JD VANCE AT AMFEST: Tyler Robinson killed my friend Charlie Kirk

During his speech on the final day of TPUSA’s AmericaFest, Vice President JD Vance drew a stark contrast between TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk and Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, framing both as reflections of the political ideologies they embraced. Vance said that Robinson's ideological beliefs led to him to kill Kirk. 

Vance referenced the Christian belief that a person is known by their “fruits,” using the concept to question the outcomes of the Democratic Party and citing Robinson as an example.

“What are the fruits of these people and their principals? And the answer is a man named Tyler Robinson who killed my friend,” Vance said.

He described Robinson as embodying a rejection of conservatism and Christian values, including small-town family values and spiritual faith.

"He is everything that the far left wants from our young men. He rejected the conservatism and the spirituality, the values of a small-town family. He moved into a small apartment. He became addicted to porn; he became addicted to hate,” Vance said. “And he ended up sleeping with somebody who doesn’t know whether they are a man or a woman. That is the nightmare scenario, but that is the scenario that the left has actively advertised they want for American families.”

Addressing the young men in the audience, Vance emphasized the importance of defending Christian principles. “That is exactly why we have to fight them. Because the fruits of true Christianity are men like Charlie Kirk,” he said.

The vice president contrasted Kirk with Robinson, describing the TPUSA founder as embodying the virtues of Christianity.

“The fruits of true Christianity are good husbands, patient fathers, builders of great things, and slayers of dragons,” he continued. “And yes, men who are willing to die for a principle if that’s what God asked them to do.”

Reflecting on his own reaction to Kirk’s death, Vance said he spent several nights researching every theory surrounding the assassination and was “consumed” by fear that Kirk’s death could undermine the movement. He said he ultimately found comfort in accepting the reality of struggle and fighting for the values one believes in.

“What saved me was not lying to myself, but accepting the reality of the fight that we’re in. Charlie’s death was an immense loss, an irreplaceable loss,” Vance explained. “What saved me was realizing that the story of the Christian faith, like the story of these United States of America, is one of immense loss followed by even bigger victory.”