Vice President JD Vance opened up about the heartbreaking behind-the-scenes moment at the White House when President Donald Trump and others in the Oval Office learned Charlie Kirk was dead.
During his interview Wednesday on “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Vance revealed where he was when he learned the Turning Point USA founder - his friend - was shot and the events that followed before the public learned of the devastating news. It was his first interview since Kirk was assassinated while he was speaking to college kids on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10 by suspected killer Tyler Robinson, who law enforcement said was influenced by leftist ideology.
🚨NEW: Vice President JD Vance tells us the moment the White House found out about Charlie Kirk’s Assassination 🚨
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) September 18, 2025
“It kind of hit me like, oh my God, this is very real.”
“I was the person who walked into the Oval Office and said, Mr. President, I'm sorry, but Charlie passed,… pic.twitter.com/0UMZjIlCMT
READ MORE: JD Vance Breaks Down Talking About Charlie Kirk's Legacy, and Why He Could Never 'Fill In' for Him
“I was in my office in the West Wing..and I had just finished a meeting with somebody, and I looked at my phone and there were a bunch of group chats,” Vance said. “Frankly, a lot of them Charlie was in, where they said ‘Charlie praying for you, brother. Hope you're doing okay.’ And I opened up my door and somebody said ‘Charlie’s been shot.’”
“And it kind of hit me like, oh my God, this is very real. This is very real. This is very serious,” he added before he shared how his body guy knew Kirk’s body guy and kept them updated about Kirk’s status. “The news was dicomobulated, no one knew what was really happening. It was a very chaotic moment. But there was a brief period where we were getting good reports from the hospital. I saw the initial video. I have only seen it one time. I refuse to watch it again….I initially thought terrible, terrible news. And then I started thinking kind of hopeful.”
Vance said they then got the news from his body guy that Charlie had passed.
“Probably an hour before the rest of the world found out,” the VP said. “And I was the person who walked into the Oval Office and said, Mr. President, I'm sorry, but Charlie passed, and that was a very, very tough moment. Susie Wiles, the White House Chief of Staff, was in tears. And she doesn’t show emotion. And I just gave Susie a hug, and I think all of us just kind of lost it. It felt like we were all mourning our friend.”
When pressed by the host about how President Trump reacted when he told him Charlie was gone, Vance shared how Trump got quiet.
“He was clearly upset,” the VP said. “He just kind of went quiet and let it absorb a little bit. And then just shook his head and said, ‘Man, he was a good guy. And we really loved him.’ And that’s exactly right. That’s a good thing to say. And we all just had that same realization.”
ALSO: There Is No Unity …': JD Vance Brings Receipts About Leftist Violence After Charlie Kirk's Murder
At one point, Vance nearly broke down talking about carrying Kirk’s casket home on Air Force Two after the murder.
🚨 JUST IN: Vice President JD Vance gets EMOTIONAL telling us the moment he brought Charlie Kirk’s casket back to his wife, Erika 🚨
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) September 18, 2025
“I want to try to keep it together here… As sad and as heartbreaking, and as difficult as it was emotionally, I just kept on thinking what an… pic.twitter.com/Ok78OXn5CO
“I want to try to keep it together here… As sad and as heartbreaking, and as difficult as it was emotionally, I just kept on thinking what an incredible thing it is to be able to take my friend back to Phoenix,” Vance said. “It was tough, man. I still… I had this moment a couple days ago where I whip out my phone type in Charlie Kirk on Signal. I get halfway through a text message before I realize he’s not here anymore.”
“And it just gave me this sense of resolve that they put Charlie in this box. They put him in this box for doing the most American thing possible, which is debating and talking to people,” he added. “Even the people, maybe especially the people with whom we disagree, and we can not let this incredible legacy get extinguished by an assassin.”
So, as we were all sitting by our screens waiting to report if he was going to make it, the White House knew an hour before that he was gone. Vance's interview is a rare glimpse into the people leading this country, and his words show a sharp contrast compared to the disgusting, evil things we have seen from leaders on the left.
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