JD Vance fires back at 'Israeli government' campaign tying him to Tucker Carlson over Iran talks

WASHINGTON, DC: Vice President JD Vance fired back Wednesday at what he described as a well-funded Israeli influence campaign aimed at derailing his Iran negotiations, telling Joe Rogan during a wide-ranging podcast appearance that his response to those behind the effort was simply, "Go to hell."

The remarks came after Time magazine reported that Brad Parscale, who briefly ran Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign, and his company Clock Tower X were being paid by elements of the Israeli government to conduct an influence campaign in the United States, according to filings under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

JD Vance says critics are attacking him over Trump’s Iran negotiation efforts

Vance told Rogan he learned about the Time article from a friend and encouraged listeners to read it themselves, saying it named individuals who had been paid through Parscale by elements within the Israeli government to attack his negotiations with Iran.

"Those people are attacking me viciously for quite literally trying to accomplish the negotiation objective that the president set for the country," Vance said.

“But I definitely think you have seen this very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal.”

“And there was, again, there’s this Time article that came out yesterday, a friend sent it to me, it’s worth reading because it lists a bunch of people who have quite literally been paid by a former Trump campaign person, who was himself paid by certain elements within the Israeli government,” Vance told Rogan.

“So what is their position? They’re attacking you. How?” Rogan pressed.

"Oh, it's social media posts. It's, you know, they're leaking to reporters. They are attacking, obsessively saying that we should not be negotiating with Iran, that we should just keep the military campaign going indefinitely," Vance said.

"And that is their explicit position."

Vance said the criticism included claims about his motivations and associations.

"People have come after me and said that I'm influenced by Qatar, that I am influenced by foreign governments, that I take my marching orders from Tucker Carlson, there's just so much nonsense out there," Vance said.

"When what I'm actually trying to do is accomplish what the President of the United States told me to accomplish, which is a settlement of this that accomplishes our objectives: Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon, and we have the free flow of oil and gas."

JD Vance draws line between foreign lobbying and US decision-making

Vance said he did not object to foreign governments attempting to influence US policy, saying such efforts are common in international diplomacy.

"I don't actually mind that certain elements of the Israeli government want to criticize the deal or have disagreements about the deal. I don't even mind an effort to try to influence, foreign governments try to influence the United States all the time," he said.

However, Vance said he objected when American leaders allow foreign pressure to shape their own decisions and advocacy.

"What bothers me is actually when Americans meaning American leadership, allow that influence to affect their judgment and to affect what they are advocating for. That's what really bothers me."

Vance later reiterated his position on the alleged effort against him and his Iran negotiations.

"When I open up the pages of Time magazine and I see that there's a literal foreign influence campaign being funded to tank the very deal that I was pursuing, and many of the people who were receiving that money were actually attacking me in completely dishonest ways, my response to that is: well, go to hell. I'm going to do what I have to do for the American people. I represent Americans first," Vance said.