Vance Urges Americans to Call the Employers of People Celebrating Charlie Kirk's Killing

Guest-hosting The Charlie Kirk Show on September 15, 2025, days after Kirk was shot and killed in Utah, Vice President JD Vance told listeners: "When you see someone celebrating Charlie's murder, call them out. And hell, call their employer." He framed it as a defense of civility. On the same broadcast, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said the administration would use "every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks." The remarks came amid a wave of firings over social media posts about Kirk's death: MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd and Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah lost their jobs, and employees were dismissed by companies including Nasdaq, Office Depot, Walmart, the Broad Institute, the law firm Perkins Coie and several major airlines.

The episode placed the second-highest official in the executive branch, and the president's senior domestic policy aide, behind a campaign to impose employment consequences for speech. Private employers are generally free to fire at-will workers over public statements, but government encouragement of that pressure raises distinct First Amendment questions, and reported cases included people whose posts criticized Kirk's politics while condemning violence.

The firings continued for weeks, and the State Department separately said it was denying and revoking visas of foreign nationals it accused of celebrating the killing.