OPINION:
On Monday night, Vice President J.D. Vance gave a closed-door appearance at the Republican Jewish Coalition National Leadership Summit in Las Vegas — reportedly, to a standing ovation.
Jewish Republicans, do not be fooled.
Though much of the media called the “fireside chat” his chance to assuage Jewish voter concerns about his views on Israel, Mr. Vance has already shown his true colors on that score, so any assuaging attempts would have been disingenuous.
Not that Mr. Vance seems to have made many such attempts Monday night.
When asked in general about conservative podcasters who have interviewed anti-Jewish personalities, Mr. Vance — who is said to be planning a 2028 presidential run — failed to mention his friend, former Fox News host turned anti-Jewish conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson.
Instead, he said podcaster Nick Fuentes “really does hate Jews.” (Yeah, we got that from Mr. Fuentes’ repeated denial of the occurrence of the Holocaust and his frequent praise of Adolf Hitler.)
Mr. Vance continued, “As a political matter, I think that we have got to be willing to go everywhere and bring our message anywhere, to any person.”
We have a pretty good idea of what the message might be regarding Israel.
Mr. Vance has made plain, especially since the start of the joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, what he thinks of the Jewish state: It should be grateful for the support it is getting from the Trump administration, and it has no business disagreeing with America about Iran or anything else.
Basically, it should be seen and not heard (but really, not too seen).
Monday night was just the latest in a long line of opportunities Mr. Vance has had to disavow Mr. Carlson, and he did not take it.
This is no trivial matter.
Mr. Carlson’s Jew-hater credentials include having interviewed Mr. Fuentes and another Holocaust denier on his podcast, falsely claiming that Israel persecutes Christians, and saying the Orthodox Jewish Chabad movement was behind the U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran.
At a 2024 campaign stop, in response to whether he would still go on Mr. Carlson’s show after Mr. Carlson interviewed Nazi apologist Darryl Cooper, Mr. Vance said: “We believe in free speech and debate. … This whole idea … if you see a bad idea, the way to solve it is to censor it, I think it’s ridiculous.”
In an interview released in July, Mr. Vance told podcaster Joe Rogan that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “clearly had connections to the upper, the highest levels, of American intelligence” and “clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence.”
There is zero evidence of this.
In the same interview, referring to online influencers he alleged were paid by elements of the Israeli government to attack his Iran negotiating efforts, Mr. Vance said: “My response to that is, well, go to hell.”
Everyone knows how brilliantly the ceasefire went.
In January, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mr. Vance delivered a statement that failed to mention Nazis or Jews.
Late last year, Mr. Vance said that being anti-Israel is not the same as being antisemitic, and he called the debate about whether the U.S. should give aid to Israel “a bit legitimate.”
Jewish Republicans should stop waiting for Mr. Vance to denounce Mr. Carlson, because he will not. Mr. Carlson helped make Mr. Vance, mentoring the younger politician from “Hillbilly Elegy” to the U.S. Senate and reportedly going to bat for him hard in 2024 as President Trump’s second-in-command.
In August, Mr. Vance raised a reported $5 million for the Republican National Committee at a swanky event at his Southampton, New York, home of 1789 Capital President Omeed Malik.
Mr. Malik was an early financier of Last Country Inc., a media holding company that operates the Tucker Carlson Network.
Make no mistake: Mr. Vance is not his boss. Although Mr. Trump is not above criticism, he has done much for Israel, including brokering the Abraham Accords, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and approving $12 billion in major arms sales.
It is a good bet that if elected president, Mr. Vance would walk back or discontinue some, if not much, of this support.
Any Republican voter who values the U.S.-Israel relationship would be wise to steer clear of Mr. Vance’s name if it appears on the ballot in 2028.
• Anath Hartmann is deputy commentary editor for The Washington Times.
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