JD Vance called for Republican Party unity at Turning Point USA event

JD Vance called for Republican Party unity at the first Turning Point USA conference since the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Looking ahead to the 2026 midterm elections, the vice president recalled the legacy of his friend Kirk and asserted that the GOP must push Donald Trump's agenda and not waste time "canceling each other out."

Amid a feud between some GOP factions, publicly led by Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson, the vice president took the stage to close a three-day event in Phoenix, Arizona, featuring dozens of speakers and more than 30,000 attendees.

During his speech, he stressed the importance of keeping the Republican coalition built by President Trump united in the 2024 presidential election, putting aside infighting.

"President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless self defeating purity tests. He says, make America great again because every American is invited. We don't care if you're white or black, or poor, or old, rural or urban urban, controversial or a little bit boring or somewhere in between between. People of every faith come to our banner because they know that the America First movement will make their lives better, and they also know that the Democrats don't care about anything other than maybe transing their kids," he said.

"We have far more important work to do than canceling each other, we have got to build, and President Donald Trump is a builder. We're building a better country right now. We build by adding, by growing, not by tearing down," he added.

The former Ohio senator also highlighted some accomplishments of the first year of the Trump administration, mentioning among other things the plunge in illegal immigration across the southern border and the drop in some prices, such as gasoline and eggs.

In addition, Vance promised more results next year: "My friends, there is so much more to be the people saying we need to be doing more, we need to be doing it faster, trust me, I hear you. Greatness awaits every single one of you in the America First movement we are building together, but we need your help to get there."

One of the most viral moments of Vance's appearance on Turning Point USA was when he spoke of the end of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, asserting that we need to stop judging and discriminating against people based on their physical characteristics and "things they can't control."

"Unlike the left, we stand against treating anybody. We don't treat anybody different because of their race or their sex. So we have relegated DEI to the dustbin of history, which is exactly where it belongs. In the United States of America, you don't have to apologize for being white anymore. And if you're an Asian, you don't have to talk around your skin color when you're applying for college because we judge people based on who they are, not on ethnicity and things they can't control," Vance concluded.