U.S. Vice President JD Vance condemned antisemitism at a town hall in Michigan on Saturday. The question came from a Jewish father whose two young children survived the March attack on Temple Israel. He asked whether Vance would publicly confront influential figures on the right who spread antisemitic rhetoric, naming Tucker Carlson as an example.
“I condemn antisemitism. I condemn Jew hatred,” Vance said.
The questioner, Eddie Rubin, described himself as a lifelong Democrat. His 5-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son were inside Temple Israel when the attacker struck. The attacker, a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen, drove a pickup truck through the synagogue’s entrance and then exchanged fire with security guards. He was killed, and no children or staff members were hurt.
Vance then turned to Michigan’s Senate race. He criticized Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed for saying after the attack that “hurt people hurt people.” Vance told Rubin that El-Sayed had shown empathy for the attacker rather than for families like his. El-Sayed condemned the attack at the time and later apologized for the phrasing, saying he never meant to justify the violence.
The town hall was hosted by CBS News and moderated by anchor Tony Dokoupil. It was held in Flat Rock as Michigan’s open Senate seat, contested by El-Sayed and Republican former congressman Mike Rogers, becomes a key battleground for control of the Senate.
The question touched on an issue that has dogged Vance for months. At the Republican Jewish Coalition’s summit in Las Vegas in September, RJC chairman Norm Coleman asked where he draws the line on podcast appearances. Coleman named Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Joe Rogan and Nick Fuentes. Vance answered only about Rogan and Fuentes. Days later at the White House, Vance said he and Carlson are friends and that Carlson had said some things he disagrees with. He made clear the friendship would continue.
Carlson has drawn sharp criticism from Jewish leaders and Republican lawmakers. Much of it followed his interview with Fuentes, a Holocaust denier.
As JFeed reported on October 9, Carlson released a podcast episode with commentator Dave Smith around the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre. On it, he argued that Americans murdered on October 7 should not count because they were also Israeli. In the same episode, he said that freed hostage Edan Alexander of Tenafly, New Jersey, was “not even technically American.” Alexander is an American citizen.
Two days later, JFeed reported that Zehut party chairman Moshe Feiglin had hit back at Carlson with a video of his own. Carlson had aired a clip of Feiglin’s comments on Gaza and told viewers that Feiglin was part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.
Vance is widely seen as the frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, and his ties to Carlson have unsettled many Jewish Republicans.
