Trump VP pick JD Vance's pro-Israel stance sparks outrage from antisemitic activists

Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement on Monday that Ohio Senator JD Vance will be his running mate for the upcoming 2024 election has angered anti-Israel and antisemitic activists who claim Vance is controlled by Israel and the Jewish people.

Numerous conspiracy theories have been circulating on social media about Vance’s allegiance to Israel and the American Jewish community.

U.S. commentator Jackson Hinkle shared photographs of Trump and Vance visiting the Western Wall while wearing kippahs. On his 𝕏 account, Hinkle claimed that the images showed Vance pledging "allegiance to Israel."

Conspiracy theorist David Icke shared a video of religious Jews singing at a Tzedek Association Appreciation Event in New York. Vance spoke at the February event and said very clearly, “In America, we love the Jews.”

"Guess who will run the White House (again) under Trump and Vance?" Icke asked in the post. "The same people who run it under President Joe Biden."

Antisemitic influencer Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis also posted the question: "Who’ll be running the White House again?" alongside a series of photographs of U.S. presidents being visited by Orthodox Jews in the Oval Office.

Many other social media accounts, with both large and small followings, claimed that Vance was "Israel first" rather than "America first."

Former MMA fighter Jake Shields posed a question on 𝕏, "Do you think it’s possible to be both America first and support Israel?" In another post, he shared a video of Orthodox Jewish men celebrating at the Republic National Convention after Vance was announced as Trump's VP pick: “Does this look like an ‘America First’ candidate?”

Shields also referred to conservative pundit Ben Shapiro as a “Mossad agent” in response to his show of support on 𝕏 for Trump's running mate choice.

Australian commentator Maram Susli, a vocal supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, called for Vance to register as a foreign agent because the American Israel Public Affairs Committee donated to his campaign. 

Like Trump, Vance has faced criticism and accusations from left-leaning Jewish institutions and individuals for not signing the bipartisan Countering Antisemitism Act in April, which proposed appointing a new presidential advisor on antisemitism and a bill mandating the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

In July 2022, Vance told the Jerusalem Post: “America remains one of the great places to live if you are Jewish... the question now is how to reverse the negative trend of the last years.”

“Antisemitism is a particular kind of crime. You have to enforce the law,” he added. “If you beat up a Jew and don’t face consequences, the attacks will continue and get worse.”