Shapiro’s logic completely nails JD Vance to the wall. And that should serve notice to JD Vance before he runs for the 2028 election. He will be judged by the political views of those he claims are his political friends. Note, Tucker Carlson is not a friend that Vance grew up with. He is a friend based on his political views and Vance feeling comfortable with them. If Vance thinks he can tiptoe around his association with Tucker and still be the leader of the Republican Party in the post-Trump era, then he will either be totally wrong, or the Republican Party is about to become a very hostile place for the Jewish people.
Tucker’s leap into the deep anti-Jewish abyss of antisemitism has been done in a most public fashion. Vance has been a bit more careful, but it is becoming abundantly clear that Vance is only playing it safe until 2028. Once he is in office, his true colors will be revealed, once Donald Trump does not pose a threat to his political future.
The isolationist wing of the Republican Party may not be as terrible as the Socialist Democrat wing of the Democrat Party. But nothing will allow the dangerous actors of the world to grow more dangerous than the embracing of an isolationist attitude by the Oval Office. Anyone who embraces removing aircraft carriers from the Southeast China Sea or from the Mediterranean will soon find themselves under threat of international ballistic missiles. It may be from Russia, China, both, North Korea, or even another country. But the basic idea that the world is not a dangerous place is flat-out wrong. It never has been the case. Mitt Romney was mocked for saying that Russia posed the greatest international threat to the United States. He may have been right.
And only the United States can take the lead to ensure that the bad actors stay in check. One can argue that diplomacy or sanctions should be used more effectively than the threat of military attack. That is perfectly reasonable and perhaps correct. It worked in the Cuban Missile Crisis. But there ought to be a non-partisan acceptance that FDR, Truman, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush 1 and Clinton had it right about dealing with the bad actors. Perhaps they ought to have used the military more or less than they did. But they all agreed that isolationism was a radical and dangerous direction to follow. Carter, Obama, and Biden were wrong on the exercise of US military might and made the world more dangerous – not safer – by burying their heads and ignoring growing threats.
LBJ and Bush 2 were both rightfully accused of leading the US into long, non-ending wars that the US could not win. But going to the other extreme of isolationism is absolutely one of the leading causes of World War II. If repeated, we could find the world facing yet another massive world conflagration. JD Vance is the type of President who could allow this kind of a buildup to occur – if he keeps close political friendships with the likes of Tucker Carlson.