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After telling the cheering crowd that Turning Point would help
keep Congress in Republican hands next year, she said, “We are
going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the
most resounding way possible.”
Vance would be the 48th president if he takes office after
President Donald Trump.
Kirk’s statement on Thursday is the most explicit backing of
Vance’s possible candidacy by a woman who has been positioned as
a steward to her late husband’s legacy. Charlie Kirk had become
a powerbroker and bridge builder within the conservative
movement before he was assassinated in September.
Vance was close with Charlie Kirk, whose backing helped enable
his rapid political rise. After the assassination, Vance and his
wife joined Erika Kirk in Utah to fly her husband's remains home
to Arizona aboard Air Force Two.
Vance is set to speak to Turning Point on Sunday, the
conference’s last day. The convention has featured the usual
spectacle and energy that have characterized the organization’s
events, but the proceedings have also been marred by intense
infighting among conservative commentators and estranged allies
who have turned on each other in the wake of Kirk’s death.
As Trump's vice president, Vance is well-positioned to inherit
the movement that remade the Republican Party and twice sent
Trump to the White House. But it would be no small task for him
to hold together the Trump coalition, which is built around
personal loyalty to him more than shared political goals.
Various wings of the conservative movement already are
positioning to steer the party after Trump's presidency, a
skirmish that's becoming increasingly public and pointed.
Turning Point, with its thousands of young volunteers, would
provide a major boost for Vance in a fractious primary. Now 41,
Vance would be the first Millennial president if elected, a
natural fit for the organization built around mobilizing youth.
Trump has repeatedly mused about running for a third term
despite a constitutional prohibition. However, he’s also
speculated about a 2028 ticket featuring Vance and Secretary of
State Marco Rubio.
Although Rubio previously ran for president in 2016, he has said
he would support Vance as Trump’s successor.
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Brown reported from Washington.
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