The sitting vice president can’t separate himself from views that he also shares.
Do you remember the famous “slap” at the Academy Awards? Will Smith got up and whacked Chris Rock after the latter made a joke about Jada Pinkett, Smith’s wife. There is a key point in the drama. Between the mean joke and the kinetic response, Pinkett whispered something into her husband’s ear. If I were a betting man, I would wager that she said something to the effect that if my honor means anything to you, do something. Smith probably wanted the joke and Rock to disappear, but if his wife raised the stakes — are you a man or not? — then a physical response was all but required.
JD Vance apparently likes Barack Obama because they both love the art of creating straw men. Both are bright, went to Ivy League universities, and tend to tack left on economics. Last week, JD Vance was given two generous opportunities to make it clear that he does not subscribe to the vile views of Tucker Carlson. The former Fox News star has attacked JD’s boss, Donald Trump, on several occasions — most recently demanding that he be removed from office. JD likes to portray the situation as one in which some external forces are demanding that he separate himself and denounce his friend. This is not the case. At the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas last week, Vance refused to address his relationship with Carlson. At the end of the week, when JD filled in for the White House spokesperson, he let us know that he has some disagreements with Carlson. You don’t say? He never described them in the past. He simply said that one is allowed to have disagreements with friends. So what do you disagree on? Could you spell things out for us voters? Do you believe in the following positions spouted by Carlson:
- Donald Trump was pushed into war by Bibi Netanyahu?
- Israel committed genocide in Gaza
- Donald Trump should be removed from office
- Israel convinced Americans that Islamic terror is a problem in the U.S.
- Donald Trump is an evil “antichrist” figure
- The Republican nominee for Senate in Michigan is less “America First” than the pro-Sharia Islamist Democrat candidate
And on and on.
JD could have done the honorable thing and would have satisfied those who are trying to figure out if they want to support him: he could reaffirm his friendship with Carlson but clearly and forcefully reject his anti-Trump, antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American statements. But he refuses to do so. He said that they had some disagreements without telling us any details about exactly which issues are subject to differing views. Ah, Michigan: they disagree about the nominees for Senate. Anything else? And even though JD went to Yale, he is not dumb. He knows exactly what he is doing, and what he is doing is politically foolish and wrong. He thinks that separating himself from Carlson would risk some massive young Groyper movement that would send him to the White House. Reality says otherwise. Carlson’s support has not yielded a single electoral victory in recent primaries. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-3) is now waxing Carlson’s car as he and Marjorie Taylor Greene have no future in the U.S. Congress. Whoever Carlson supports loses because... his movement is in his head. Sure, he has some followers, many of them bots, foreigners, and America-hating Democrats. Within the MAGA-rich Republican Party, his standing is that of a leftover diaper. Donald Trump has taken to social media several times to attack his former supporter, calling him “low IQ” and other names that are befitting the loser that Carlson has become. JD could simply have done a simple operation: keep the patient but remove his views from his orbit. But he refuses to do so. And with that, JD Vance can kiss the presidency — if he is really interested in it — goodbye.
If he actually has no intention of running for president, then why should he make any effort to separate himself from his Jew-hating friend? He’ll finish in 2028 and then look for some lucrative opportunity outside of politics. Being friends with Carlson or not would be no big issue if he does not expect to run again for office. If he does wish to be the Republican nominee in 2028, then continued association with Carlson shows that JD has really lousy political antennae. It’s not just Jews who are turned off by Carlson. He has attacked evangelical Christians for their support of Israel. How do his fawning interviews of the Tate brothers go over with women voters? Is Carlson popular with independents? What about his embrace of Islam and Putin — is that a good one for the Republican base?
Every president has had to remove some association in order to remain electorally viable. Whether it was Obama with Reverend Wright or Trump with former favorite Carlson, smart politicians realize that there is a time to cut bait. If being a good friend who does not upbraid his buddy is more important than getting elected, then I suggest that JD look for a position at a university. If he wants the tens of millions of votes required to secure a national victory, then he needs to take positions and have associates whose views reflect the goals, yearnings, hopes, and desires of the American people. If a close advisor was found to be a pedophile, would he stick with him or jettison him to the Outer Hebrides? We want presidents with character, and if a guy makes Goebbels-level claims against American Jews, then we expect his friend seeking public office to minimally disassociate himself and preferably attack the Jew-hater. But not JD. He smugly thinks that he is above it all: I will not betray a friend! We have some small policy quibbles! It will not be just the Jews who abandon this guy. Many Republicans are turned off by what Carlson and his band of clowns have become. JD can choose them, but he will lose millions of votes in the process.
Ultimately, JD Vance is too honest to separate himself from Tucker — because he believes in the same thing that Carlson does. At a TPUSA event shortly after Charlie Kirk’s murder, JD showed me who he was. A young college student asked why the U.S. is a friend of Israel, a country he said committed a genocide and whose religion supports attacks on Christians and Christian sites. JD could have easily neutralized these lies because they are lies. Instead, he went on about how the U.S. will work with Israel when it is in U.S. interest. He did not suggest that the young fellow’s claims were false. When he was at the Jewish confab in Vegas, he suggested that the Jews turn to the Gospels. Does he think that a religion that was around well before Christianity and has continued for over 3,000 years does not have the texts, history, beliefs, and ways to go forward within the traditional framework of Judaism? JD knows that if he attacks Carlson, he will be a liar in his own eyes: he agrees with him on his anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, and probably anti-Trump views. I don’t think that Will Smith wanted to get up and slap his friend. But he had to. I don’t think that JD has the courage to push away the vile views of his friends, and at this time he feels no need to do so. He is Tucker and Tucker is JD.
One of the tragic figures in Jewish history is King Saul. He was tall, handsome, smart, and brave. He had it all going for him but ultimately failed as the first Jewish king. JD Vance is a bright and accomplished guy. He will never be president of the United States.
