JD Vance Has Made His Choice

By Abe Greenwald

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

 

Vice President JD Vance didn’t mention Jews or Nazis in his remarks on Holocaust Remembrance Day. The statement he released yesterday noted instead “the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust,” and “the enduring lessons of one of the darkest chapters in human history.” While these formulations seem vague and empty, they are actually very precise and loaded with meaning. Vance is sending a clear message to Tucker Carlson and his other Jew-hating friends. The message is: Don’t worry, guys. I’m with you.

 

And he is.

 

So let’s stop being surprised by Vance’s Jew-baiting gestures. And let’s not look for improbable excuses every time he presents us with a conspicuous omission or a seemingly ambiguous statement about Jews, Israel, or anti-Semitism. Vance has publicly reassured groypers that “Israel doesn’t control this president” and sent out Hanukkah-party invitations that spoke instead of “The Golden Noel” and “Celebrating 50 Years of Christmas at the Vice President’s Residence.” He’s never said a word against Carlson, who serves as his Henry Higgins of hate, teaching him to speak and comport himself like a proper nativist and helping his star rise in all the best anti-Semitic circles.

 

Vance’s nods, winks, and whistles to the anti-Semites in the orchestra are among the clearest statements to have come out of the vice president’s mouth. He’s even learned to use their standard defense against charges of Jew-hatred: He merely doesn’t believe in “purity tests” or denouncing so-called conservatives. And, he claims, all the talk about right-wing anti-Semitism is just a distraction thrown up by those who don’t want to have a serious discussion about the U.S.-Israel relationship. That’s what they all say.

 

So let’s also stop looking for Vance to change his tune. He’s dancing with the one that brought him to the party, and that’s Carlson. According to multiple accounts, Carlson was heavily involved in getting Donald Trump to pick Vance as his running mate. That’s a favor you don’t take for granted. Especially if you’re as calculating as our current vice president. If he’s not going to disown the racist right for insulting his wife and child, he’s certainly not going to do it for the Jews. He’s decided that the Republican future belongs to anti-Semites.

 

If it does, the future White House belongs to Democrats. The nativism and Jew-hatred of the Carlson-Vance wing of the right is sure to strike Americans as another ugly transgression from a party that violently oversteps its bounds on immigration enforcement and communicates in white-nationalist memes.

 

The radical left, to be clear, is no better for the Jews and arguably has even greater influence among the Democratic mainstream than the Carlson crowd has among leading Republicans. But there is a difference in style that redounds to the left’s benefit. They’ve got a better cover story for their anti-Semitism. It’s wrapped up in a tale about social justice. They know how to talk acceptable liberalese and reassure independents that they’re just interested in everyone’s well-being. The bigoted right, by contrast, rubs their hatred in America’s face. While Zohran Mamdani pretends that he’s all about saving innocent Palestinian lives, Nick Fuentes rants about exterminating the Jews, and Tucker Carlson goes on about hummus-eaters killing Jesus and Charlie Kirk. They can’t help themselves. That’s their brand. It’s now JD Vance’s, as well.