The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I recognize that a lot of young voters don’t love the policy that we have in the Middle East,” he said, asking the students not to turn away from the Republican Party. “I’m not saying you have to agree with me on every issue. What I’m saying is don’t get disengaged because you disagree with the administration on one topic.”
Vance took questions at the event because Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk, had canceled her plans to lead the event due to unspecified threats, according to a statement from TPUSA.
Kirk was assassinated at a university rally last September. The case has led to the spread of multiple conspiracy theories, including widely circulated claims that Kirk was killed for turning on TPUSA’s pro-Israel donors and opposing US strikes on Iran during the 12-day war last year.
The suspected killer’s lawyers insist that federal investigators could not conclusively match the bullet recovered from the crime scene to the alleged assassin’s rifle.
