Vice President JD Vance addressed a closed-door meeting with America’s most influential Jewish Republicans in Las Vegas this week, a sit-down that was supposed to be off-the-record but has already leaked in its entirety. The result: Vance steadied a nervous constituency but left some questions unanswered, according to PJ Media’s account of the event.
Vance called the topic of antisemitism “the elephant in the room” — a phrase that, in the current climate, drew its own share of eye-rolls and mock outrage. But the substance of his remarks was more serious, as he sought to reassure Jewish and pro-Israel Republicans that the administration takes their concerns seriously.
A Common Enemy
Vance’s appearance was bolstered by a strategically timed campaign stop in Michigan the same day, where he delivered a blistering attack on Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. The vice president called El-Sayed “evil” at a MAGA Inc. rally, saying the Michigan candidate represents a dangerous strain of identity-based politics.
“I realize that there’s something about Abdul El-Sayed that is very, very evil and on the rise in the United States of America today,” Vance said, according to the rally remarks. He went on to frame El-Sayed’s candidacy as one that pits groups against each other rather than uniting Americans.
That messaging played well in Las Vegas, where Jewish Republicans — many of whom have grown anxious about El-Sayed’s criticism of Israel and AIPAC — found Vance’s framing persuasive. The vice president’s verbal takedown of El-Sayed earned applause from a room that has been watching the Michigan race closely.
The Carlson Problem
But Vance was less successful on the second item of his agenda: separating himself from Tucker Carlson. The event’s emcee, former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), gave Vance a direct opportunity to address Carlson’s rhetoric and that of other prominent podcasters who have platformed antisemitic figures.
Vance declined to single out Carlson, instead pivoting to a defense of engaging with Joe Rogan. He drew a distinction between Rogan and Nick Fuentes, calling them “two very, very different categories of people.” Vance argued that writing off Rogan entirely would be a mistake, citing data showing Rogan reaches 35 to 40% of persuadable voters compared to 5 to 10% for other podcasters.
“I think it’s a mistake to sort of say we’re going to write Joe Rogan off because he said something that we don’t like,” Vance said. “I think the best approach is to actually go in there, and talk to him, and make the arguments as best as you can.”
His “bright lines,” he said, are engaging with those who have attacked his wife or called Hitler a good guy. That left some in the room dissatisfied, particularly given Carlson’s history of statements about Israel and Jewish figures that many Republicans find deeply concerning.
An Existential Concern
For Jewish Republicans, the stakes are high. The Democratic Party, in their view, has been captured by pro-Palestinian forces — AOC, Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani, and El-Sayed are no longer outliers, they argue, but the mainstream of the left-wing base. If the GOP drifts in a similar direction under the influence of figures like Carlson, pro-Israel voters could find themselves with no political home.
Vance’s approach — refusing to denounce Carlson while trying to hold the line against more extreme figures like Fuentes — may be a short-term political necessity, but it carries risk. “You’ve gotta stop the bleeding before you can start the healing,” one observer noted, and by that measure, the Vegas meeting was a modest success.
Vance came across as reasonable, sincere, and respectful, acknowledging Israel’s importance to American foreign policy and connecting the rise of antisemitism to unchecked immigration — a message that unifies much of the GOP base. He did it, PJ Media reported, without pandering.
But the failure to draw a harder line on Carlson could haunt him as he builds toward a potential 2028 presidential run. The vice president’s bandwagon probably didn’t gain any new diehards in Las Vegas, but he may have stopped Jewish and pro-Israel Republicans from actively jumping off.
Source: pjmedia.com — https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2026/09/01/jd-vance-and-the-jews-the-political-fallout-from-the-vegas-sit-down-heard-round-the-world-n4956779
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