It's silly to ask JD Vance whether he thinks antisemitism has a place in the conservative movement. Just make up a list of Tucker Carlson's 10 wildest accusations against Jews and Israel (including those left unchallenged in interviews) and ask if he agrees. You'd get your answer
@truepeers Even saying "no" enough times would commit him to acknowledging that Carlson is full of shit. And there could then be follow ups (including, in other fora, from angry Carlson fans whom he would then have to confront).
@truepeers I doubt very much he'd want to go in that direction but it would certainly be revealing if he did. One way or another it's bound to be clarifying.
@Imperius__13 Such an approach would be helpfully revealing as well.
@Imperius__13 Somewhere in between what and what? I don't know what he thinks. I don't know how much he has thought. What I know is that he has opened the door by finding it incomprehensible that anyone might consider Carlson to not be an integral part of contemporary conservativism.
@Imperius__13 Carlson is a sinister clown and I don't have to try and figure him out. Vance is what matters now because he's an extremely important player.
@Imperius__13 If none of this matters it should also be of no consequence for Vance to say something like, "yea, I don't know what happened to Tucker, but he's not the man I I thought I knew," etc. And then go on to talk about economics, etc. But I suspect he will be quite resistant to that.
@Imperius__13 This seems to me a different question. Assuming Trump is successful, the GOP candidate will run on continuity and amplification. If Vance is linked to a faction of the party that has been carping and subverting Trump that becomes harder.
@Imperius__13 Then it does, in fact, matter.
@Imperius__13 And other people will receive contrary private assurances. I don't think we're dealing with idiots here.
@Imperius__13 Rubio seems committed, but I don't know why you assume Ackman and Co. will be reassured.
@Imperius__13 I've never said anything about what's in his head--only what he commits to publicly.
@Imperius__13 He may already be doing so by signaling support for those seeking to undermine Trump's Israel and ME policy.
@Imperius__13 Carlson may be an isolationist, but no one would object to or even notice that. He's trying to inject Father Coughlin/Henry Ford style anti-Jewish politics into the Republican Party. People will want to know if Vance thinks it belongs there.
@Imperius__13 Ackman will certainly be worth following here. Keep in mind that Carlson has made a point of attacking him in particular, in an especially arbitrary and imbecilic way. And, of course, Owens dragged him into her conspiracy theories, which Carslon seems fine with.
@Imperius__13 I don't need assurance on such things. Someone like Carlson is held in reserve--he doesn't need to be a part of policy discussions. He and the anti-Israel first faction is a whip hand or attack dog, one Vance seems fine with keeping available. He will be asked about these things.
@Imperius__13 He's deliberately suggesting that a Jewish financier is a "parasite," which, of course, is not a particularly original allegation. There's no way around this stuff. Vance will end up addressing or being addressed by it one way or another.
@Imperius__13 Yes, there will be a fuller delineation.
@Imperius__13 This is a minor consideration, at best. Yes, he'd attack Cruz as "Israel-first" and then there might be a series of questions for Vance. But it will come one way or another.
@Imperius__13 It seems he doesn't have, and perhaps doesn't want, such strategists.
@Imperius__13 The anti-Israel first stuff will play out, in the primaries, in the general, and in governance, if it comes to that. Vance will be asked these questions point blank and coherently at some point.
@Imperius__13 Carlson is the head groyper, so that will be tied together. I don't know you think "yes, we've got Nazis getting out the vote for us" is going to help.
@Imperius__13 You're missing something here and I won't be able to make you see it. So we'll leave it here.