Vice President JD Vance’s fireside chat with Republican Jewish Coalition Chairman Norm Coleman was met with a largely positive response in its immediate aftermath, with RJC board members largely agreeing that the event had helped Vance alleviate concerns among top Jewish Republicans, particularly about where he stands on Israel and antisemitism.

Several board members came out of the speech, which took place on Monday night at the RJC’s leadership summit in Las Vegas, saying they’d be prepared to support Vance if he runs in the 2028 presidential election.

Yet even shortly after the conversation, some observers, including some who were otherwise broadly supportive of Vance’s remarks, said that his comments — or lack thereof — on one issue had disappointed members of the crowd: Tucker Carlson.

Coleman posed a broad question to Vance about a range of right-wing commentators including Carlson, Joe Rogan, Megyn Kelly and Nick Fuentes, asking how he decides whether to engage with them.

Vance focused his answer on drawing a spectrum between the often-apolitical Rogan and the white nationalist, neo-Nazi Fuentes. He said he believes in most cases, like Rogan, that it’s better to engage and use their platform to get his message out. But he said that there are other figures like Fuentes — whom Vance proactively condemned even before Coleman posed the question — whose views and comments are so abhorrent that he won’t engage with them.

He acknowledged that many in the room might disagree with comments by Carlson or Kelly but did not say anything specific about Carlson’s antisemitic turn or whether he remains willing to engage with him.  

There’s been intense focus on Vance’s relationship with Carlson in light of his past defense of the commentator as a “friend of mine” who should not be expelled from the conservative movement and whom he would not throw “under the bus” — even as Carlson’s podcast has become a platform for virulently antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust-denying content. In 2024, Carlson was reportedly a key advocate for Vance to get the VP slot. 

More recently, Carlson has withdrawn his support for President Donald Trump, a break that was made clear after Trump’s declaration of war against Iran earlier this year — an aspect of their relationship Vance hasn’t yet addressed.  

In the days since Vance’s appearance at the RJC, frustration and concern has grown in Jewish and pro-Israel conservative circles about Vance not directly addressing Carlson in his answer.

“If you truly oppose antisemitism say, ‘I reject and condemn antisemitism in all its forms and in every way.’ That wasn’t too tough,” conservative talk show host Mark Levin wrote on X on Tuesday. “And this, ‘I will not tolerate those who say antisemitic things and promote Jew-hatred, and that includes Tucker Carlson and his ilk.’ Very easy. Simple. Clear. Straightforward. Is that expecting too much from any Republican official? I think not.”

Vance’s office did not provide comment on those criticisms.

Vance’s remarks, including during his answer about the podcasters, also raised some eyebrows for the way he used the terms “blood libel” and “blood guilt” interchangeably, referring to, as he described it, punishing individuals for their heritage or ancestry.

Blood libel, particularly in the context of antisemitism, refers specifically to the centuries-old myth of Jews murdering non-Jewish children to use their blood in religious ceremonies. 

Carlson, meanwhile, leveled a broadside against the RJC in response to an inquiry from Politico. “An organization that promotes and defends genocide is continuing to insist that they’re the real victims? I can’t imagine who buys this nonsense anymore,” he told the outlet. 

JI asked Vance’s office for the vice president’s response to Carlson’s attack against the organization in front of which he just spoke, but did not receive a response.