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Vice President JD Vance speaks Sunday at Turning Point USA’s America Fest conference. But the vice president landed a major endorsement when the annual conference, held by the increasingly influential conservative group, kicked off on Thursday.
Ericka Kirk, widow of the assassinated Turning Point co-founder Charlie Kirk, endorsed Vance in the 2028 presidential election during her speech in front of thousands of activists gathered in Phoenix, Arizona.
“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” in 2028, she said. Forty-eight refers to the number of the next president.
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Vice President JD Vance greets Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, during a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi. (Jonathan Ernst/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Kirk, who took over the reins of Turning Point after her husband’s murder, also emphasized, “We are building the red wall.”
“We’re going to make sure that President Trump has Congress for all four years,” she added, as she pointed to next year’s midterm elections, when Republicans will defend their majorities in the House and Senate.
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The backing of the vice president by Turning Point, which is particularly influential among younger conservatives and whose political arm has built up a powerful grassroot outreach operation, could give Vance a major boost should he decide to run for president in the 2028 election.
Vice President JD Vance speaks during a memorial service for slain conservative leader and commentator Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21, 2025. (Daniel Cole/Reuters)
A longtime adviser to President Donald Trump told Fox News Digital that “it wasn’t a surprise to see her endorse, given that while he was still alive, Charlie couldn’t have been more explicit about supporting Vance in 2028.”
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“Last night simply reaffirmed that Turning Point’s entire political machinery will be behind him if he decides to run. It’s another big get for the vice president and a warning shot to other potential candidates,” added the adviser, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely.
Charlie Kirk and JD Vance greet supporters at the end of a campaign rally on May 1, 2022, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, during Vance’s successful run for the Senate. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Vance and Charlie Kirk were close friends and the vice president credits Kirk with his political rise.
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Vance honored his late friend by flying Kirk’s casket back to Arizona from Utah, where he was assassinated in September, aboard Air Force Two. And Vance hosted Kirk’s popular podcast as it returned following Kirk’s death.
While Vance has yet to say anything publicly on whether he’ll launch a 2028 campaign to succeed the term-limited Trump, he is considered by many on the right to be the president’s heir apparent to eventually take over the MAGA mantle.
