Overview

• Speaking in North Carolina on Wednesday, JD Vance told Nexstar that President Trump was joking and using humor to illustrate the challenge of forgiving enemies.
• Trump delivered the line on Sunday at Charlie Kirk’s memorial at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona before a packed audience.
• Vance said he does not believe the president was urging people to hate opponents, calling the comment a rhetorical device about forgiveness.
• Erika Kirk publicly forgave her husband’s shooter at the service, drawing an emotional standing applause that Vance praised as an act of Christian forgiveness.
• The White House says Vance will make multiple stops in North Carolina to promote tax cuts and law-enforcement priorities, as some commentators question his ‘joking’ explanation given Trump’s past rhetoric.