JD Vance Clashes with Protester at Republican Conference
US Vice President JD Vance confronted a protester waving a Mexican flag at a Republican conference, while Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised Israel.
US Vice President JD Vance clashed with a demonstrator waving a Mexican flag during his speech at a Republican conference ahead of the midterm elections. The protester interrupted his remarks, prompting Vance to respond directly from the stage.
"What folks at home missed is that a moment ago we had a demonstrator interrupt us waving a Mexican flag," Vance said. "Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, move your ass down there. I'll buy you the plane ticket."
Later in his speech, the audience began chanting "48, 48"—referring to the number of the next president after Donald Trump—expressing their hope that Vance will run for the presidency and succeed Trump in the White House.
Vance made no explicit commitments regarding his political future, responding to the chants by saying, "Let's take care of this November first, and then we'll worry about November 2028."
At the same conference, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, delivered remarks addressing Israel. Kennedy, a former Democrat until about two years ago, used his stance on Israel to highlight what he described as the gap between the Democratic Party of the past and elements within it today.
Kennedy stated that past Democrats "stood by Israel as a bulwark of democracy, a beacon of freedom of the press and religion, and a haven from persecution for LGBTQ individuals, women, and ethnic and religious minorities within a regional sea of intolerance, misogyny, child marriage, human slavery, and ethnic and religious genocide."
He added that Democrats previously "saw Israel as America's most important ally on the front lines of the struggle against the toxic ideology of Islamism," which he described as waging war against the United States and Western liberal democracy.
