Vice President JD Vance urged Republican donors on Friday night to win the 2026 midterms in honor of his close friend and right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed this week.
In audio obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Vance told major givers to the Republican National Committee that Mr. Kirk should inspire them to work hard ahead of a difficult midterms cycle. The speech at the closed-door event was Mr. Vance’s first since Mr. Kirk was fatally shot at a university in Utah on Wednesday afternoon.
“Over the next couple of years, if we can honor Charlie, I’d ask this: Take that commitment to American greatness, take that commitment to our civic virtue, and take that recognition that a very good man gave his life for his country, and let’s go win, and win for the right damn reasons,” Mr. Vance said at the fall retreat of the R.N.C. in Washington.
Mr. Vance extensively commented on the legacy of Mr. Kirk, whom he called “the smartest and most effective political operative I’ve ever seen” and a “once-in-a-generation figure in American politics.” He said that during his recent private meeting with Mr. Kirk’s widow, Erika, she imparted that the activist never lost his temper with her or his children. “I’m proud of myself for being a good husband and a good father. But do I meet that standard? No. Sometimes I’m an asshole,” he said to laughs.
Mr. Vance used a similar curse word at one point to jokingly reference Senator Thom Tillis, the Republican from North Carolina who said he would retire after voting against President Trump’s signature budget bill. The then-head of the Republican National Committee, Michael Whatley, then announced that he would run to replace Mr. Tillis, which opened a spot atop the R.N.C. filled by the current chair, Joe Grueters.
“All respect to Thom Tillis, who actually is a friend of mine. We come sort of on different perspectives on the party sometimes, but I’ve always got along with Thom Tillis. I’ve always liked Thom Tillis very much,” Mr. Vance said. “But I was talking with Joe a couple of months ago, and I said, ‘Who knew that Thom Tillis being an asshole would set in motion a chain of events where you would eventually become the R.N.C. chairman?’”
Mr. Vance spent most of his remarks shouting out to G.O.P. officials and encouraging the Republican donors to dig deep ahead of the midterms, with Republicans at risk of losing the House of Representatives. He said that the out-of-power party has won 31 of the last 33 midterms, and that Republicans therefore were “swimming upstream.
“But I think that we’re going to do it,” he said.
Mr. Vance was named the Republican National Committee’s finance chair this year and headlined several events to help pad the party’s coffers. He invoked Mr. Kirk as an inspiration for future political fund-raising at the end of his remarks.
“How do we take this national movement that Donald Trump and Charlie Kirk helped build, and how do we make sure that it shows up in those all important midterm elections?” Mr. Vance said. “And the answer is, we’ve got to spend a lot of money to do it.“
“I feel kind of bad. We’re only six months, eight months, whatever it is, into this new term, and we’re already back to the well,” he said. “Because the Democrats aren’t resting, and neither can we.”
Theodore Schleifer is a Times reporter covering billionaires and their impact on the world.
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