Vance refuses to set red lines over bigotry at Turning Point USA’s convention : NPR

PHOENIX — Vice President J.D. Vance said Sunday that the conservative movement should be open to everyone as long as they “love America,” refusing to condemn the streak of anti-Semitism that has divided the Republican Party and roiled the early days of the annual Turning Point USA convention.

After a long weekend of debate over whether figures like fanatical podcaster Nick Fuentes should be expelled from the movement, Vance came out strongly against “purity tests.”

“I did not bring a list of conservatives to censure or abandon the platform,” Vance said during the convention’s closing speech.

Turning Point leader Erica Kirk, who took the helm after the murder of her husband Charlie Kirk, has endorsed Vance as a potential successor to President Donald Trump, a useful nod from a powerful group with an army of volunteers.

But the tensions evident at the four-day meeting foreshadowed the treacherous political waters that Vance or anyone else vying for the next Republican presidential nomination will have to navigate in the coming years. Leading voices in the Make America Great Again movement are jockeying for influence as Republicans begin to consider a future without Trump with no clear path to keeping his coalition together.

Defining the Republican Party after Trump

The Republican Party's identity has been intertwined with Trump for a decade, but he is constitutionally barred from running for re-election, despite his musings about seeking a third term. Tucker Carlson said people are wondering, “Who's going to get the cars when the president leaves the stage?”

For now, it appears that resolving this issue will require a bitter fight among conservatives. The Turning Point conference featured debates over anti-Semitism, Israel and environmental regulations, not to mention rivalries among leading commentators.

Ben Shapiro, co-founder of the conservative Daily Wire, used his opening speech to denounce “charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but are in fact engaged in conspiracy and dishonesty.”

“These people are scammers, scammers, and don’t deserve your time,” Shapiro said. He specifically encouraged Carlson to host a friendly interview with Fuentes on his podcast.

Carlson brushed off the criticism when he took the stage just an hour later and said the idea of ​​a Republican “civil war” was “totally bogus.”

“There are people who are angry at J.D. Vance, and they're stirring this up to make sure he doesn't get the nomination,” he said. Carlson described Vance as “the one person” who supports the “core message of the Trump coalition,” which Carlson said was “America First.”

Turning Point spokesman Andrew Colvet called the disagreement a healthy discussion about the future of the movement, an uncomfortable but necessary process of finding consensus.

“We are not collective communists,” he wrote on social networks. “Let it play out.”

If you love America, welcome to the movement, Vance says.

Vance acknowledged the divisions that dominated the Turning Point conference but did not define any boundaries for the conservative movement beyond patriotism.

“We don’t care if you’re white or black, rich or poor, young or old, rural or urban, controversial or a little boring, or anything in between,” he said.

Vance did not name any names, but his comments came in the midst of an increasingly contentious debate over whether the right should give a platform to commentators who espouse anti-Semitic views, especially Fuentes, whose followers believe they are working to preserve America's white Christian identity. Fuentes has a growing following, as does top-rated podcaster Candace Owens, who regularly shares anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

“We have much more important work to do than cancel each other,” he said.

Vance noted what he said were the administration's accomplishments as it approaches the one-year mark, noting its efforts on the border and on the economy. He highlighted efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies, drawing applause as he said they had been consigned to the “ash heap of history.”

“In the United States of America, you no longer have to apologize for being white,” he said.

Vance also said that the United States “will always be a Christian nation,” adding that “Christianity is America's creed, the common moral language from the Revolution to the Civil War and beyond.”

Those comments resonated with Isaiah White-Diller, an 18-year-old from Yuma, Arizona, who said he would support Vance if he ran for president.

“I have the right to be a Christian here, I have the right to say whatever I want,” White-Diller said.

Turning Point endorsed Vance

Vance hasn't revealed his future plans, but Erica Kirk said Thursday that Turning Point wants Vance “elected to 48 seats in the loudest way possible.” The next president will be the 48th in US history.

Turning Point is a major force on the right, with a nationwide network of volunteers that can be especially useful in the early stages of primary elections, when candidates rely on grassroots energy to build momentum. Rapper Nicki Minaj unexpectedly appeared on stage and spoke passionately about Trump and Vance.

Vance was close to Charlie Kirk and they supported each other over the years. After Kirk was killed on a college campus in Utah, the vice president took a second plane to pick up Kirk's remains and fly them home to Arizona. The vice president helped uniformed soldiers carry the coffin to the plane.

Emily Meck, 18, of Pine City, New York, said she appreciated that Vance provided space for a variety of viewpoints.

“We are free-thinking people, we will have these differences, we will have our own thoughts,” Meck said.

Trump has praised both Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential successors, even suggesting they could shape the future Republican ticket. Rubio said he would support Vance.

Asked in August whether Vance was the “heir apparent,” Trump said “probably.”

“Obviously it's too early to tell but he's definitely doing a great job and he'll probably be the favorite at this stage,” he said.