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Vice President JD Vance, a friend of slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, has claimed that President Donald Trump was “joking” when he ranted about hating his opponents during Kirk’s memorial.
“Well I think the president was joking … I think it’s interesting, if you go back and watch the full speech, what the president was trying to do, in this very humorous and very unique way, was highlight how hard it is for us to forgive our enemies,” the vice president told Nexstar’s Reshad Hudson in an interview during a stop in North Carolina on Wednesday.
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Trump made the comments while paying tribute to Kirk, who was fatally shot in Utah on Sep. 10. Kirk’s memorial took place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Sep. 21.
Praising Kirk as someone who “did not hate his opponents,” the POTUS told the crowd, “He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie.”
Trump added, “I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry.”
Elsewhere in his speech, Trump applauded Kirk for referring to his opposers as “the left,” noting that he himself “can’t help” but call them the “radical left” or “radical-left lunatics.”
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“But Charlie didn’t say that. He called it the left. He was probably right, but I can’t help it. I can’t help it,” Trump added as the crowd laughed.
Vance continued his defense of Trump.
“It’s kind of hard to forgive your enemies. It’s kind of hard when people attack you and criticize you and even commit acts of violence against you. It’s hard to engage in that act of forgiveness,” the vice president said. “I think if you watch the president’s comments, he was highlighting that real difficulty.”
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Vance added, “I don’t think that he was saying we should hate our enemies. I think what he was saying was that Christ’s commandment to love our enemies is very tough, actually. It’s tough to live up to in practice, but we still have to try.”
Trump took one of his many swipes at the “radical left” again following Kirk’s death. Speaking with NBC News on Sept. 13, just days after Kirk’s death, Trump said he wants to see the nation “heal,” but alluded to a “radical left group of lunatics” keeping the country in a stalemate.
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Trump’s increased attacks on the left following Kirk’s death have sparked fears that the White House is trying to leverage outrage over the killing to silence political opponents.
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Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed “left-wing radicals” for Kirk’s shooting and said “they will be held accountable.”
The suspect arrested in Kirk’s murder is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson. He was charged with aggravated murder as well as multiple other crimes in connection with the shooting. Investigators have not found a link between Robinson and left-wing groups.