Vice President JD Vance tried to unify the conservative movement during his remarks at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Sunday.
“President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless self-defeating purity tests,” said Vance. “He says, ‘Make America Great Again’ because every American is invited.”
Besides the vice president’s message for the party to unite, TPUSA lifted the moods of attendees on Sunday by giving the crowd a few surprises, like when Erika Kirk brought out rapper Nicki Minaj for a conversation on stage.
AmericaFest was Kirk’s first major outing as the new leader of the organization started by her husband.
She had to take the reins of Turning Point USA after her husband Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University in September.
Disagreement emerged on the first night at AmericaFest when headliner Ben Shapiro criticized fellow AmFest speakers Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Steve Bannon. Meanwhile, Erika Kirk tried to maintain a unified front.
The drama unfolded in front of 30,000 attendees and also permeated many conversations, debates and speeches. The following days were more peaceful, especially the last day when the speakers, including Vance, called for unity.
“I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to deplatform,” the vice president said. “The best way to honor Charlie is that none of us here should be doing something after Charlie’s death that he didn’t do in life. He invited all of us here.”
What happened between Shapiro and Carlson?
At the conference on Thursday, Ben Shapiro leveled jabs against several conservative commentators — Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Steve Bannon — over the antisemitism and conspiracy theories prevalent within the GOP right now.
“If you host a Hitler apologist, Nazi-loving, anti-American piece of refuse like Nick Fuentes … you ought to own it," Shapiro said about Carlson. He also accused Carlson of using his platform to undermine the Republican administration by “just asking questions.”
“Tucker Carlson is good friends with the vice president. He could call him up for clarification at any time. But he won’t. Because that might undermine the empty speculation,” Shapiro said.
Carlson first mocked him, saying, “To hear calls for deplatforming and denouncing people at a Charlie Kirk event … This is hilarious.”
He then responded to Shapiro’s statements by claiming that he is “being used in a proxy war” even though he isn’t involved, nor does he advise anyone.
“The attack, and you heard it from the stage tonight, there’s someone here who’s a very bad man, and he’s friends with J.D. Vance. Could be me,” said Carlson.
The former Fox News host also claimed that some high-level conservatives are jockeying for power and are not sold on Vance’s bid for the White House.
Turning Point USA brings out surprise guests
On Sunday, ahead of Vance’s remarks, Glenn Beck said he thought about bringing Grandma Jeannie back on stage. She’s a Target employee who went viral after she was attacked for wearing a red “Freedom” T-shirt in honor of Charlie.
The incident took place in Chico, California. The crowd broke into chants for Jeannie Beeman and ‘Grandma Jeannie,’ who wore the same shirt she went viral in.
Beck told the crowd Beeman didn’t understand why everyone at the conservative conference wanted a photo with her.
“I’m just a normal person,” Beeman said into the mic, earning loud applause.
Beck delivered a message to young Republicans, telling them, “We must stop fighting.”
“It’s important to stand for the truth but people are not your enemies. Lies are your enemies,” he said. “You can’t stop darkness with more darkness.”
He also empowered attendees to get active in civic life.
“Every single generation since the beginning of time has inherited a mess, but only the great generations turn that mess into a mission,” he said. “And that’s your calling.”
Although President Donald Trump didn’t attend AmericaFest this year, Donald Trump Jr. got the U.S. president on the phone during his remarks.
“Hello, everybody,” the president said, as Trump Jr. put the phone next to his collar mic. “I want to be with you but I’ll be with you soon and I just want to say nobody did more for me than Charlie and there’s nobody better than Erika.”
He also told the audience he hoped his son did a good job on stage, “or otherwise I’m going to have to say, ‘You’re fired, Don.’” The president also appeared in a video message.
Trump Jr. in his remarks, said that after Kirk’s death, he “worried” about what the future of the conservative movement looked like.
“I was worried that without Charlie, this room would go out like it was 10 years ago when we started this incredible voyage, and it would dissipate,” Trump Jr. said. “But this is literally double what it was last year, and that was a record.”
The vice president also shared his fears, telling the audience he struggled to sleep following the assassination, diving into every rabbit hole he could find on the internet “to understand what happened.”
“I remember I was consumed by this fear that Charlie’s death wouldn’t just deprive a family of their husband or of a good father, but that it would deny our movement of a great unifier of people and a great doer of great deeds,” Vance said.
He added that this period of his life is the only time he can remember his wife, second lady Usha Vance, telling him she was concerned about him.
“What saved me was not lying to myself, but accepting the reality of the fight that we’re in,” he said.
Aside from touting what he sees as his administration’s wins on immigration control, economic growth and inflation, Vance said the movement to entrench diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has been relegated to “the dustbin of history.”
“I love what Nicki said about this. We don’t treat anybody differently because of their race or their sex,” he said.
Before Vance’s address, Minaj boldly proclaimed that “it’s OK to change your mind.” The “Beez in the Trap” rapper spoke against the persecution of Christians around the world and recounted her own journey in finding faith.
Minaj read out social media posts she directed at California Gov. Gavin Newsom, like one where she wrote, “Hey Gavi-poo, it only gets worse from here for you, buddy. It‘s the end of the road for you, my love,” teasing the governor about his ambitions for the White House.
Both she and Vance attacked Newsom, one of the Democratic Party’s hopefuls for 2028.
Minaj said she has “the utmost respect and admiration for” President Trump.
“He’s given so many people hope that there’s a chance to beat the bad guys,” the female rapper said. She even referred to him as “our handsome, dashing president.”
Other notable speakers included conservative activist Roger Stone, Border Czar Tom Homan, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Byron Donalds, R-Fla.
Biggs, who is running for governor of Arizona, pitched his proposed bill of installing a statue of Charlie Kirk at the U.S. Capitol. Speaker Johnson started his address by saying, “Yes, Andy Biggs, we’re going to work on that (Charlie Kirk) statue,” as the crowd chanted Kirk’s name.
VP Vance gets TPUSA’s support
Vance earned TPUSA’s endorsement if he decides to run for president in 2028. “We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” Erika Kirk said during her speech on Thursday.
TPUSA played a crucial role in helping Trump get elected and boosting his campaign among young voters in 2024. Vance acknowledged Charlie Kirk’s influence days after Kirk was assassinated.
“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene. He didn’t just help us win in 2024; he helped us staff the entire government,” the vice president said.
Vance hasn’t revealed whether he will run for president in 2028, and in an interview, he said he is more focused on winning the 2026 midterms.
President Donald Trump said he considers both Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio “great” candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.