Vance-Carlson Friendship Tested Over Michigan Senate Race

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that he will not end his friendship with Tucker Carlson over political disagreements, even as he rejected the commentator's attacks on President Donald Trump and his backing of Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee.

Asked at a White House press briefing about conservatives uneasy with the relationship, Vance said it was obvious that Carlson had said things he disagreed with, including remarks about the president that he considers wrong. He then went further than he has before on the Michigan race. Vance said someone had sent him a clip of Carlson saying he would back Abdul El-Sayed over Republican Mike Rogers, and that whatever anyone thinks of Rogers' policies, he would rather see a non-crazy person in the seat. He called El-Sayed a crazy person twice.

On the friendship itself, Vance did not budge. He said Carlson remains a friend despite their disagreements, and that he would not play the game of throwing friends under the bus over politics, calling that a terrible place for the country to go. He tied it to 2024, when friends of his wife Usha publicly turned on her after he joined the ticket.

The comments follow a week that has left pro-Israel Republicans openly frustrated. On a Tucker Carlson Show episode released September 2, Carlson told Breaking Points co-host Saagar Enjeti that he would not vote for Rogers "at gunpoint", and described the former House Intelligence Committee chairman as a tool of Israel and the intelligence agencies while praising El-Sayed's repackaged campaign as "literally Trumpian." Days earlier, Carlson said Trump should be removed from office immediately over what he described as the prospect of a nuclear first strike against Iran, though Trump has not publicly said he is weighing one.

El-Sayed's record is the reason the race matters well beyond Michigan. The former Detroit and Wayne County health director beat Rep. Haley Stevens by roughly one point in August, has campaigned on universal health care and refusing corporate money, and has called Israel a rogue state while accusing it of genocide and apartheid. He won despite being outspent nine to one, with more than $30 million in AIPAC ad buys going against him, and has pledged to oppose continued American aid to Israel and essentially to impose an arms embargo as well. Rogers, his opponent, has been a consistent supporter of Israel.

That is the backdrop to the pressure on Vance. Speaking Monday to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, he condemned antisemitism but defended his willingness to engage widely, saying he draws bright lines at people who have attacked his wife or praised Hitler. He also sought to distance himself from Nick Fuentes, describing him as someone who really does hate Jews.

It did not settle the question. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley wrote on Tuesday that a person is either with the Tucker Carlson wing of the country or the pro-Israel wing, and cannot be both, quoting Elie Wiesel's line that neutrality helps the oppressor. Some Jewish Republicans have signaled they see Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the more dependable ally, a comparison that carries weight with Vance widely expected to seek the 2028 nomination.