U.S. Vice President JD Vance says Americans should not end friendships over political disagreements.
“That is a terrible place for the United States to go,” he said.
At Thursday’s White House press briefing, which Vance led while the administration searches for a replacement for former press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the vice president was asked about his friendship with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, whom Jewish Republicans have criticized over his anti-Israel rhetoric and his interview last year with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.
“Tucker is a friend despite the fact that we disagree on a number of things,” Vance said. “I’m not gonna play the game where I throw friends under the bus because I have political disagreements.”
“I think that is a terrible place for the United States to go, and if you have a disagreement with somebody politically, even over a deeply held issue, you should still be friends with that person, because the whole republic depends on people of different perspectives being able to talk to one another,” he added. “That’s how I try to live my life, and I encourage everybody else to do the same.”
Vance also recalled attacks on his family during the 2024 presidential campaign.
“When I became the vice presidential nominee, one of the hardest things for me personally is not when people attacked me but when people attacked my wife, including friends of hers who knew her heart, who knew what a good person she was,” the vice president said.
“I remember thinking to myself, ‘What a travesty it is that in the United States of America, we let political disagreements define who our friends are going to be and not going to be.’ So yeah, Tucker is a friend of mine,” Vance said.
On Monday, Vance addressed concerns about his relationship with Carlson at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual summit in Las Vegas, where he spoke privately with Jewish Republicans. He said that he draws a line at what he called a “blood-guilt attitude” but did not explicitly condemn Carlson.
The vice president has been a central figure in the Trump administration’s negotiations with Iran and has publicly criticized Israeli government officials over the war. In June, he said that if he were a member of the Israeli cabinet, he “might not be attacking the only powerful ally” Israel has.
Vance’s defense of Carlson could become an issue in a potential 2028 Republican presidential primary. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a potential rival for the nomination, has repeatedly criticized Carlson.
At the 2025 RJC summit, Cruz appeared to refer to Carlson’s interview with Fuentes when he said, “If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was very, very cool and you say nothing, then you are a coward and you are complicit.”
