WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance made a surprising admission Monday while hosting a special episode of Charlie Kirk’s eponymous show in honor of the slain conservative activist.

“If it weren’t for Charlie Kirk, I would not be vice president of the United States,” Vance told White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, one of several Trump administration officials who appeared on the program.

“I thought about that a lot in the last few days,” the vice president went on. “Charlie was maybe the most important person in both getting us across the finish line but actually getting me the nomination to begin with — it was his grassroots army.”

“Obviously the president makes the final determination,” added Vance, “but it takes a team, and Charlie was such an incredibly important part of that team. It’s one of the reasons why I feel so indebted to him.”

Vance, 41, hosted “The Charlie Kirk Show” on Real America’s Voice five days after his late friend and the founder of Turning Point USA, a group for college and high school students, was assassinated at Utah Valley University.

Kirk, 31, was struck in the neck by a single bullet and rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his wound. He leaves behind a widow, Erika, a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son.

Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from St. George, Utah, has since been arrested but is refusing to cooperate with the FBI as it investigates Kirk’s murder, which took place in front of dozens of attendees on the first stop of his fall “American Comeback” tour.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Sunday that Robinson was “deeply indoctrinated in leftist ideology” and had “conversations … specifically about Charlie Kirk.”

“He does come from a conservative family. But his ideology was very different than his family,” Cox told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Follow The Post’s live coverage of the Charlie Kirk shooting for the latest news and updates

Before signing off Monday, Vance railed against “far-left” agitators who have threatened himself, his family and White House staff.

The vice president also went after wealthy liberal donors, left-wing journalists and others who have celebrated the cold-blooded killing.

“In a country of 330 million people, you can of course find one person of a given political persuasion justifying this or that or almost anything, but the data is clear: People on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence,” Vance said, citing surveys supporting that viewpoint.

A YouGov poll released two days after Kirk’s death revealed that 24% of Americans who identify as “very liberal” were “more likely than conservatives to defend feeling joy about the deaths of political opponents.”

Just 4% of conservatives and 7% of moderates said the same.

“This is not a both-sides problem,” the vice president charged.  “And while our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far left.”

Vance also shared that his own family and a senior White House official had also been threatened by “left-leaning operatives” in recent weeks.

While visiting Disneyland in Southern California with his three children, he revealed that a middle-aged woman screamed at his 5-year-old: “You should disown your dad, you little s–t!”

“Tell the Secret Service to protect the Constitution, not your father!” Vance said another shrieked at his family.

“Are these women violent? Probably not. Are they deranged? Certainly,” he said.

Here's the latest on the Charlie Kirk shooting in Utah

• Police identified Tyler Robinson, 22, as the alleged assassin who fatally shot Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
• Robinson was charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice.
• Law enforcement confirmed that Robinson was living with a transgender roommate, and communications between the two helped the feds catch the alleged assassin.
• Kirk, the 31-year-old Turning Point USA co-founder, was attending an event on his American Comeback Tour when he was struck in the neck by a single shot.
• President Trump was among many who have called for the assassin to receive the death penalty.
• Kirk’s body was brought to Arizona from Utah on Air Force Two, accompanied by Vice President JD Vance, and taken to Phoenix’s Hansen Mortuary Chapel.
• Kirk’s funeral, which Trump has promised to attend, is scheduled for Sept. 21 at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals.
• Kirk, a rising MAGA star, is survived by his wife and two young children.

Vance suggested that the Trump administration would be looking at the tax-exempt status of news outlets and groups either “encouraging violence” or “justifying” Kirk’s killing.

At one point, he singled out a “hack” writer for The Nation who “lied” about Kirk’s views on affirmative action.

“An esteemed magazine published it,” he said of the piece, “Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning” by Elizabeth Spiers, published two days after the assassination.

“It made it through the editors, and of course, liberal billionaires rewarded that attack,” added the vice president, later blaming the Ford Foundation and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations for having “funded” the magazine’s operations.

The Ford Foundation contributed $100,000 to The Nation magazine for an internship program aimed at “building a strong pipeline of highly-skilled, diverse journalists in order to diversify newsrooms and make media more inclusive” between July 2019 and December 2020.

Follow The Post’s live coverage of President Trump and national politics for the latest news and analysis

Open Society Foundations donated $60,000 to The Nation Institute, a nonprofit formerly affiliated with the magazine now known as the Type Media Center, from 2018 to 2020.

A Nation spokesperson said in a statement: “We stand by the writer’s critique of Charlie Kirk, but have clarified the phrasing of a quote by Kirk that Vice President Vance referenced.”

The Ford Foundation called Kirk’s assassination “an appalling act of violence.”

“We extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. Political violence is un-American and a threat to our way of life, and the perpetrator of this heinous crime must be held accountable. The rise in politically motivated violence is a significant crisis in our society that all Americans need to join together to address,” it said in a statement to The Post Monday night.

“The Ford Foundation has not provided any funding to The Nation since 2019.”

Vance also shared: “After Charlie died, one of his friends and one of our senior White House staffers had left-leaning operatives in his neighborhood, passing out leaflets telling people what he looked like and where he lived, encouraging neighbors to harass him — or God forbid to do worse.”

“Are these people violent? I hope not. But are they guilty of encouraging violence? You damn well better believe it,” he thundered.

“We can thank God that most Democrats don’t share these attitudes, and I do, while acknowledging that something has gone very wrong with a lunatic fringe, a minority, but a growing and powerful minority on the far left,” Vance went on.

“There is no unity with people who scream at children over their parents’ politics; there is no unity with someone who lies about what Charlie Kirk said in order to excuse his murder; there is no unity with someone who harasses an innocent family the day after the father of that family lost a dear friend; there is no unity with the people who celebrate Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” he added.

“And there is no unity with the people who fund these articles, who pay the salaries of these terrorist sympathizers who argue that Charlie Kirk, a loving husband and father, deserved a shot to the neck because he spoke words with which they disagree.”

The Nation spokesperson added: “In our 160 years of publication, we’ve long believed that dissent is the highest form of patriotism and we are proud of our journalistic legacy in pursuit of a more equal and just world.” 

“We’ve been criticized by both Democratic and Republican officeholders alike — and we are pleased to have the vice president commenting on what he’s read in The Nation because the White House should be reading The Nation,” the spokesperson went on.

“With that said, the magazine has never received funding from George Soros or the Open Society Foundation, and we are not currently funded by the Ford Foundation. We would of course welcome financial support from either. (As our president, Bhaskar Sunkara, explains, ‘We’d welcome donations from anyone who respects our editorial independence.’)”

A spokesperson for Open Society Foundations said it was “disgraceful to use this tragedy for political ends to dangerously divide Americans and attack the First Amendment.”

“The Open Society Foundations have unequivocally condemned the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk. Our thoughts are with his family and all who are mourning his loss,” the rep added.

“A free and open society depends on people being able to express their views without fear of violence. We are dedicated to upholding the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and strengthening democracy.

“We oppose all forms of violence and condemn the outrageous accusations to the contrary. Our work is entirely peaceful and lawful,” the spokesperson said.