Source: Politics<\/p>\n
LAS VEGAS \u2014 Vice President JD Vance tried to make inroads with Jewish Republicans. Not everyone is sold.<\/p>\n
Vance\u2019s closed-door speech<\/a> at the Republican Jewish Coalition\u2019s annual leadership summit Monday night went a long way in alleviating top pro-Israel donors\u2019 concerns about his support for the U.S.-Israeli relationship, and it cemented their view that Vance would be a preferable choice to whomever the Democratic Party nominee is in 2028.<\/p>\n But some attendees still have questions for Vance \u2014 particularly around his relationship with conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who has long drawn ire from the Republican Jewish leaders for his criticism of Israel and outraged many<\/a> when he hosted the antisemite Nick Fuentes for a lengthy podcast interview<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n “He allayed a lot of concern, but he failed to address his relationship with Tucker Carlson, and that left a lot of people wondering why,\u201d said Josh Katzen, a real estate developer and member of the RJC board, speaking in his personal capacity.<\/p>\n Vance, the current front-runner<\/a> for the Republican nomination in 2028, has long faced skepticism<\/a> from Jewish Republicans who question his commitment to the U.S.-Israeli relationship and his response to antisemitism within the GOP. In his speech Monday, he took both issues head-on, and largely appeased the skeptical crowd with his answers, declaring that \u201cJew-hatred is corrosive to the soul\u201d and saying Republicans need to articulate to young Americans why an alliance with Israel is in the best interest of the U.S.<\/p>\n But his meandering response to a question about Carlson and other podcasters left some in attendance yearning for more.<\/p>\n \u201cA few names: Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Joe Rogan, Nick Fuentes. They have platformed antisemites,\u201d former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), the RJC\u2019s board chair, asked Vance. \u201cHow do you draw the line, in terms of \u2026 the platforms that you appear on?<\/p>\n \u201cI recognize a lot of people in this room may disagree with things that Tucker Carlson or Megyn Kelly or Joe Rogan have said,\u201d Vance said, before pivoting to discuss Rogan and Fuentes, saying those are \u201ctwo very, very different categories of people\u201d and suggesting people like Rogan should be reasoned with, even when there are disagreements.<\/p>\n The answer was not sufficient to some, who wonder about his longtime relationship with Carlson. Vance was a regular on Carlson\u2019s Fox News show and credited<\/a>Carlson for helping carry him to victory in his 2022 U.S. Senate primary in Ohio. In 2024, Carlson pushed for Trump to pick Vance<\/a> as his running mate.<\/p>\n \u201cJD Vance allying himself with an individual who has called for Trump’s immediate removal<\/a> from office will make it harder for many of us Jewish conservatives to consider his candidacy,\u201d said Shabbos Kestenbaum, a pro-Israel campus activist who spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2024 and spoke at last year\u2019s RJC conference. \u201cWe hope this issue is resolved quickly so we can focus on policy, not personality.\u201d<\/p>\n Eric Levine, a major GOP donor and member of the RJC board, said Vance could\u2019ve had \u201can incredible Sister Souljah moment\u201d if he took on Carlson.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my view, on the issue of Jews and Israel, there is no difference between Hasan Piker, Zohran Mamdani, Abdul El-Sayed and the DSA writ large on the one hand and Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, Marjorie Taylor Green and neo-Nazis on the other hand,\u201d said Levine, speaking in his personal capacity. \u201cThat is why I wish the vice president had unambiguously separated himself and condemned Tucker by name.\u201d<\/p>\n Conservative radio host Sid Rosenberg also wasn\u2019t satisfied. Just hours after urging RJC attendees in a speech onstage to \u201cgive Vance a chance,\u201d he was critical of how Vance handled that opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a chance to hammer @TuckerCarlson and @megynkelly but instead spent all his time defending @joerogan over Nick Fuentes,\u201d Rosenberg wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cLook, he\u2019s still better than any Democrat candidate but I don\u2019t think he wowed the STRONG Jews in the room tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n Carlson, in a text message, said, \u201cAn organization that promotes and defends genocide is continuing to insist that they\u2019re the real victims? I can\u2019t imagine who buys this nonsense anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Human rights groups have accused Israel of genocide over its conduct in the war in Gaza, which the country’s leaders vehemently deny. Vance\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.<\/p>\n An individual close to Vance, granted anonymity to describe sentiment within the vice president\u2019s orbit, said there was no illusion Vance would win over every person in attendance, \u201cor that every single person would love every single answer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal was to lower the temperature, extend an olive branch, and make clear that the vice president is an ally, not an enemy,\u201d the person said, arguing that goal was \u201cachieved.\u201d<\/p>\n Sam Markstein, spokesperson for the RJC, emphasized that the organization is a coalition.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will always be many opinions within the organization,\u201d Markstein said. \u201cIn an hour when too many public figures are walking away from the Jewish community and the U.S.-Israel relationship, the Republican Jewish Coalition will always stand with the leaders who show up. Vice President JD Vance shows up \u2014 and received multiple standing ovations with thunderous applause.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance, who was elected to the Senate in 2022, faces a fundamental disadvantage among potential Republican 2028ers: He\u2019s still a relative newcomer to the Republican political scene.<\/p>\n Others, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), have developed relationships with pro-Israel Republicans in both the Jewish and evangelical Christian communities for years, going well back before their respective 2016 presidential runs. Rubio has pushed to revoke visas<\/a> from individuals accused of promoting antisemitism or supporting terrorism. Cruz has publicly sparred with Carlson<\/a>, criticizing him of antisemitism. A Cruz-aligned nonprofit<\/a> recently launched to take on right-wing antisemitism.<\/p>\n Vance\u2019s speech was his first at an RJC leadership summit, though he attended in 2022. It was the first time since 2019 a sitting president or vice president attended the conference, which draws some of the country\u2019s most influential Republican donors.<\/p>\n Not being a favorite among RJC leaders wasn\u2019t an impediment to Donald Trump\u2019s political outsider 2016 presidential bid. During that campaign, he was accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes<\/a> during a speech to the RJC and in a social media post<\/a>. But upon taking office, he formed a strong relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, culminating in the Abraham Accords<\/a> and moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Speakers at the RJC\u2019s two-day summit this week frequently referred to Trump as the most pro-Israel president in U.S. history.<\/p>\n But Rubio and Cruz have been fixtures at past iterations of the RJC\u2019s annual leadership summit, and they maintain strong ties with the group\u2019s leadership. (None have announced whether they\u2019ll seek the presidential nomination, though Rubio has stated he will not run<\/a> if Vance does.)<\/p>\n Many attendees said Rubio is still the favorite amongst the crowd.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time Marco Rubio’s name is mentioned in this conference, there’s a spontaneous round of applause,\u201d said Katzen, the RJC board member. Indeed, when Rosenberg urged attendees to welcome Vance in a speech Monday, he mentioned the hypothetical, \u201cIf Marco Rubio was here tonight\u2014\u201d and was drowned out by applause.<\/p>\n Should Rubio not run for the nomination against Vance, other observers think Cruz will have the inside lane among the RJC crowd.<\/p>\n “Ted Cruz is loved here, and he deserves to be loved here,\u201d said Levine, prior to Vance\u2019s speech. \u201cLook, if it’s Cruz and Vance, I expect that this crowd would be 90 percent Cruz.”<\/p>\n Ari Fleischer, an RJC board member and a former White House press secretary, said Vance made inroads \u2014 but building a relationship with the pro-Israel community takes time.<\/p>\n “It’s fair to say hearts and minds are changing, but I think it’s also fair to say that when you come before the Republican Jewish Coalition, it’s like when you come to New Hampshire to campaign,\u201d Fleischer said. \u201cAfter the third or fourth time, we let you know how you’re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n