At the Turning Point convention this weekend, amidst debates about whether the MAGA movement should exclude figures including controversial far-right podcasters Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes, the Vice President of the United States J.D. Vance — who has been endorsed by Erika Kirk for the 2028 presidential election — refused to denounce Owens and Fuentes.
[Note: Earlier at the festival, Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro denounced such “charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty.” Shapiro also called out former Fox News star Tucker Carlson for giving Fuentes a platform on his podcast.]
Vance said at the Turning Point festival: “President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless, self-defeating purity tests.”
Emphasizing his reluctance to condemn any potential support for the America First movement, even from those who hold views other Republicans find repellent, Vance said: “I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to de-platform…But let me just say the best way to honor Charlie [Kirk] is that none of us here should be doing something after Charlie’s death that he himself refused to do in life. He invited all of us here.”
U.S. Congressman Don Bacon (R-NE) responded to Vance’s speech on social media and wrote: “I’ll never vote for someone who is ambiguous in their stance against anti-Semitism or who can’t see that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a threat to our long-range strategic interests. I’m a big-tent GOP guy, but anti-Semitism and pro-Putin fetishism are disgusting.”
I’ll never vote for someone who is ambiguous in their stance against anti-Semitism or who can’t see that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a threat to our long-range strategic interests. I’m a big-tent GOP guy, but anti-Semitism and pro-Putin fetishism are disgusting. https://t.co/liCamuci5r
— Rep. Don Bacon 🇺🇸✈️🏍️⭐️🎖️ (@RepDonBacon) December 22, 2025
Bacon is one of many Republicans objecting to Vance’s speech, including influencer Jennifer Gingrich who wrote of Vance: “He’s just afraid of losing the groyper vote in 2028. He has no character. Anyone who can’t stand up to loud & proud Jew hate like Candace & Nick are spewing is spineless. Pretending he’s against ‘purity tests’ is such a weaselly copout. I’d vote for Rubio, but I will never vote for Vance.”
He's just afraid of losing the groyper vote in 2028. He has no character.
— ♀️Jennifer Gingrich ✡️ (@fem_mb) December 22, 2025
Anyone who can't stand up to loud & proud Jew hate like Candace & Nick are spewing is spineless. Pretending he's against 'purity tests' is such a weaselly copout.
I'd vote for Rubio, but I will never vote…
When MAGA loyalists replied to Gingrich with comments including “you’re a Democrat,” she replied: “If you really think choosing groypers over classic conservatives is going to win you elections, I think you have a lot to learn.”
When asked who she would vote for — if it comes down to Vance and Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, Gingrich replied, “I would vote for neither in that case.”
Celebrity MAGA supporter Roseanne Barr mapped out the position she feels Vance’s failure to condemn puts the GOP in, writing: “Remember when we used to make fun of democrats for not calling out the crazy extremists on their side and then we warned them that placating the worst among them would be their downfall? And remember how we were right and vindicated? That was good times. If only we would take our own advice now.”
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