Vice President JD Vance said Thursday he is still friends with Tucker Carlson, even after the commentator called for President Donald Trump’s removal from office and condemned Mike Rogers the same week Vance stumped for him.
Vance was asked during a White House press briefing about conservatives who are leery of his close connection with Carlson, particularly as the former Fox News host has attacked Trump and the Republican Party more broadly.
“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. “He said some things about the President of the United States that I think are just wrong.”
Vance’s comments came after Carlson said he could never support Mike Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed in the critical Michigan midterm Senate race.
“I think El-Sayed’s a crazy person,” Vance said. “And I think whatever your views on Mike Rogers’ specific policy prescriptions, I’d like to have a non-crazy person like Mike Rogers representing Michigan in the United States Senate, rather than a crazy person like El-Sayed.”
Vance said his disagreements with Carlson did not mean he would end their friendship. He recalled watching friends of his wife, Usha Vance, publicly turn against her after Trump selected him as his running mate in 2024.
“I remember thinking to myself, what a travesty it is that in the United States of America, we let political disagreements define who our friends are going to be and not going to be,” Vance said.
“So yeah, Tucker is a friend of mine,” he continued. “Tucker is a friend, despite the fact that we disagree on a number of things. And I’m not gonna play the game where I throw friends under the bus because I have political disagreements with them.”
During an episode of his podcast released Wednesday, Carlson and commentator Saagar Enjeti lauded El-Sayed for his “America First” campaign. Enjeti noted El-Sayed’s opposition to U.S. support for Israel and his focus on keeping health care affordable.
“He stands in front of a giant American flag. It’s almost Trumpian in terms of a lot —” Enjeti said.
“Well, it’s literally Trumpian,” Carlson interjected.
Carlson said he “wouldn’t vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint” and that there was “no one who should be farther from a position of power” than the Republican candidate.
Carlson has sharply criticized the Trump administration’s approach to the war in Iran and previously sparked controversy by questioning whether Trump could be the “Antichrist” after the president posted an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus.
“If you have a disagreement with somebody politically, even over a deeply held issue, you should still be friends with that person, because the whole republic depends on people of different perspectives being able to talk to one another,” Vance said.
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