Without slain conservative leader Charlie Kirk's behind-the-scenes presence in Republican politics, many of the right's most influential figures would not be where they are today, including Vice President JD Vance, said Erika Donalds, Center for Education Opportunity chair at the America First Policy Institute, on Newsmax, Tuesday.
Vance, who first met Kirk in 2017, guest hosted Kirk's show on Monday, identifying himself as "a longtime friend" of the assassinated Turning Point USA CEO. As he addressed the show's audience, Vance said that "if it weren't for Charlie Kirk, I would not be the vice president of the United States."
"What a tribute to Charlie for the vice president of the United States, who then credited Charlie Kirk for his position with [President] Donald Trump on the ticket, as many have done over the past few days," Donalds said on "National Report." "We saw at the vigil in D.C. [White House press secretary] Karoline Leavitt attributing her position and rise in politics to Charlie. Congresswoman [Anna Paulina] Luna also crediting Charlie for pulling her, within 24 hours of going to medical school, to now being one of the most prominent, especially young, figures in Congress."
"I think the world is finding out what those of us who knew him already knew," she continued. "And what an influence he was behind the scenes. Not looking for credit, but we're seeing that and hearing that and all of the figures and White House staff that were on the show yesterday with Vice President Vance. It was an incredible thing to watch."
Donalds also said that Kirk has "been vindicated in this moment" by the truth of his words that have been captured on video and made available on the internet "for anyone to see."
"What has been great about this past weekend is people who had listened to the left's rhetoric about him have gone on and actually heard his own words," she said. "And even in articles where they've tried to link to the rhetoric they accuse him of, he's not saying those things, and people are seeing the truth about him."
The people who are celebrating Kirk's murder with vitriolic comments "are being held accountable for their speech" in the public square, Donalds added.
"Not because we don't support their ability to say it, but that doesn't mean they can't say it without consequences," she said. "Every one of them deserves the ridicule that they are getting and to be shamed in the public square for maligning a good and decent man who was killed by an assassin's bullet and is now an American martyr forever."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.