PHOENIX (AP) — Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that the conservative movement should be open to everyone as long as they “love America,” refusing to condemn a spate of anti-Semitism that has divided the Republican Party and marred the opening days of the annual Turning Point USA convention.
After a long weekend of debate over whether the movement should exclude figures like bigoted podcaster Nick Fuentes, Vance came out firmly against “purity tests.”
“We didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or de-platform,” Vance said during the convention’s closing remarks.
Turning Point leader Erika Kirk, who took the helm after her husband Charlie Kirk was assassinated, endorsed Vance as a potential successor to President Donald Trump, a helpful nod from an influential group with an army of volunteers.
But the tension on display at the four-day meeting foreshadowed the treacherous political waters that Vance, or anyone else seeking the next Republican presidential nomination, will have to navigate in the coming years. Leading voices in the “Make America Great Again” movement are jostling for influence as Republicans begin to contemplate a future without Trump and no clear path to hold their coalition together.
Defining a post-Trump GOP
The Republican Party’s identity has been intertwined with Trump for a decade, but he is constitutionally ineligible to run for re-election, despite his thoughts of a third term. Tucker Carlson said people are asking, “who gets the car when the president leaves the scene?”
So far, it looks like resolving that question will come with a lot of fighting between conservatives. The Turning Point conference featured arguments about anti-Semitism, Israel and environmental regulation, not to mention rivalries among top commentators.
Ben Shapiro, co-founder of the conservative Daily Wire, used his opening night speech to denounce “charlatans who claim to speak for principle but actually peddle conspiracy and dishonesty.”
“These people are scammers and scammers and not worth your time,” Shapiro said. He specifically called out Carlson for hosting Fuentes for a friendly interview on his podcast.
Carlson brushed off the criticism when he took the stage barely an hour later and said the idea of a Republican “civil war” was “completely bogus.”
“There are people who are upset with JD Vance and they’re causing a lot of this to make sure he doesn’t get the nomination,” he said. Carlson described Vance as “the only person” who subscribes to the “core idea of the Trump coalition,” which Carlson said is “America first.”
Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet framed the discord as a healthy debate about the future of the movement, an uncomfortable but necessary process of finding consensus.
“We’re not hive minded commissars,” he wrote on social media. “Let him play.”
If you love America, you’re welcome to the movement, says Vance
Vance acknowledged the controversies that dominated the Turning Point conference, but defined no boundaries for the conservative movement other than patriotism.
“We don’t care if you’re black or white, rich or poor, young or old, rural or urban, controversial or a little boring, or somewhere in between,” he said.
Vance did not name anyone, but his comments came amid an increasingly contentious debate over whether the right should give a platform to commentators who espouse anti-Semitic views, particularly Fuentes, whose followers are seen as working to preserve America’s white Christian identity. Fuentes has a growing audience, as does top podcaster Candace Owens, who routinely shares anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
“We have much more important work to do than canceling each other out,” he said.
Vance ticked off what he said were the administration’s accomplishments as it approaches the one-year mark, noting its efforts at the border and in the economy. He highlighted efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies, drawing applause saying they had been relegated to the “dustbin of history”.
“In the United States of America, you don’t have to apologize for being white anymore,” he said.
Vance also said that the US “will always be a Christian nation,” adding that “Christianity is America’s creed, the common moral language from the Revolution to the Civil War and beyond.”
Those comments resonated with Isaiah White-Diller, an 18-year-old from Yuma, Arizona, who said he would support Vance if he ran for president.
“I have my right to be a Christian here, I have the right to say whatever I want,” White-Diller said.
Turning Point supports Vance
Vance hasn’t revealed his future plans, but Erika Kirk said Thursday that Turning Point wants Vance “elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible.” The next president will be the 48th in US history.
Turning Point is a major force on the right with a nationwide volunteer network that can be especially helpful in early primary states when candidates rely on grassroots energy to build momentum. In a surprise appearance, rapper Nicki Minaj gushed about Trump and Vance.
Vance was close to Charlie Kirk and they supported each other over the years. After Kirk’s assassination on a college campus in Utah, the vice president flew on Air Force Two to collect Kirk’s remains and bring them home to Arizona. The vice president helped uniformed service members carry the casket onto the plane.
Emily Meck, 18, of Pine City, New York, said she appreciated that Vance made room for a wide variety of views.
“We’re free thinkers, we’re going to have these disagreements, we’re going to have our own thoughts,” Meck said.
Trump spoke highly of both Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential successors, even suggesting they could form a future Republican ticket. Rubio said he would support Vance.
Asked in August if Vance was the “heir apparent,” Trump said “most likely.”
“It’s too early to talk about that obviously, but he’s certainly doing a great job and would probably be the favorite at the moment,” he said.