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Erika Kirk greets US Vice President JD Vance on Sunday.Credit: AP<\/p>\n
Vance said on Sunday the conservative movement should be open to everyone as long as they \u201clove America\u201d, and declined to condemn a streak of antisemitism that has divided the Republican Party and which roiled the opening days of the convention.<\/p>\n
After a long weekend of debates about whether the movement should exclude figures such as bigoted podcaster Nick Fuentes, Vance came down firmly against \u201cpurity tests\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to de-platform,\u201d Vance said during the convention\u2019s closing speech.<\/p>\n
![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/f007a135f66ae25da29ae800481bc854895a97b1.jpeg\")
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Nick Fuentes holds a rally in Michigan in 2020.Credit: AP<\/p>\n
The Republican Party\u2019s identity has been intertwined with Trump for a decade, but he\u2019s constitutionally ineligible to run for re-election despite his musings about serving a third term<\/a>. Commentator Tucker Carlson said people are wondering \u201cwho gets the machinery when the president exits the scene?\u201d<\/p>\n So far, it looks like settling that question will come with a lot of fighting among conservatives. The Turning Point convention featured arguments about antisemitism, Israel and environmental regulations, not to mention rivalries between leading commentators.<\/p>\n Ben Shapiro, a co-founder of the conservative media outlet Daily Wire, used his speech on the conference\u2019s opening night to denounce \u201ccharlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty\u201d.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n \u201cThese people are frauds and they are grifters and they do not deserve your time,\u201d Shapiro said. He specifically called out Carlson for hosting Fuentes for a friendly interview on his podcast.<\/p>\n Carlson brushed off the criticism when he took the stage barely an hour later, and he said the idea of a Republican \u201ccivil war\u201d was \u201ctotally fake\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are people who are mad at JD Vance, and they\u2019re stirring up a lot of this in order to make sure he doesn\u2019t get the nomination,\u201d he said. Carlson described Vance as \u201cthe one person\u201d who subscribes to the \u201ccore idea of the Trump coalition\u201d, which Carlson said was \u201cAmerica first\u201d.<\/p>\n Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet framed the discord as a healthy debate about the movement\u2019s future, an uncomfortable but necessary process of finding consensus.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not hive-minded commies,\u201d he wrote on social media. \u201cLet it play out.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance acknowledged the controversies that dominated the Turning Point convention, but he did not define any boundaries for the conservative movement besides patriotism.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump and Charlie Kirk in 2018.Credit: AP<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t care if you\u2019re white or black, rich or poor, young or old, rural or urban, controversial or a little bit boring, or somewhere in between,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Vance didn\u2019t name anyone, but his comments came amid 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\u2019s white, Christian identity.<\/p>\n Fuentes has a growing audience, as does top-rated podcaster Candace Owens, who routinely shares antisemitic conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n Candace Owens addresses a conservative conference in Florida in 2022.Credit: Getty<\/p>\n \u201cWe have far more important work to do than cancelling each other,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n Vance hasn\u2019t disclosed his future plans, but Erika Kirk said on Thursday that Turning Point wanted Vance \u201celected for 48 in the most resounding way possible\u201d. (The next president will be the 48th in US history.)<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n Vance was close with Charlie Kirk, and they supported each other over the years. After Kirk\u2019s assassination<\/a>, the vice president flew out on Air Force Two to collect Kirk\u2019s remains and return them to Kirk\u2019s home in Arizona. The vice president then helped uniformed service members carry the casket to the plane.<\/p>\n Reuters, AP<\/p>\n![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1b303c1e7a81d70417ae3df413d96e3ae6ecd182.jpeg\")
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