Vance: Young Voters 'Do Not Love' Trump Middle East Policy
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- Vance told a Turning Point USA audience in Athens, Ga. that he "recognize[s] that young voters do not love the policy we have in the Middle East," specifically naming Iran and Gaza.
- Audience members heckled the vice president roughly 10 minutes into the event, with one yelling "Jesus Christ does not support genocide!" and "You're killing children! You're bombing children!" — a reference to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
- Vance urged young voters not to disengage over disagreement on one issue, saying: "Get more involved. Make your voice heard even more. That's how we ultimately take the country back."
- Vance pointed to the temporary U.S.-Iran ceasefire as evidence the administration has "tried as much as we can to solve the problems, not just complain about them like the guy who just ran away."
- When asked about tensions with Pope Leo XIV, who has condemned the U.S.-Israeli conflict in Iran, Vance invoked "more than a thousand-year tradition of just-war theory" and said "it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology."
- Vance said he welcomed Leo's dialogue — that the pope's positions "at the very least, they invite conversation" — a softer tone than his Monday Fox News remark that the pope should "stick to matters of morality."
Why it matters: A sitting vice president publicly conceded at a conservative youth event that young voters "do not love" Trump's Middle East approach on Iran and Gaza, an unusual on-camera admission of a GOP vulnerability ahead of the 2026 midterms. Vance paired the concession with a defense of administration outcomes, citing the temporary U.S.-Iran ceasefire and framing the dispute with Pope Leo XIV through just-war theory rather than political attack.
