Vice President JD Vance Thursday was set to journey to Utah to pay his respects to slain Charlie Kirk and skipped the 9/11 memorial at Floor Zero.
Vance and his spouse deliberate to fly to Salt Lake Metropolis to console Kirk’s widow, Erika, and their two kids as a substitute of attending the annual ceremony in decrease Manhattan marking the twenty fourth anniversary of the September 11 terror assaults in 2001.
“Charlie Kirk was a true friend,” Vance tweeted in a prolonged tribute. “The kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him.”
The veep’s choice to mourn Kirk as a substitute of attending the 9/11 rites underlines the load the White Home and the MAGA motion place on the homicide.
President Donald Trump and first woman Melania Trump arrive to a ceremony to commemorate the twenty fourth anniversary of the 9/11 assaults, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, on the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Picture/Evan Vucci)
A number of senior White Home officers did attend the poignant Manhattan ceremony, together with FBI Director Kash Patel and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
President Trump attended a Sept. 11 memorial on the Pentagon, which was additionally struck by the suicidal hijackers who killed practically 3,000 individuals within the worst-ever terror assault on American soil.
“Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champ of liberty, an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” Trump stated.
The president additionally led a refrain of tributes to the youth influencer who was credited by allies and critics alike with serving to to construct a renewed right-wing motion amongst younger individuals.
Flags have been ordered lowered to half mast throughout the nation as Republicans and Democrats alike referred to as for an finish to political violence.
Trump blamed the killing on “radical left-wing rhetoric” and vowed to carry these accountable accountable for the homicide.
Democrats additionally denounced the killing and referred to as for reducing the temperature of political battle.
Mayor Adams in contrast the Kirk taking pictures to the 9/11 assaults and referred to as it a “terrorist attack,” though no motive has been recognized within the taking pictures.
