Vance says ‘left-wing extremism’ a factor in Charlie Kirk killing as FBI says suspect matches DNA found at scene

JD Vance has paid tribute to Charlie Kirk while hosting his show and claimed “left-wing extremism” was a factor in his assassination, while the FBI director said DNA matching the suspect’s was found on evidence at the scene.

The vice president hosted The Charlie Kirk Show from the White House in tribute to the right-wing influencer, who was killed at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.

“The last several days have been extremely hard,” he said, adding that: “Everyone in this building owes something to Charlie… I don’t think I’m alone in saying that Charlie was one of the smartest political operators I’ve ever met.”

During his opening monologue, Mr Vance said “we have to make sure that the killer is brought to justice,” before claiming that left-wing extremism was part of the reason behind Mr Kirk’s death.

“We have to talk about this incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism that has grown up over the last few years,” he said, “and I believe is part of the reason why Charlie was killed by an assassin’s bullet.

“We’re going to talk about how to dismantle that and how to bring real unity that can only come when we tell the truth and everybody knows that they can speak their mind without being cut down by a murderer’s gun.”

Later, while speaking with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Mr Vance said the Trump administration is trying to stop “festering violence from the far-left from spreading”.

And in his closing remarks, the vice president claimed without evidence that “Liberal billionaires rewarded” and funded outlets that published criticisms of Mr Kirk after his death.

He also claimed, again without evidence: “People on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence. This is not a ‘both sides’ problem.”

FBI: Suspect linked to evidence at scene

Tyler Robinson, 22, from Washington in Utah, was arrested after a manhunt on suspicion of killing Mr Kirk, and is due to appear in court on Tuesday.

He is being held without bail on suspicion of aggravated murder, a felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice.

The motive of the shooting is unclear, while experts said engravings left on ammunition at the scene of the shooting were “extremely online”.

But Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer James Cox, previously claimed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he had been “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology”.

And on Sunday’s NBC News Meet The Press show, Mr Cox said the suspect was in a relationship with his roommate, who was in the process of transitioning – something unnamed officials confirmed to the channel. So far, no official has yet said whether the relationship is relevant to their investigation.

Later on Monday, FBI director Kash Patel told Fox News that evidence found at the scene had been linked to Robinson via DNA sequencing.

He told Fox and Friends that DNA matching Robinson’s was found on a towel allegedly wrapped around a firearm that was discarded in a wooded area near the university – stressing no other evidence from the scene had been processed as of yet.

Mr Patel added that the suspect’s actions were premeditated, and repeated the claim that the killing was based on his political beliefs.

“His family has collectively told investigators that he subscribed to left-wing ideology,” he said, “and even more so in these last couple of years, and he had a text message exchange… in which he claimed that he had an opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk, and he was going to do it because of his hatred for what Charlie stood for.”

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Vance says ‘I owe so much to Charlie’

The vice president and Mr Kirk were close friends, with Mr Vance saying in his first tribute that “he was a true friend” and that “he didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government”.

The vice president also said on the Rumble show that “I owe so much to Charlie”, adding that Mr Kirk texted friends that Mr Vance should be the vice presidential nominee for Donald Trump in the run-up to last year’s presidential election.

“It’s such an honour to have people show me that Charlie said ‘we want JD to be the VP nominee’,” he added.

“Do you know what it means to me that such a good guy, such a good friend, such a lion and visionary of our movement was advocating for me?”