JD Vance Closes AmericaFest With Final Repudiation Of Ben Shapiro’s Call For Cancelations
Vice President JD Vance delivered a fiery speech Sunday, closing out AmericaFest, commenting on the growing division within the conservative movement.
Vance proclaimed that “every American is invited” to the America First movement, adding that “we have a much more important job to do than canceling each other out.” Although the vice president didn’t call anyone by name, he directly dismissed Ben Shapiro’s speech Thursday, calling Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson, right-wing podcaster Candace Owens, Steve Bannon and others “frauds and crooks.”
“President Trump did not build the greatest political coalition by subjecting his supporters to endless, self-defeating purity tests,” Vance noted. “I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or abandon my platform,” he said. “Let me just say that the best way to honor Charlie is that none of us here should do something after Charlie’s death that he himself refused to do in his life.” (RELATED: Megyn Kelly Updates AmericaFest on Whether She and Ben Shapiro Are Still Friends)
Vance went on to say that “we build by adding, by growing, not by tearing down.” Vance then added that Charlie Kirk “understood that any family can have its disagreements, its difficult conversations, that we can learn and improve and treat each other better, we can love each other despite the disagreements. But winning takes teamwork.”
Tensions have been brewing for several months between Shapiro and other conservative figures including Carlson, Owens and Megyn Kelly. Shapiro called Carlson’s interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes an “act of moral imbecility” during his speech Thursday. He also accused Kelly of “cowardice” for failing to condemn Owens’ conspiracy theories about the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
Carlson dismissed Shapiro’s attacks as “watching his dog do his taxes,” while Kelly responded Friday, saying Shapiro “had the nerve to call me a friend right before calling me a despicable coward.”
Erika Kirk endorsed Vance for president in 2028. The conference attracted more than 30,000 attendees.
