JD Vance Says Tucker Is Still A Friend Of His, Who He Won’t Throw ‘Under The Bus’

Loyalty is not a talking point for Vance, it's apparently a working principle, and that alone makes this little press briefing moment worth noticing. Tucker Carlson called for Trump's removal from office. He trashed Mike Rogers in the same stretch of days Vance was out campaigning for him. By the normal rules of Washington, that's the kind of thing that gets a "friendship" quietly retired, no statement necessary, everyone moves on and pretends it never happened.

Vance didn't do that. He said Tucker is still a friend and he's not throwing him under the bus. That's an odd thing to hear from a sitting vice president about someone actively undermining his boss's standing, and it's exactly why it's interesting. Most politicians manage friendships like inventory, keep what's useful, discard what's become a liability. Vance seems to think you can disagree hard with someone, even publicly and repeatedly, without deciding they no longer exist to you.

Whether that's admirable or just politically convenient probably depends on how charitable you're feeling toward Vance generally. But there's something almost old-fashioned about refusing to perform outrage on command, especially when the easy move would've been a canned line about "concerning rhetoric" and a quick pivot. Carlson isn't exactly a marginal figure conservatives can afford to write off casually, and Vance clearly knows that too.

None of this means Vance agrees with what Carlson said about Trump or Rogers. He didn't say that. He just declined to treat a friendship as disposable the moment it became politically inconvenient, which in this town counts as a small act of stubbornness worth noting.