CNN‘s Van Jones has detailed the final message slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk sent him the day before he was assassinated.
Jones, 57, offered the unexpected insight during a segment on Anderson Cooper 360° Friday.
The pundit had been one of Kirk’s biggest adversaries before he was brutally gunned down in Orem, Utah, on September 10.
The pair had been sparring about the killing of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska and its larger connotations when Kirk suddenly reached out via X, Jones told Cooper.
The September 9 message read: ‘Hey Van, I mean it, I’d love to have you on my show to have a respectful conversation about crime and race. I would be a gentleman as I know you would be as well. We can disagree about the issues agreeably.’
After Cooper read it aloud, Jones, 57, revealed how he responded – and his state of mind since.
‘Look, I mean, we were beefing. And then, after he died, [after] he was murdered, my team called and said, “Van, he was trying to reach you, man?,’ the former Obama aid began.
‘And what was he doing? Dialogue. Let’s be gentlemen together. He says let’s disagree agreeably. So I’m sitting on this, and I’m watching the whole country talk about civil war, censorship, justifying murder, about this guy?
CNN star Van Jones, 57, made the revelation during a poignant segment on Anderson Cooper 360° Friday that Charlie Kirk had invited him to sit down with him
‘This guy who is reaching out to his mortal enemy saying, “We need to be gentlemen, sit down together, and disagree agreeably”. And the next day, he’s killed. And I’ve sat on it long enough.’
Jones then recalled immediately coming to the conclusion that he would have to attend Kirk’s funeral procession in Arizona Sunday, to pay his respects.
He told Cooper, ‘We disagree. Everybody knows we were not friends, OK? At all.
‘But you praise the good when it’s time to memorialize somebody.’
Jones went on to list several of Kirk’s accomplishments, saying: ‘He was not for censorship. He was not for civil war. He was not for violence. He was for dialogue, open debate and dialogue – even with me.’
When Cooper asked Jones whether he had considered Kirk’s invitation, the pundit said ‘no.’
He clarified: ‘I wasn’t trying to build his platform, but I would have called and we would have talked and we would have started the process of trying to figure this stuff out.’
The CNN star, in the end, said political unrest – and a failure to speak out differences – was responsible for Kirk’s death.
The pundit had been one of Kirk’s biggest adversaries before he was brutally gunned down at a college event in Orem, Utah, on September 10
Jones said he decided to share Kirk’s message so it ‘might help somebody, on both sides, deal with issues more like he did’. He also penned a similar account on Substack. He’s seen here speaking about the message with costar Anderson Cooper on A360°
‘I think what happens is people get so worked up, Anderson, seeing us go at it, they think they’re supposed go ahead and kill somebody, or go out and talk about civil war.
‘Go out and silence people or cancel people or fire people or censor people – about Charlie Kirk? “Mr. Debate?”
‘I did not agree with him on literally almost anything, but we were words, not weapons, guys.
‘And we were getting into a position where we could get some real debate going.’
He concluded: ‘That wasn’t worked out, but I would have taken them up. I want to beat Charlie Kirk in a debate.’
Jones also penned a similar tribute on Substack.
Jones said he decided to share Kirk’s message so it, ‘might help somebody, on both sides, deal with issues more like he did.’
A memorial service is being held for Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
