Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), the Republican vice-presidential nominee, declined to distance himself from right-wing talk show host Tucker Carlson for hosting a Holocaust distortionist who called Winston Churchill the “chief villain” of World War II, but spoke out against the crackpot guest whom he follows on his X accounts.

Carlson has drawn unusually fierce criticism from several elected Republicans over his decision to host Darryl Cooper, a self-proclaimed podcast historian, on his program. Carlson described Cooper as “the best and most honest popular historian in the United States,” and declined to push back on any of the false claims made during their conversation. 

In the interview, Cooper diminished the Holocaust by claiming that “millions of prisoners of war” had “ended up dead” in concentration camps, suggesting the Nazis did not have genocidal aims against Jews but were simply “unprepared” for the war, among other false assertions. 

A spokesman for the Ohio senator, who will appear with Carlson at an upcoming stop on the conservative commentator’s speaking tour, told Jewish Insider in a statement that, “Senator Vance doesn’t believe in guilt-by-association cancel culture but he obviously does not share the views of the guest interviewed by Tucker Carlson. There are no stronger supporters of our allies in Israel or the Jewish community in America than Senator Vance and President Trump.”

The statement went on: “As Senator Vance and President Trump stand steadfastly in support of our allies in Israel, radical Kamala Harris continues to cater to the antisemitic Hamas wing of her party.”

Carlson and Vance have a close professional relationship. The former Fox News host lobbied former President Donald Trump aggressively to choose Vance as his running mate, and the senator has appeared on his online streaming program numerous times. 

Vance’s appearance on Carlson’s speaking tour, taking place on Sept. 21 in Hershey, Pa., is still moving forward despite the controversy over the Cooper interview. Donald Trump Jr., who also has a close relationship with the political commentator, will separately appear with Carlson for a tour stop in Jacksonville, Fla., one week later after the Vance event. 

The White House on Thursday strongly condemned Carlson for platforming the Holocaust denier. Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement: “Giving a microphone to a Holocaust denier who spreads Nazi propaganda is a disgusting and sadistic insult to all Americans, to the memory of the over 6 million Jews who were genocidally murdered by Adolf Hitler, to the service of the millions of Americans who fought to defeat Nazism, and to every subsequent victim of Antisemitism.”

Several Jewish Republican operatives privately expressed concern that Carlson’s behavior could be damaging to the Trump-Vance ticket, and worried about how the campaign will handle the matter. 

“It’s not cancel culture. The problem they have is: what’s going to happen when somebody raises their hand on the trail and says, ‘Sen. Vance, as a Marine, do you believe that the American boys who died storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day were fighting a force that was just as evil as us? What do you say to World War II veterans? Do you agree with Cooper’s statement?'” one senior GOP staffer, who works for one of the most conservative members of Congress, told JI on condition of anonymity. 

“What happens when somebody stands up at the Tucker event, at the tour and goes, ‘Tucker, I really agree with what you said about the Jews.’ How do you prevent that while J.D. is on stage?” they added, arguing that this could be a broader problem that the campaign has to deal with now that Carlson has made it an issue. 

A second Republican campaign operative, also speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the difficulties involved for conservatives in criticizing someone with a significant MAGA following as Carlson. 

“You can’t go after Tucker without his audience thinking that you’re targeting them and that you’re targeting Trump in some way. That entire audience, it’s millions of our party’s base voters. It’s understandably uncomfortable, certainly for Trump,” they said, noting that the former president’s “son has hitched his wagon to the guy.”