Vance refuses to set red lines over bigotry as conservatives feud at
Turning Point
[December 22, 2025]
By JONATHAN J. COOPER and SEJAL GOVINDARAO
PHOENIX (AP) — Vice President JD Vance said Sunday the conservative
movement should be open to everyone as long as they “love America,”
declining to condemn a streak of antisemitism that has divided the
Republican Party and roiled the opening days of Turning Point USA’s
annual convention.
After a long weekend of debates about whether the movement should
exclude figures such as bigoted podcaster Nick Fuentes, Vance came down
firmly against “purity tests.”
“I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to de-platform,”
Vance said during the convention’s closing speech.
Turning Point leader Erika Kirk, who took the helm after the
assassination of her husband, Charlie Kirk, has endorsed Vance as a
potential successor to President Donald Trump, a helpful nod from an
influential group with an army of volunteers.
But the tension on display at the four-day gathering foreshadowed the
treacherous political waters that Vance, or anyone else who seeks the
next Republican presidential nomination, will need to navigate in the
coming years. Top voices in the “Make America Great Again” movement are
jockeying for influence as Republicans begin considering a future
without Trump, and there is no clear path to holding his coalition
together.
Defining a post-Trump GOP
The Republican Party’s identity has been intertwined with Trump for a
decade, but he's constitutionally ineligible to run for reelection
despite his musings about serving a third term. Tucker Carlson said
people are wondering, “who gets the machinery when the president exits
the scene?”
So far, it looks like settling that question will come with a lot of
fighting among conservatives. The Turning Point conference featured
arguments about antisemitism, Israel and environmental regulations, not
to mention rivalries between leading commentators.
Ben Shapiro, co-founder of the conservative media outlet Daily Wire,
used his speech on the conference's opening night to denounce
“charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually
traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty."
“These people are frauds and they are grifters and they do not deserve
your time,” Shapiro said. He specifically called out Carlson for hosting
Fuentes for a friendly interview on his podcast.
Carlson brushed off the criticism when he took the stage barely an hour
later, and he said the idea of a Republican “civil war” was “totally
fake.”
“There are people who are mad at JD Vance, and they’re stirring up a lot
of this in order to make sure he doesn’t get the nomination,” he said.
Carlson described Vance as “the one person” who subscribes to the “core
idea of the Trump coalition,” which Carlson said was “America first.”
Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet framed the discord as a healthy
debate about the future of the movement, an uncomfortable but necessary
process of finding consensus.
“We’re not hive-minded commies,” he wrote on social media. “Let it play
out.”
If you love America, you’re welcome in the movement, Vance says
Vance acknowledged the controversies that dominated the Turning Point
conference, but he did not define any boundaries for the conservative
movement besides patriotism.
“We don’t care if you’re white or black, rich or poor, young or old,
rural or urban, controversial or a little bit boring, or somewhere in
between,” he said.
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Erika Kirk greets Vice President JD Vance during Turning Point USA's
AmericaFest 2025, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Jon
Cherry)
Vance didn’t name anyone, but his comments came in the midst of an
increasingly contentious debate over whether the right should give a
platform to commentators espousing antisemitic views, particularly
Fuentes, whose followers see themselves as working to preserve
America’s white, Christian identity. Fuentes has a growing audience,
as does top-rated podcaster Candace Owens, who routinely shares
antisemitic conspiracy theories.
“We have far more important work to do than canceling each other,”
he said.
Vance ticked off what he said were the accomplishments of the
administration as it approaches the one-year mark, noting its
efforts at the border and on the economy. He emphasized efforts to
end diversity, equity and inclusion policies, drawing applause by
saying they had been relegated to the “dustbin of history."
“In the United States of America, you don’t have to apologize for
being white anymore,” he said.
Vance also said the U.S. “always will be a Christian nation,” adding
that “Christianity is America’s creed, the shared 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 runs for
president.
“I have my right to be Christian here, I have my right to say
whatever I want,” White-Diller said.
Turning Point backs Vance
Vance hasn't disclosed his future plans, but Erika Kirk said
Thursday that Turning Point wanted Vance “elected for 48 in the most
resounding way possible.” The next president will be the 48th in
U.S. history.
Turning Point is a major force on the right, with a nationwide
volunteer network that can be especially helpful in early primary
states, when candidates rely on grassroots energy to build momentum.
In a surprise appearance, rapper Nicki Minaj spoke effusively about
Trump and Vance.
Vance was close with Charlie Kirk, and they supported each other
over the years. After Kirk’s assassination on a college campus in
Utah, the vice president flew out on Air Force Two to collect Kirk’s
remains and bring them home to Arizona. The vice president helped
uniformed service members carry the casket to the plane.
Emily Meck, 18, from Pine City, New York, said she appreciated Vance
making space for a wide variety of views.
“We are free-thinkers, we’re going to have these disagreements,
we’re going to have our own thoughts,” Meck said.
Trump has spoken highly of both Vance and Secretary of State Marco
Rubio as potential successors, even suggesting they could form a
future Republican ticket. Rubio has said he would support Vance.
Asked in August whether Vance was the “heir apparent,” Trump said
“most likely.”
“It’s too early, obviously, to talk about it, but certainly he’s
doing a great job, and he would be probably favorite at this point,”
he said.
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