JD Vance Channels Charlie Kirk in Fiery Q&A at Ole Miss Turning Point USA Event

Oxford, Mississippi – On October 29, 2025, Vice President JD Vance stepped into the spotlight at the University of Mississippi’s Sandy and John Black Pavilion, delivering a heartfelt tribute to his late friend Charlie Kirk while engaging a raucous crowd of over 10,000 students in a signature Q&A session. The event, the kickoff of Turning Point USA’s (TPUSA) rebranded “This Is the Turning Point” campus tour, honored the conservative activist assassinated just six weeks earlier during a speaking engagement in Utah. Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, now TPUSA’s CEO, introduced Vance, setting an emotional tone for an evening that blended remembrance, policy debate, and calls for a conservative revival.

Erika Kirk, visibly moved, spoke first about her husband’s unyielding commitment to empowering young conservatives on college campuses. “Charlie built this movement by facing tough questions head-on, and tonight we carry that torch,” she said, drawing cheers from a sea of red, white, and blue-clad attendees who had braved hours of drizzling rain to line up as early as midday. Vance, a close ally of Kirk and President Donald Trump, recounted a recent phone call with the activist, highlighting their shared passion for “firm but polite debate.” He framed the gathering as a pivotal moment for America’s youth: “You are the future of Charlie’s legacy. Swim in the streams of significance!”

The real energy ignited during the hour-long Q&A, a deliberate nod to Kirk’s viral style of sparring with students on hot-button issues. Vance fielded rapid-fire questions from the audience, covering immigration, faith, foreign policy, and emerging tech like AI. On legal immigration – a topic that drew one of the night’s most pointed queries from a student whose girlfriend holds a visa – Vance advocated for a sharp reduction. “We have to get the overall numbers way, way down,” he declared, emphasizing a merit-based system prioritizing American workers while acknowledging the need for “high-skilled folks who can contribute.” The response elicited a mix of applause and chants of “48!” – a rallying cry referencing Trump’s potential third-term ambitions – underscoring the crowd’s fervor.

Faith emerged as another flashpoint. When pressed on mandating Christianity in public schools, Vance defended religious liberty without endorsing compulsion, instead urging students to “build families and communities rooted in Judeo-Christian values.” He quipped to the college crowd, “While you’re young, have those babies if you’re able to,” tying personal choices to national renewal. Foreign policy drew praise for the Trump administration’s targeted June 2025 strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which Vance hailed as avoiding “unnecessary American deaths in regime-change wars.” A question on bridging divides with Democrats prompted a rare bipartisan olive branch: shared ground on antitrust efforts against corporate monopolies.

The session wasn’t without tension. Progressive student groups held a counter-town hall nearby, decrying TPUSA’s influence on campuses, but inside the pavilion, the atmosphere was electric – a testament to Kirk’s enduring draw. Attendees like Ole Miss freshman Ann Charles Sutton later gushed, “As a political science student, I definitely want to rewatch this whole event.” Vance wrapped by invoking Kirk’s mission: “Friendship isn’t about echo chambers; it’s about truth, even when it stings.”

As the tour rolls on, this Ole Miss stop signals TPUSA’s resilience post-tragedy, with Vance emerging as a natural heir to Kirk’s confrontational charisma. For a movement still grieving, it felt less like a memorial and more like a battle cry for 2028.