JD Vance Closes AmericaFest With Final Repudiation Of Ben Shapiro’s Call For Cancelations

Vice President J.D. Vance delivered a fiery speech Sunday, closing down AmericaFest by commenting on the growing rift inside the conservative movement.

Vance proclaimed that “every American is invited” to the America First movement, adding that “we have far more important work to do than canceling each other.” While the VP didn’t call anyone out by name, he offered a direct repudiation of Ben Shapiro’s speech Thursday calling Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson, right-wing podcaster Candace Owens, Steve Bannon and others “frauds and grifters.”

“President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless, self-defeating purity tests,” Vance remarked. “I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to deplatform,” he said. “Let me just say the best way to honor Charlie is that none of us here should be doing something after Charlie’s death that he himself refused to do in life.” (RELATED: Megyn Kelly Updates AmericaFest As To 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 tough conversations, we can learn and improve and treat one another better, we can love each other despite the disagreements. But winning demands teamwork.”

Tensions have been brewing for several months between Shapiro and other conservative personalities 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, calling it akin to “watching your dog do your taxes, while Kelly responded Friday, saying Shapiro “had the nerve to call me a friend right before he called me a despicable coward.”

Erika Kirk endorsed Vance for president in 2028. The conference drew over 30,000 attendees.