JD Vance Says He Would Not Be VP If It Weren’t For Charlie Kirk
Vice President J.D. Vance delivered a powerful tribute to the late Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, crediting the Turning Point USA founder with shaping a conservative youth movement that helped propel President Donald Trump and himself to victory in 2024.
Speaking from a precision metal stamping facility in Howell, Michigan, Vance addressed a crowd of young conservative activists and TPUSA supporters while outlining the Trump administration’s tax policies. But the vice president made clear that Kirk’s legacy was top of mind.
“We love these kids and we love the organization that was founded by Charlie Kirk,” Vance said. “Turning Point USA has not just been an organization, it has been the fountain of a movement all across the United States of America.”
Vance praised Kirk’s decade-long work organizing conservative college students and mobilizing young voters, saying it was critical to flipping key electoral demographics in 2024.
“If you look at just the youth vote in 2024 and how much young voters shifted from Democrat to Republican from 2020 to 2024, Charlie Kirk created a movement and that movement made Donald J. Trump the President of the United States and it made me the Vice President of the United States,” he said. “I would not be here without Charlie.”
?JD Vance credits TPUSA & Charlie Kirk for getting Trump elected:
“Charlie Kirk created a movement, and that movement made Donald J. Trump the POTUS and it made me the Vice President…I would not be here without Charlie.” pic.twitter.com/FKYbTgf7jj
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 17, 2025
While Vice President Kamala Harris did retain a majority of the youth vote in 2024, data showed a major swing in Trump’s direction. Among voters aged 18 to 29, 56% of men and 40% of women supported Trump, up significantly from his 2020 totals of 41% and 33% respectively, according to Tufts Now. Much of that shift has been attributed to grassroots organizing by Kirk and Turning Point USA.
In the days since Kirk’s assassination in Utah, Vance has played a key role in honoring his memory. He arranged for Kirk’s casket to be transported from Utah to Arizona aboard Air Force Two and even guest-hosted “The Charlie Kirk Show” earlier this week.
During the episode, Vance pushed back hard against attempts to equate conservative activism with political violence, calling it a “false equivalence” pushed by the Left.
“Charlie stood for peace, debate, and principle,” Vance said. “The people who took him from us don’t want debate — they want submission. And we will not give it to them.”