President Trump’s former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, who wrote “Finish them! America [hearts] Israel Always” on an Israeli artillery shell during a visit to Israel in May 2024, scolded Vice President JD Vance Tuesday on social media.
[NOTE: Vance, widely considered a GOP frontrunner in the 2028 presidential election, has recently “given voice to a rising skepticism in America toward Israel,” leaving many Jewish and pro-Israel Republicans concerned. On Monday, Vance spoke with members of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was asked about his interactions with media personalities including Tucker Carlson, who has said the U.S. should drop Israel as an ally.]
According to The Jerusalem Post, at the RJC event (which was closed to the press), Vance condemned antisemitism but also defended his engagement with controversial media personalities, including Carlson.
When asked where he drew the line when deciding which podcasts he could appear on (Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Joe Rogan and Nick Fuentes were mentioned), Vance reportedly replied: “I do not think that Joe Rogan and Nick Fuentes are the same, just substantively.”
Vance added, “Obviously I’m not going to talk to a guy who’s attacked my wife or said that Hitler is a good guy, but outside of some pretty bright lines, I try to talk to as many people as I can.”
Right is right. Wrong is wrong. In life, you must choose a side. You are either with the Tucker Carlson wing of the country or you are with the pro Israel wing of the country. You can’t be both. @JDVance
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the…
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) September 1, 2026
Haley responded Tuesday: “Right is right. Wrong is wrong. In life, you must choose a side. You are either with the Tucker Carlson wing of the country or you are with the pro Israel wing of the country. You can’t be both. @JDVance.”
The former GOP presidential candidate and South Carolina governor added a quote from Elie Wiesel: “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.”
[NOTE: Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish conservative activist who attended the RJC event, told the Jerusalem Post: “His refusal to unequivocally denounce and condemn Tucker, who just called for Trump’s immediate removal, will make it very hard for the American Jewish community to consider his otherwise stellar policies.”]