Vance welcomed Charlie Kirk’s show on Monday in the episode which was partly tribute, partly outrageous: NPR

Ari Shapiro, host:

Vice-president JD Vance welcomed “The Charlie Kirk Show” today in tribute to the conservative activist who was killed last week. Vance brought people from the administration near Kirk to remember, and key personalities have spoken of the important role that Kirk played behind the scenes, like the deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and the health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The vice-president also pointed out to those he considers as responsible for the death of Kirk.

(Soundbite of Podcast, “The Charlie Kirk Show”)

JD VANCE: We try to understand how to prevent this purre violence that you see on the far left from becoming more and more common.

Shapiro: To tell us more about the show and how the heritage of Charlie Kirk is in the process of being, the main and correspondent political editor of NPR, Domenico Montanaro and the correspondent of the NPR media, David Folkenflik, are both here. Hello to you two.

Domenico Montanaro, Byline: Hey there.

David Folkenflik, Byline: Hey there.

Shapiro: Domenico, to start with you, often, in moments of mourning, we hear leaders calling for unity. President Trump has not really focused on this message in recent days. Has vice-president Vance today?

Montanaro: Yes and no. I mean, Vance talked about how much he appreciated democratic colleagues, senators and legislators who expressed their sympathy for Vance after Kirk’s death because they know he was close to Kirk. But then, Vance closed with a message of action, stressing that the administration was going to pursue those they consider to be part of a clever problem, as he called it, on the left with regard to violence.

(Soundbite of Podcast, “The Charlie Kirk Show”)

Vance: There is no unity with people who cry children’s politics. There is no unity with someone who lies on what Charlie Kirk said to excuse his murder. There is no unity with someone who harass an innocent family the day after the loss of the father of this family. There is no unity with the people who celebrate the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Montanaro: Now Vance has not recognized violence against Democrats, such as the murder of a senator from the state of Minnesota and her husband earlier this year or the 2020 plot to remove Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan, or, of course, on January 6.

Shapiro: He also cited his survey according to which he felt supported his premise that acceptance of violence is more widespread on the left. You are the person who monitors NPR surveys. What do the figures really show?

Montanaro: Yes, the figures he cited came from Yougov. It was a survey that was taken last week after the kirk murder. He revealed that 24% of respondents who identified as, quote, “very liberal” considered acceptable for a person to be happy with the death of a public figure to which he opposed. It is compared to 3% of those who were very conservative. And without a doubt, I mean, I found it disturbing that there was a certain joy of certain corners with online progressives, but we have seen differences in attitudes over the years, depending on what is requested and how it is requested.

For example, a survey of the Public Religion Research Institute of Last Year revealed that the Republicans are much more likely to believe that the real American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country. And a survey of the University of Chicago just before the elections of last year, found a negligible difference between the Democrats and the Republicans to know if they would support the use of force to prevent Trump from trying to return to the White House or, on the other hand, to help him. You know, it therefore cuts different ways, but the White House clearly using this first point of data as a justification to say that it is more widespread on the left.

Shapiro: turning to you, David, many guests from the vice-president blamed the political left. How does it shape the story that is formed around the death of Kirk and its inheritance?

Folkenflik: Okay, and that takes you beyond the praise of him as a husband, father, friend, political leader of the right of Maga and adviser, of course, to the Trump world. You know, on this point, you have seen people take the microphone, essentially, to define reality, define the inheritance and set the tone for what they think is the next one. I want to play a clip for you from the Deputy Chief of the White House, Stephen Miller. He spoke of the show to channel the anger of the kirk murder to root what he called a domestic terrorist movement on the left.

(Soundbite of Podcast, “The Charlie Kirk Show”)

Stephen Miller: With God is my witness, we will use all the resources we have at the Ministry of Justice, to internal security and in all this government to identify, disturb, dismantle and destroy these networks, and make America again secure for the American people. It will happen, and we will do it on behalf of Charlie.

Folkenflik: Make him a kind of martyr for a kind of revenge centered on the government, if we want to take what this powerful white house official says literally. You know, journalism gives you the facts quickly, or tries, as well as properly, or it does its best – cannot follow speculation, but cannot particularly follow the digital era, where each opinion that someone could have is a stubborn in the ether for all of us to absorb. And currently, each framing of the government comes to us in various ways, in particular through the Charlie Kirk’s own show.

Shapiro: Domenico, what message does it send when the vice-president of the United States welcomes the radio program and the Charlie Kirk video podcast from the White House?

Montanaro: Yes, I think it really talks about the importance of Kirk in the world of Maga, you know, not only as an external operator who helped convince many young voters, young men, in particular, to become voters of Trump, but also as an internal political player. Vance said he would not be VP without him. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Kirk had organized his approval event with Trump and pleaded on behalf to become a secretary for health and social services. Vance has credited Kirk to have pushed to the chief of staff of the White House, Susie Wiles, for example, to stay as a campaign director when others call for her evidence.

I think it also talks about the concern that Vance and others have on the place where the movement goes afterwards. He said, in particular, he worries about the “united cite,” talent “of who could replace Kirk on these university campuses, for example. In other words, who will be this person to be able to go as effective as in this style of combative oppositional dialogue?

Shapiro: And briefly, David, how would you say that from the media point of view?

Folkenflik: Well, the thing I think in terms of if you think of rhetoric and what is being transmitted, anyway, it is the feeling that these are people who came to power in part because they said that we live in a culture of cancellation where people are large and controversial. But at the moment, what you hear is that they want to pursue those they consider to be criticism from Charlie Kirk and what he represented and what they want to do.

Shapiro: David Folkenflik of NPR and Domenico Montanaro, thank you both.

Montanaro: You are welcome.

In public: you bet.

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