JD Vance may be the Republican Party’s front-runner for 2028, but according to a new column at American Thinker, his apparent refusal to explicitly distance himself from Tucker Carlson’s recent inflammatory rhetoric is becoming a political liability—one that could cost the GOP dearly in the upcoming midterms and beyond.
Writer Mike McDaniel, a retired police officer and Air Force veteran, argues that Vance’s silence on Carlson’s more extreme positions is part of a broader messaging and public-perception failure within the Republican Party—one that risks alienating moderate voters and depressing turnout.
The column builds on concerns raised by former Democrat Sasha Stone, who recently wrote on Substack about losing longtime friends after leaving the Left. Stone worries that Republicans may lose the House and Senate in part because of Vance’s apparent unwillingness to clearly separate himself from Carlson’s recent behavior.
McDaniel echoes that anxiety, noting that many Republicans share Stone’s concern—not just about the midterms, but about Vance’s political future as the GOP’s likely standard-bearer in 2028.
Carlson’s ‘Descent’
McDaniel is careful to credit Carlson for what he calls “a great deal of good” before Fox News fired him in 2023, including his critical coverage of the January 6 footage and his role in exposing what McDaniel calls “Biden Administration corruption.” At that time, Carlson “seemed grounded in reality,” McDaniel writes.
But that grounding, he argues, has eroded. McDaniel points to Carlson’s recent claim that he would vote for Islamist candidate Abdul El-Sayed, which McDaniel calls “among his milder mental lapses.” He also cites fellow conservative commentator Andrew Klaven’s observation that Carlson has accused the U.S. of waging war on Russia because Putin is “reimposing Christianity” there—a claim McDaniel finds implausible, noting that a “Marxist like Putin” is unlikely to be “imposing Christianity.”
Worse, McDaniel writes, Carlson appears to be opposing America simply because Trump is president, which he calls “insane and dangerous.”
These aren’t minor quibbles. McDaniel argues that Carlson’s rhetoric has drifted into antisemitism, support for Russia and Iran, and a willingness to give a platform to antisemites. And that’s precisely why Vance’s continued association is so problematic.
Vance’s Dilemma
McDaniel says he has been “generally impressed” by Vance, but agrees with Klaven’s concern that Vance needs to clarify his position immediately. The problem isn’t that Vance has endorsed Carlson’s views—it’s that he hasn’t clearly rejected them.
“Vance really needs to say that while he considers Carlson a friend, he absolutely disagrees with his stance on Trump, his support for Russia and Iran, his antisemitism, and his repeated giving of a microphone to antisemites,” McDaniel writes.
Beyond that, McDaniel argues, Vance needs to “repeatedly and forcefully” repudiate socialism and communism while extolling constitutional liberty—a clear ideological grounding that would leave no ambiguity about where he stands.
McDaniel acknowledges that some observers suggest Vance is subtly drifting away from Trump and the MAGA movement. He allows that it might be Vance’s failure to break with Carlson that creates that impression, rather than any deliberate distancing. Either way, McDaniel concludes, Vance needs to clean this up—and fast.
The ‘Stupid Party’ Problem
McDaniel’s broader point is that this is not just about one man. He laments that Republicans, as evidenced by the Senate’s failure to pass the SAVE Act, continue to live down to the epithet “the Stupid Party.”
“A great many Normal Americans aren’t seeing the smart, consistent political messaging, which, using Democrats’ own words and actions, should be deadly to them in the midterms and in 2028,” he writes.
That messaging failure, he argues, is epitomized by Vance’s apparent inability to draw a clear line between himself and Carlson. Vance doesn’t need to behave like Stone’s former friends—no one should—but he does need to be a clear and reliable ideological leader of the Republican Party, a party upon which “Normal Americans” can at least mostly rely.
If Vance can’t offer that clarity, McDaniel warns, disillusioned voters may simply stay home on election day—and Stone’s fears about losing the House and Senate will be realized.
Source: www.americanthinker.com — https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/09/tucker-carlson-j-d-vance-needs-to-clarify-things-and-fast/