JD and Usha Vance will travel to Salt Lake City on Thursday to pay their respects to the family of Charlie Kirk, according to a person familiar with the vice president’s plans.
The Vances were originally scheduled to visit Ground Zero in New York City for a ceremony commemorating the 24th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks. They will no longer be in attendance, the person said, following Kirk’s killing Wednesday, which has rocked the country and roiled the party. The vice president is not expected to hold any public events.
Kirk and JD Vance were friends and allies within President Donald Trump’s political movement, and as Kirk through his advocacy worked to secure the next generation of MAGA leaders, he made clear that he hoped Vance would one day take its mantle. Once Vance ascended to the White House, they spoke regularly.
Vance eulogized Kirk in a nearly 1,000-word X post late Tuesday.
“Charlie Kirk was a true friend,” Vance wrote. “The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him. I am on more than a few group chats with Charlie and people he introduced me to over the years. We celebrate weddings and babies, bust each other’s chops, and mourn the loss of loved ones. We talk about politics and policy and sports and life.”
Kirk had been one of the first people the vice president called when he considered running for Senate in 2021, JD Vance wrote, adding that Kirk had introduced him to donors, some of the people who ran his eventual campaign, and Donald Trump Jr., who has remained a member of the vice president’s inner circle.
Kirk was also a major force behind the president’s decision to name Vance as his running mate. In his post to social media, the vice president said Kirk had “advocated for” him “both in public and private.” Once JD Vance became Trump’s running mate, he wrote, “Charlie was constantly calling and texting, checking on our family and offering guidance and prayers.”