Vice President J.D. Vance is scheduled to debate college students as the Trump administration continues to drag the country further into a war in the Middle East.
Turning Point USA, the right-wing campus organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk, announced their new college tour to take place later this Spring.
Kirk became a notable figure within the conservative movement in part because of his “Prove Me Wrong” tour, in which he held public, political debates with college students across the country.
In April, Vance is set to debate students at the University of Georgia in Athens alongside Charlie’s widow, Erika Kirk. The two have been seen together more than once since her husband’s death, raising eyebrows with how they hugged on stage.
His appearance on the UGA campus comes as Vance, often the administration’s top online troller, has been uncharacteristically quiet in person and on X about his boss’s full-scale war in Iran.
Vance, who was an enlisted Marine who served in public affairs in Iraq, has traditionally been a skeptic of U.S. foreign interventions throughout his career in politics.
He attended the dignified transfer of the remains of the first six troops to die, which was marred by his boss wearing a white trucker hat, while he also briefly addressed in a speech to a firefighters’ union. He has given no public defense of the war, while Trump himself suggested that his VP was “less enthusiastic” because they are “philosophically a bit different.”
Sources close to Vance briefed ABC News that he had expressed reservations privately, but when it was clear there would be a war he “shifted his focus” to striking quickly—essentially suggesting that he was against the war before he was for it.
It is unknown if Vance’s appearances at the debates, especially in his capacity as vice president, will mirror that of Charlie Kirk’s. The right-wing firebrand’s debate events were largely open to the public and held in open, outdoor spaces at universities, where he oftentimes antagonized liberal students, which was quickly turned into content for his media network.
“Excited to visit the University of Georgia next month for another Turning Point event in the SEC!” Vance posted.
The Daily Beast reached out to the Vice President’s office and TPUSA for comment.
Other stops on the TPUSA tour include George Washington University in D.C., where the “debaters” will be White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Erika Kirk.
Other stops will see a rag-tag set of MAGA stars “debate.” Baylor University in Waco, Texas, will have a visit from Donald Trump Jr., border czar Tom Homan, and right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson.
At the Ohio State University in Columbus, ousted DOGE boss Vivek Ramaswamy—who is running for governor—will be alongside Fox News host Lawrence Jones, and Savannah Crisley, the ex-reality star whose parents were pardoned by Trump, allowing them to walk free.
The last stop of the tour at the University of Idaho will feature less A-list MAGA personalities: culture wars provocateur Matt Walsh and podcaster Michael Knowles.
Vance was quickly criticized online for the poor timing of his trip to Athens, Georgia.
“I’m so glad our Vice President is taking the time to go on a college tour with right-wing influencers while servicemembers are getting killed in the Middle East,” Ally Sammarco, popular Democratic personality, posted.
Seven U.S. troops have been killed so far in the war, and around 150 have been injured. More than 1,3000 Iranians have been killed as well.
Before being tapped to be Trump’s vice president, Vance said he was supporting Trump’s third run for the presidency because Trump “started no wars.”
“In Mr. Trump’s four years in office, he started no wars despite enormous pressure from his own party and even members of his own administration,” Vance wrote in a 2023 op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal.
In their 2024 run for office, Vance and Trump, who dubbed himself the “Peace President,” ran on starting “no new wars,” a promise that has been broken just over a year into this administration.
