The Movement: Vance faces pressure over Carlson friendship

Vice President Vance is in hot water with some conservatives after a press briefing last week where he defended his friendship with Tucker Carlson.

“Tucker is a friend of mine,” Vance said. “Tucker is a friend, despite the fact that we disagree on a number of things. And I’m not going to play the game where I throw friends under the bus because I have political disagreements with them.”

Carlson has been a divisive figure within the conservative movement. As an independent commentator, he has embraced people and ideas that run counter to many conservative values, especially in criticizing Israel and flirting with alternative theories about World War II. The divide within the GOP over Carlson still has fracture lines from last winter, when a slew of Heritage Foundation staff and trustees left the organization when its president defended Carlson for interviewing someone who had espoused antisemitic views.

Carlson has also been taking fire from many in the conservative movement as he has turned further against President Trump amid the war with Iran. Last week, Carlson said that left-wing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was “ literally Trumpian ” and that he wouldn’t vote for El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, the Trump-endorsed former Rep. Mike Rogers (Mich.), “at gunpoint.”

Vance has been pressed repeatedly on his relationship with Carlson in recent months, including at a summit of Jewish Republican donors in Las Vegas last week. Although Vance reportedly tried to reassure the attendees that he was staunchly opposed to antisemitism, some were left unsatisfied with his response to questions on his friendship with Carlson.

At the press briefing a few days later, Vance was once again asked about, and once again did not denounce, Carlson.

“Everybody knows that Tucker Carlson and I are friends, and I think it’s very obvious that Tucker has said some things that I disagree with,” Vance said at the briefing. He added that El-Sayed is “a crazy person.”

That answer further riled up conservatives of all stripes.

“It’s one thing to say I’m not going to torch a friend, a personal friendship, as a result of a difference of opinions. I think that that sounds halfway reasonable because it is in a vacuum a reasonable thing to say,” said Stephanie Slade , an editor at Reason Magazine and author of a new book about the conservative movement. “But when you are the vice president of the United States and the person you’re talking about is one of the most popular podcasters on planet Earth, you do have an obligation to make sure the people who are looking to you as an example know whether you endorse exactly what you disagree with when you say you have disagreements with somebody, you know, what do you disagree with them about and why, and he is clearly avoiding committing himself on that because he does not want to alienate Tucker’s fans.”

Ben Shapiro , in a post on social media , said much the same. He referenced a December quote from Vance, when the vice president apparently said the idea that Carlson “has no place in the conservative movement” is “absurd.” Shapiro called for Vance to further articulate which views of Carlson’s are welcome in the movement, and which are not.

“So, the real question is that: does the VP still think that? If so, why? Why, precisely, are Tucker Carlson’s views — El-Sayed as ‘America First,’ Trump as anti-Christ, feudalism as superior to our current system, propagandizing on behalf of shariah law and Russia, anti-Semitic conspiracism, etc. — a part of the conservative movement?” Shapiro wrote.

Slade noted that Shapiro has been “on the front line” of a conservative pushback against antisemitism and white nationalism within the movement, which, she said, more and more people are denouncing.

“I do think there are some dominoes sort of falling here of people on the right who didn’t really realize just where the MAGA energy was going, especially among young people, and are starting to finally wake up to that,” Slade said.

The Hill reached out to Vance for comment. Others, however, are defending Vance’s right to be friends with Carlson and pointing out that the vice president clarified he disagreed with Carlson’s comments about El-Sayed and criticisms of Trump.

Sam Markstein, a spokesperson for the Republican Jewish Coalition, which hosted the summit earlier in the week, told The Jerusalem Post at the time that Vance “gave a good answer as to where he draws those lines and what those differences are.”

Mark Halperin , a conservative political commentator, suggested on his own show on Sept. 3 that people calling for Vance to fully denounce Tucker as a person were unreasonable.

“I can think of people I know who had grandparents who were racist. Does that mean you don’t love your grandparents?” Halperin said. “I mean, [Vance is] friends with Tucker, they have a friendship that’s based on, you know, all the things friendships are based on. And yet there’s this expectation that he should denounce his friend, beyond just saying where he disagrees with him? I guess I don’t understand the value system that says the vice president has to denounce his friend.”

But Philip Klein , editor of National Review, said the criticism Vance is receiving for his comments on Carlson, both at the Jewish Republicans’ gathering and in the briefing, is justified because he has not distanced himself adequately from Carlson’s antisemitism specifically. That’s especially a hot topic as the debate over Israel threatens to define the 2028 presidential race in both parties.

“At a time of historic levels of antisemitism in America, when the Democratic Party has already been consumed by antisemitism, a lot of people are genuinely worried about whether Republicans will move in the same direction,” Klein wrote. “It is completely legitimate to parse what Vance is saying on this subject.”

Welcome to The Movement , a weekly newsletter looking at the influences and debates on the right in Washington. I’m Helen Huiskes , Senate reporter.

Send me tips, comments, and suggestions: hhuiskes@thehill.com

NOT ALL ARE HAPPY WITH WHITE HOUSE IDEA TO PAY STAY-AT-HOME PARENTS

Conservatives — and many others — are buzzing online about a new proposal from the White House that would allow stay-at-home parents to collect childcare subsidies.

Many family-focused conservatives see it as a win for making it easier for parents to raise their children. Others, though, call it a financially unhealthy kind of social welfare.

The split reflects a broader tension within the movement over government involvement in Americans’ lives. Vice President Vance , among others, has championed using federal incentives to encourage traditional family formation. Conservatives from the limited-government school of thought would prefer a more hands-off approach led by individual families.

The New York Times first reported the existence of the proposed rule change, which has been a priority for groups like the Heritage Foundation since before Trump took office. Roger Severino , a vice president for domestic policy at Heritage, wrote on social media that the Trump administration’s plan is similar to what Heritage had been pushing for and commended the proposal.

“Parents who hand their kids to commercial day care get subsidy payments, while parents who bear the toil, expense, and opportunity cost of raising their kids at home currently get ZERO. It’s illogical and unjust and this proposal would level the playing field,” Severino said.

“Critically, the stay at home benefit for two-parent households would be specifically tied to marriage because of course it should. Our government provides better treatment to marriage all over law and policy because marriage, on average, provides better treatment to kids.”

Critics sniped at the proposal, saying it would expand entitlement spending and comparing it to other countries that have tried and failed federal marriage-and-family incentive programs, like Hungary.

Dana Loesch, a conservative commentator, torched the proposal on the social platform X, calling it “welfare” and a “socialist program.” She said it was an example of “why the GOP has always been bifurcated.”

“People don’t need a nanny state to pay others to mind their own children — and the idea that we’re supposed to shut up and accept this makegood in lieu of ending runaway spending and lowering taxes so people can keep their own money for their own childcare instead of receiving handouts — is an insulting lie,” Loesch said.

GERMAN FAR-RIGHT PARTY BACKED BY US CONSERVATIVES MAKES GAINS

The Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, won big in a regional election in Germany over the weekend, showing that support for right-wing ideas, especially opposition to migration, is still surging in Europe.

Although AfD did not manage to win a majority that would allow them to govern the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the election showed that voters are enthusiastic for a platform resembling the American MAGA movement, and that AfD is closer than ever to overcoming mainstream parties’ opposition to working with them.

The election comes as conservatives in the U.S. look for influence in Western Europe, where many more moderate elected officials, like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz , have pushed back against the Trump administration over its war in Iran. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have criticized the mainstream parties for refusing to work with AfD and for labeling them “extremists,” and AfD leaders have forged ties with the MAGA movement more broadly over recent years. The lead AfD candidate, Ulrich Siegmund , publicly thanked Elon Musk for his support after Musk appeared to congratulate the AfD on Sunday.

The Trump administration is also reportedly planning to spend $4 million through the State Department to boost right-wing media in Europe, according to Reuters .

Sept. 16-18: The Heritage Foundation hosts “Restoring Men’s and Women’s Health Summit: The Future of Health, Fertility, and Family Formation.” The event will cover fertility, family formation, preventive care, nutrition and “broader questions about human flourishing.” Details here .

Sept. 16: American Conservation Coalition, Discipulus Ventures and the Foundation for American Innovation host the New Industrial Age Forum, underwritten by Google, Lockheed Martin, Amazon and others. The goal is to “plan the restoration of America’s industrial independence,” with a focus on tech and AI. Details here .

The Republican National Committee will hold its first-of-a-kind midterm convention this week in Dallas, as Republicans look to hype up voters in advance of the elections. One leader who will not be speaking: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). More here .

Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) wants the Department of Commerce to investigate the Census Bureau, alleging that the Biden administration manipulated the data to advantage Democrats. More here .

The Daily Wire is launching a new talk show, called “District Club,” the first episode of which is out now. It’s a weekly roundtable of Daily Wire reporters, Tim Rice, Ben Domenech and Mary Margaret Olohan, with a rotating guest. More here .