JD Vance and Erica Kirk speak at Turning Point USA event at Ole Miss.
Vice Presidents J.D. Vance and Erica Kirk spoke at the Turning Point USA event at Ole Miss, praising Charlie Kirk’s lasting impact.
OXFORD, MI — Vice President J.D. Vance told a packed crowd at the Turning Point USA event on Oct. 29 that the man who murdered conservative activist Charlie Kirk “wanted more than anything to invest in something worth having.”
Vance and Kirk’s widow, Erica Kirk, spoke at the University of Mississippi as part of their “This Is the Turning Point” tour, one of the first major events the group has held since Kirk’s death last month. Charlie Kirk founded this organization.
Kirk’s death has reignited a national debate over free speech, campus safety, and political violence.
Mr. Vance began by talking about his message to young people to build a family of commentators. The vice president then took questions in the debate format that has earned him his reputation as the founder of Turning Point.
“He wasn’t just a guy who walked around campus and said very interesting things,” Vance said. “He had the best advice, especially for young people in this country. Charlie wanted you to… build a life worth building.”
Erica Kirk was first on stage, recalling the memory of her murdered husband and his Christian faith.
Among the first issues students raised were questions about immigration and data collection by technology companies.
Attendance at the Oxford stop has drawn attention from political observers on campus and across the state. University officials said they expected large numbers of spectators to gather around the venue and increased safety measures. Counter-protests have also been organized on or near campus by students and community members concerned about the group’s rhetoric and recent tensions on campus.
Vance dismisses prepared remarks, says instead ‘speaks from the heart’
Vice President Vance took the stage in front of a roaring crowd and paid tribute to Charlie Kirk, saying he would “speak from the heart.”
Mr. Vance spoke for about 20 minutes, touching on faith, family and free speech, while encouraging students to “fall in love, get married and start families” and get involved in politics to “save America.”
The vice president said Kirk, a “dear friend,” is a “good man” who inspires young conservatives to stand up for their beliefs, and said protecting free expression on college campuses is central to his mission.
Charlie Kirk’s widow Erica Kirk takes the stage
Erica Kirk took to the stage just after 6:30 p.m. to pay a touching tribute to her late husband and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Wearing a white “Freedom” shirt, she spoke about his legacy on campus, urging students to “stand up for freedom,” and said the group’s ongoing campus tours have been a form of healing for her since his death.
Since her husband was killed, Kirk has vowed to continue spreading the commentators’ message and vowing that her organization will continue to exist.
“They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and the love of God,” she emotionally said in her first speech on September 12. “They all know this. If you thought my husband’s mission was ever powerful, you have no idea. You have no idea what you have unleashed on this country and this world.”
Student reactions to Vance-led Turning Point events
Thousands of people streamed out of the university’s arena after the event.
“As a political science student, I definitely want to look at him again and look at this whole event again,” Anne Charles Sutton, a freshman at the university, said of Vance. “The way he put together his arguments was very smooth and effortless, and that’s something I want to learn from, because he said things very matter-of-factly and was able to come up with his ideas and formulate them rhetorically very well.”
Freshman Ellie Van Rossum said she and her friends had tickets to the event before Kirk was shot and killed during a visit to Utah State’s campus.
“We wanted to see that, the videos, the debates,” she said. “But…the speakers were really great and we just wanted to see what people thought.”
Progressive student group holds town hall nearby
A coalition of progressive student organizations was holding a town hall event a few minutes walk from where Vance and Kirk spoke.
More than 100 people gathered in the university’s student union ballroom for the Mississippi Rise Up Town Hall, where several politicians spoke, including U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat. When asked what she would say to Vance, Khanna said she would tell Vance that he seemed to have forgotten his values.
“He grew up empathizing with people who have been screwed over by the economic system,” Khanna said. “He seems to have forgotten all about that. And he’s part of an administration that is denying health care and SNAP benefits to the very people he wrote about and grew up with.”
James M. Thomas, an Ole Miss University professor who is on the Turning Point watch list for professors believed to have anti-conservative bias, also spoke at the event. Thomas said he has received death threats since being placed on the list.
“Many of us who end up on this watch list become targets of harassment campaigns,” Thomas said. “These campaigns include voicemails and emails calling for our termination. They include threats of violence, they include revealing our own addresses, and they include death threats… For an organization that aims to foster the free exchange of ideas, Turning Point’s Faculty Watchlist does much more than that.”
