‘It’s been kind of civil warry’: Megyn Kelly presses JD Vance on the MAGA split over Iran

It has been a rough stretch for the Republican base, and Vice President JD Vance recently spoke about the tension building up inside the conservative movement over the war in Iran. He brought this up during an appearance on Megyn Kelly’s Sirius XM show, where he admitted that the conservative coalition feels split.

Vance described the mood on the right as “kind of civil warry.” He said it is usually more fun to fight against the left, but lately the conservative side has been dealing with a lot of division since the conflict started.

The discussion pointed to a growing feeling of betrayal among conservatives who oppose getting involved in foreign wars. Kelly, who has openly criticized the war, pushed back on the idea that these voters should simply fall in line and stay quiet.

Kelly says some voters feel personally betrayed over the war

Kelly said she had personally been told, “Those who speak ill of Mark Levin are not MAGA.” She used this to show the kind of pressure people have faced just for questioning the administration’s approach to foreign policy.

According to Kelly, many voters saw this issue as their top priority, and now they feel like the president is not who they thought he was, because he went against what they believed he had promised. Other coverage has described this same rift as Trump’s base split down the middle.

Vance pushed back by pointing to what he sees as the current results of the conflict. He said Iran’s nuclear program has been destroyed and that the country’s regular military has effectively been put out of action. He also addressed rising energy prices, saying that while they did go up, those costs are already dropping by a significant amount.

He argued that the administration managed to avoid the long, messy conflict that many critics were worried about. To make his point, he said that Donald Trump is simply not George W. Bush. In his view, the situation in the Middle East is currently in a good position for the United States.

Vance also responded to those on the right who feel hopeless or are ready to give up on politics altogether because of this disagreement. He said it is “completely ridiculous” to walk away just because of one policy disagreement. He reminded listeners that in a two-party system, no one is ever going to agree with their own side 100 percent of the time.

According to Vance, the easiest way to make sure your political opponents win is to quit every time your own leader makes a decision you don’t like. He said that neoconservatives have managed to stay influential in politics for exactly this reason: they keep showing up and playing the game even when they are unhappy with a decision.

Kelly then brought up how much the political landscape has changed, pointing out that people like Mark Levin and John Podhoretz, who used to be part of the original “Never Trump” group, have now come around to support the president because of his positions on Israel and Iran. 

She questioned whether the president understands that these newer supporters might not be as loyal to him as he assumes. This kind of shift has played out elsewhere too, including MAGA’s tightening grip on the Republican Party seen in a recent Texas primary runoff. 

Vance said he is willing to go on any show, including ones hosted by critics like Levin, to defend the administration’s policies. He said he has no problem with allies criticizing one specific decision, as long as they don’t abandon the broader coalition altogether.

For Vance, what matters most is having people push back from inside the movement rather than leaving it entirely. He encouraged voters to speak up about their concerns while still staying part of the larger group, arguing that remaining involved is the only real way to shape the country’s future.