JD Vance Cancels Iowa State Turning Point USA Appearance
Vice President JD Vance pulled out of a scheduled Turning Point USA appearance at Iowa State University on Thursday, leaving Erika Kirk set to take the stage alone. The event change comes after a University of Georgia appearance where Vance spoke to a largely empty arena and Kirk had withdrawn at the last minute.
Iowa State University on Thursday
TPUSA said Erika Kirk would appear alone at Iowa State University on Thursday after Vance canceled his part of the event. A TPUSA spokesperson said, “To be clear, this is not due to security concerns related to recent events, This is simply a matter of scheduling conflicts.”
The campus appearance was part of a Turning Point USA event, and the cancellation leaves Erika Kirk as the only listed speaker for the Iowa stop. For students and attendees, the practical change is simple: the program no longer includes the vice president.
Georgia appearance before Iowa
The Iowa shift follows the earlier University of Georgia event, where Erika Kirk pulled out at the last minute and said, “I was so looking forward to tonight’s event at the @universityofga with our Vice President @JDVance, but after all our family has been through, I take my security team’s recommendations extremely seriously. Thank you to our amazing Georgia chapter for your support. God bless you all!”
At that Georgia appearance, Vance told the crowd, “I love Erika, and I know that she did get some threats.” He also said, “About two hours ago... I was a little worried that we were going to have to cancel the event because Erika was not going to come, and she was very worried about it.”
Charlie Kirk after September 10
Charlie Kirk, the TPUSA co-founder and Erika Kirk’s husband, was fatally shot while speaking at a TPUSA event at Utah Valley University on September 10. Erika Kirk later posted, “Saturday was yet another traumatic example of the evil in our country and the continued rise in political violence. I’m taking time to spend with my family,” after the incident she referenced.
The Iowa appearance now moves ahead without Vance, and TPUSA has already said Erika Kirk will handle the stage alone. That leaves the campus event centered on her remarks, not the vice president’s presence, after two previous appearances tied the same pair to security concerns, threats, and a rapidly changing schedule.
One unresolved point in the public sequence is the wider pattern of how TPUSA is handling the remaining events tied to Vance and Erika Kirk after the Georgia appearance and the Iowa cancellation. For Thursday at Iowa State University, the only set development is that Erika Kirk is expected to appear alone.
