US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday responded to a question from a right-wing student activist who made antisemitic statements against Israel and Judaism, arguing the Jewish state does not control American foreign policy while not countering the questioner’s remarks targeting the Jewish religion.

Vance appeared at the University of Mississippi for an event held by Turning Point USA, the influential conservative advocacy organization led for years by the late Charlie Kirk.

More than 90 minutes into the session, during the questions portion, a man wearing a red “Make America Great Again” baseball cap and a white “Ole Miss” hoodie was given the microphone.

“Thank you for the opportunity to speak,” the individual said. “I’m a Christian man and I’m just confused why that there’s this notion that we might owe Israel something or that they’re our greatest ally or that we have to support this multi-hundred-billion-dollar foreign aid package to Israel to cover this — to quote Charlie Kirk, ethnic cleansing in Gaza. I’m just confused why this idea has come around considering the fact that not only does their religion not agree with ours but also openly supports the prosecution of ours.”

The question — in which the student incorrectly quoted Kirk, an outspoke pro-Israel advocate —prompted applause from the audience.

“First of all, when the president of the United States says ‘America first’ that means that he pursues the interests of Americans first. That is our entire foreign policy,” Vance responded. “That doesn’t mean that you’re not going to have alliances, that you’re not going to work with other countries from time to time. And that is what the president believes is that Israel, sometimes they have similar interests to the United States and we’re going to work with them in that case. Sometimes they don’t have similar interests to the United States.”

Vance used the example of the US-brokered ceasefire to halt fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza to illustrate his point.

“In this example, the most recent Gaza peace plan that all of us have been working on very hard for the past few weeks, the president of the United States could only get that peace deal done by actually being willing to apply leverage to the state of Israel,” Vance said. “So, when people say that Israel is somehow manipulating or controlling the president of the United States, they’re not controlling this president of the United States, which is one of the reasons why would we be able to have some of the success that we’ve had in the Middle East.”

The vice president, who was baptized into the Catholic faith in August 2019, then shifted to theological discourse, apparently wanting to respond to the student’s statement that Judaism “openly supports the persecution of Christians.

“Now you ask about, you know, sort of Jews disagreeing with Christians on certain religious ideas. Yeah, absolutely. It’s one of the realities is that Jews do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Obviously, Christians do believe that,” Vance said. “There are some significant theological disagreements between Christians and Jews. My attitude is let’s have those conversations. Let’s have those disagreements when we have them. But if there are shared areas of interest, we ought to be willing to do that, too.”

Vance continued, “One thing I really, really care about is the preservation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Christians believe that that is the site where Jesus Christ was crucified and also that his tomb is right there as well. My attitude is if we can work with our friends in Israel to make sure that Christians have safe access to that site, that’s an obvious area of common interest, I am fine with that.”

The vice president then emphasized to the student that he would not put Israel ahead of the United States, saying, “What I’m not OK with is any country coming before the interests of American citizens. And it is important for all of us, assuming we’re American citizens, to put the interest of our own country first. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s what we try to do every single day. I promise you. Thank you.”

Antisemitic sentiment on the American political right has surged in the weeks following the murder of Kirk, with prominent social media podcaster figures such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens suggesting Israeli involvement in the shooting without any evidence. This conspiracy theorizing inspired death threats against pro-Israel conservative figures and the arrest of a man now facing 140 years’ imprisonment.

On Monday, Carlson published a more than two-hour interview with neo-Nazi podcaster Nick Fuentes on X. Photos of Carlson with his arm around Fuentes’ shoulder and smiles on both their faces began circulating around social media.

Carlson apologized to Fuentes in the discussion, saying “I’m sorry I called you gay, by the way.” He also referenced the prominent political commentator Ben Shapiro, who is widely known to be an Orthodox Jew, adding, “I don’t think Fuentes is going away. Ben Shapiro tried to strangle him in the crib in college, and now he’s bigger than ever.”

In the interview, Fuentes contrasted himself with Shapiro, stating, “I didn’t come from some strange background. I come from a normal home. My parents are Catholic.”

Fuentes’s comments appear to differ with the views of Pope Leo XIV, the head of the Catholic Church.

Leo on Wednesday condemned antisemitism and affirmed the Catholic Church’s commitment to combating hatred and persecution against the Jewish people, arguing his faith demands such a stance.

Speaking in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for his weekly “general audience,” the pontiff acknowledged the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, a declaration from the Second Vatican Council and promulgated on Oct. 28, 1965, by Pope Paul VI that called for dialogue and respect between Christianity and other religions.

Since the publication of Nostra Aetate, “all my predecessors have condemned antisemitism with clear words,” Leo said. “I too confirm that the Church does not tolerate antisemitism and fights against it, on the basis of the Gospel itself.”