Carlson has been a divisive figure within the conservative movement. As an independent commentator, he has embraced people and ideas that run counter to many conservative values, especially in criticizing Israel and flirting with alternative theories about World War II. The divide within the GOP over Carlson still has fracture lines from last winter, when a slew of Heritage Foundation staff and trustees left that organization when its president defended Carlson for interviewing a known antisemite.
Carlson has also been taking fire from many in the conservative movement as he has turned further against President Trump amid the war with Iran. Last week, Carlson said that left-wing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was “literally Trumpian” and that he wouldn’t vote for El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Trump-endorsed former Rep. Mike Rogers, “at gunpoint.”
Vance has been pressed repeatedly on his relationship with Carlson in recent months, including at a summit of Jewish Republican donors in Las Vegas last week. Although Vance reportedly tried to reassure the attendees that he was staunchly opposed to antisemitism, some were left unsatisfied about his response to questions on his friendship with Carlson.
At the press briefing a few days later, Vance was once again asked about, and once again did not denounce, Carlson.
“Everybody knows that Tucker Carlson and I are friends, and I think it’s very obvious that Tucker has said some things that I disagree with,” Vance said at the briefing. He added that El-Sayed is “a crazy person.”
That answer further riled up conservatives of all stripes.
“It's one thing to say I'm not going to torch a friend, a personal friendship, as a result of a difference of opinions. I think that that sounds halfway reasonable because it is in a vacuum a reasonable thing to say,” said Stephanie Slade, an editor at Reason Magazine and author of a new book about the conservative movement. “But when you are the vice president of the United States and the person you're talking about is one of the most popular podcasters on planet Earth, you do have an obligation to make sure to make sure the people who are looking to you as an example know whether you endorse exactly what you disagree with when you say you have disagreements with somebody, you know what do you disagree with them about and why, and he is clearly avoiding committing himself on that because he does not want to alienate Tucker's fans.”
Ben Shapiro, in a post on social media, said much the same. He referenced a December quote from Vance, when the vice president apparently said the idea that Carlson “has no place in the conservative movement” is “absurd.” Shapiro called for Vance to further articulate which views of Carlson’s are welcome in the movement, and which are not.
“So, the real question is that: does the VP still think that? If so, why? Why, precisely, are Tucker Carlson's views -- El-Sayed as ‘America First,’ Trump as anti-Christ, feudalism as superior to our current system, propagandizing on behalf of shariah law and Russia, anti-Semitic conspiracism, etc. -- a part of the conservative movement?” Shapiro wrote.
Slade noted that Shapiro has been “on the front line” of a conservative pushback to antisemitism and white nationalism within the movement, which, she said, more and more people are denouncing.
“I do think there are some dominoes sort of falling here of people on the right who didn't really realize just where the MAGA energy was going, especially among young people, and are starting to finally wake up to that,” Slade said.
The Hill reached out to Vance for comment. Others, however, are defending Vance’s right to be friends with Carlson and pointing out that the vice president clarified he disagreed with Carlson’s El-Sayed comments and criticisms of Trump.
Sam Markstein, a spokesperson for the Republican Jewish Coalition, which hosted the summit earlier in the week, told the Jerusalem Post at the time that Vance “gave a good answer as to where he draws those lines and what those differences are.”
Mark Halperin, conservative political commentator, suggested on his own show on Sept. 3 that people calling for Vance to fully denounce Tucker as a person were unreasonable.
“I can think of people I know who had grandparents who were racist. Does that mean you don’t love your grandparents?” Halperin said. “I mean, [Vance is] friends with Tucker, they have a friendship that’s based on, you know, all the things friendships are based on. And yet there’s this expectation that he should denounce his friend, beyond just saying where he disagrees with him? I guess I don’t understand the value system that says the vice president has to denounce his friend.”
But Philip Klein, editor of National Review, said the criticism Vance is receiving for his comments on Carlson, both at the Jewish Republicans’ gathering and in the briefing, is justified because he has not distanced himself adequately from Carlson’s antisemitism specifically. That’s especially a hot topic as the debate over Israel threatens to define the 2028 presidential race in both parties.
“At a time of historic levels of antisemitism in America, when the Democratic Party has already been consumed by antisemitism, a lot of people are genuinely worried about whether Republicans will move in the same direction,” Klein wrote. “It is completely legitimate to parse what Vance is saying on this subject.”
No comments:
Post a Comment