Driving the news: VP JD Vance spoke off the record Monday night at the Republican Jewish Coalition's National Leadership Summit in Las Vegas. The Daily Wire obtained a recording. Host Norm Coleman broke from the event's usual public format for the sit-down.
What they discussed: Vance touched on his faith, the U.S.-Israel alliance, antisemitism, and the Trump administration's energy and trade policy.
Between the lines: Coleman pressed Vance on Michigan's Senate race. He noted Democrat candidate El-Sayed's ties to Hassan Piker, who Coleman said claimed America deserved 9/11. Coleman said El-Sayed would not condemn an attack on a Michigan synagogue.
Vance said he met the synagogue's rabbi and the security guards who stopped the attempted attack. He called El-Sayed 'one of the worst disgraces running in the history of the American political process,' citing both what the candidate said and what he refused to say.
Vance urged donors to back Republican Mike Rogers. He called Rogers 'the single most important candidate right now in this midterm election.'
Also raised: gratitude for the Senate's 51-vote confirmation of the Secretary of War nominee. Vance said the fight for that vote took sustained work.
The bottom line: This wasn't a stump speech. It was a candid look at how the administration frames its rivals. Vance drew a sharp line between mainstream Republican politics and what he called an 'unhinged' progressive fringe. For voters weighing Michigan's Senate race, the contrast was the whole point.