Vice President JD Vance pulled out of a ceremony commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York City on Thursday.
Instead, Vance and second lady Usha Vance will travel to Salt Lake City to pay respects to the family of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a source familiar with the plan told The Washington Post. Kirk, a close friend of Vance, died at the age of 31 on Wednesday after he was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley University.
Several other Trump administration officials, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, will still attend the event in New York to commemorate those who died in the 2001 terror attacks, according to CNN. Trump will speak at memorial services at the Pentagon before later traveling to New York to attend a Yankees game.
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Kirk, a hugely influential figure in the MAGA movement, was killed after a gunman opened fire while he was speaking at his “American Comeback Tour” event on the Utah campus.
A manhunt is still underway for the person responsible for killing Kirk. Two people arrested in the aftermath were ruled to have “no current ties” to the shooting and were released.
Vance was among the wave of Republican figures who paid tribute to Kirk following his death. The vice president also praised the Turning Point USA founder’s work within the MAGA movement.
“Charlie Kirk was a true friend. The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him,” Vance wrote in a lengthy tribute on X.
“And because he was a true friend‚ you could instinctively trust the people Charlie introduced you to. So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,“ Vance added.
“He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”
The vice president said that Kirk also had an “uncanny ability to know when to push the envelope and when to be more conventional.”
“I’ve seen people attack him for years for being wrong on this or that issue publicly, never realizing that privately he was working to broaden the scope of acceptable debate,” he said.
Vance and Kirk appeared onstage together in January at the Turning Point USA Inaugural-Eve Ball in Washington, D.C., held on the eve of President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
Trump also paid his respects to his top ally Kirk following his death.
“Charlie Kirk traveled the nation, joyfully engaging with everyone interested in good faith debate,” Trump said in a video message recorded from the Oval Office.
“His mission was to bring young people into the political process, which he did better than anybody ever, to share his love of country and to spread the simple words of common sense on campuses nationwide. He championed his ideas with courage, logic, humor, and grace.”
