Vice President JD Vance, together with another senior member of President Donald Trump’s team, said Monday that honoring Charlie Kirk’s memory requires taking action against progressive organizations they accuse of working to weaken the country.
Vance, who stepped in to host Kirk’s livestream program after the conservative leader’s assassination last week during an appearance before college students, echoed demands from the right for a broad campaign against left-wing groups.
Appearing as a guest on the broadcast, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller recalled that Kirk’s final message to him urged an organized strategy to confront such groups, which he accused of spreading violence. Miller vowed that the administration would mobilize the federal government fully in that mission.
“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.”
Later, in a press briefing, Miller indicated that the administration was considering prosecutions against what he described as a web of nonprofit groups allegedly tied to organizing assaults on police, publishing personal information, and providing supplies for riots. He offered no concrete proof to support those claims.
The comments from Vance and Miller marked the strongest signal yet of what measures the White House may take in the wake of Kirk’s killing. For days, critics have warned that Trump could exploit the tragedy to move against his political opponents under the guise of public safety.
Authorities still do not have a clear motive for the alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson, who fatally shot Kirk last Wednesday. Police reported finding four bullet casings etched with cryptic references to memes and gaming culture, though specialists stressed they did not point to any political ideology.
Many conservative groups have pressed the administration to pursue more than just criminal charges against Robinson.
During his two-hour stint hosting The Charlie Kirk Show, Vance singled out two well-known philanthropic organizations: the Open Society Foundations, funded by George Soros, and the Ford Foundation. He accused them of underwriting an article in The Nation magazine critical of Kirk, though both foundations denied current financial ties to the outlet.
“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.”
Elizabeth Spiers, author of the article titled Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning, responded that her piece had clearly rejected any notion of violence, writing that “no one should ever be killed for their views.” She suggested Vance had either misunderstood her article or had deliberately twisted her words to inflame tensions and target her personally.
In the article, Spiers had described Kirk as “an unrepentant racist, transphobe, homophobe, and misogynist who often wrapped his bigotry in Bible verses because there was no other way to pretend that it was morally correct.”
Kirk’s record has long divided opinion. Civil rights advocates have pointed to numerous remarks he made about Black people, immigrants, Muslims, women, and LGBT individuals, which they denounced as offensive and discriminatory. Admirers, by contrast, hailed him as a passionate Christian leader who fearlessly tackled controversial topics, and they credit him with mobilizing large numbers of younger voters in support of Trump.
In response to Vance’s accusations, a spokesperson for the Open Society Foundations called them “disgraceful,” emphasizing that the group’s activities are “entirely peaceful and lawful.” The Ford Foundation also issued a statement clarifying that it awarded The Nation a single grant back in 2019 and does not presently support the publication.
For its part, The Nation defended Spiers’ essay and its broader editorial stance. “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 magazine said.
{Matzav.com}
