Vance says Trump was ‘joking’ about hating enemies during memorial for Charlie Kirk

(NEXSTAR) – During a stop in North Carolina on Wednesday, JD Vance said that President Trump was “joking” when he spoke about hating his enemies during a memorial for conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

“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 exclusive interview.

Trump told a packed audience at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona Sunday that he remembered Charlie Kirk as someone who “did not hate his opponents.”

“He wanted the best for them,” Trump said. “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry.”

Trump went on to say that while Kirk would often speak of “the left,” he preferred to say “radical left” or “radical-left lunatics.”

“It’s kind of hard. 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,” Vance said. “I think if you watch the President’s comments, he was highlighting that real difficulty. I don’t think that he was saying we should hate our enemies.”

The president’s words on Sunday were notably different in tone from those of other speakers, including Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, who forgave the shooter who took her husband’s life, saying, “I forgive him because it was what Christ did and it is what Charlie would do.” Video from the memorial showed audience members, some visibly emotional, stand and applaud.

Vance called Erika Kirk’s words “an incredible gesture of Christian forgiveness.”

The vice president is scheduled to make multiple stops in North Carolina. The White House announced Monday, according to Nexstar’s WJZY, that Vance will speak about the Trump administration’s tax cuts and efforts to enforce law and order.