flight and helped carry his casket with a group of uniformed service members as it was loaded onto the plane.
U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, right, second lady Usha Vance, centre, and Erika Kirk exit Air Force Two after landing at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Sept. 11, 2025.
AP Photo / Ross D. Franklin
— With files from The Associated Press and Reuters