Vance Refuses to Draw Line Over Bigotry12/22 06:04

   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.

   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.

   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.