Conservative New York City talk radio host Sid Rosenberg, a critic of Vice President J.D. Vance’s stance on Israel, said he’s more optimistic about him after their White House meeting on Thursday.
Mr. Vance requested a private meeting with the WABC radio personality in what Mr. Rosenberg described as a “get to know each other” session.
The radio host said it was an outreach effort by Mr. Vance to cultivate relationships with pro-Israel media voices in New York at a moment of heightened scrutiny over the vice president’s recent polarizing comments on Israel.
Mr. Vance’s team cited Mr. Rosenberg’s influence in New York as a key reason for the outreach, according to the radio personality.
Mr. Rosenberg recalled Mr. Vance’s staff saying to him, “J.D. wants to meet you. He wants to talk to you.”
Mr. Rosenberg said he left the meeting “very optimistic,” adding on WABC’s “Cats Roundtable” show that he doesn’t believe Mr. Vance “hates Israel or the Jewish people” and that the vice president is “a guy you can work with.”
Mr. Rosenberg, a Jewish New Yorker and friend of President Trump, previously condemned Mr. Vance for not being “strong enough on Israel.”
He has also been critical of the vice president for not cutting off internet personality Tucker Carlson, who has called for Mr. Trump’s impeachment and routinely rebukes U.S. military support for Israel.
The White House meeting followed Mr. Rosenberg’s return from Las Vegas, where he spoke at the Republican Jewish Coalition.
After Mr. Vance’s people reached out to him, “I said, ’Are you aware of what I’ve been saying?’ the radio man said. “They said, ’We read and hear everything. We don’t care. We know who you are. We know your influence in New York. He wants to meet you.’”
The meeting took place in Mr. Vance’s White House office and lasted roughly 25 minutes, with his chief of staff, Nick Luna, and about five others present.
Mr. Rosenberg agreed to keep the meeting off the record, saying, “Whatever we said inside that room, at least for today … stays inside that room.”
Although Mr. Rosenberg said he still prefers Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a 2028 presidential nominee, he said that if Mr. Vance is “going to be our guy,” he could work with him.
Mr. Vance has been doing political and media outreach to conservative Jewish groups, including hosting a Shabbat dinner this week, to shore up their support ahead of a potential 2028 presidential run and to allay concerns about his positions on Israel and his relationship with Mr. Carlson.
The Washington Times reached out to Mr. Vance’s office for comment.
Mr. Vance recently spoke at the same Republican Jewish Coalition gathering that Mr. Rosenberg attended, reportedly describing Israel as “extremely important to America’s national security.”
Although the vice president rebuked podcaster Nick Fuentes as someone who “really does hate Jews,” he did not say anything about Mr. Carlson at the gathering, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Following Mr. Vance’s RJC remarks, Mr. Rosenberg criticized him for missing “a chance to hammer” Mr. Carlson and for blaming antisemitism on immigration, which the WABC host said was “silly.”
Days later, at a White House press briefing, Mr. Vance defended his friendship with Mr. Carlson.
“Tucker is a friend of mine. Tucker is a friend despite the fact that we disagree on a number of things, and I’m not going to play the game where I throw friends under the bus because I have political disagreements with them,” he said. “I think that is a terrible place for the United States to go.”
Mr. Vance pointed out political differences with Mr. Carlson, saying some of the podcaster’s comments about Mr. Trump “are just wrong.”
The vice president also called out his friend for supporting Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed over Republican candidate Mike Rogers.
“I think El-Sayed’s a crazy person, and I think whatever your views on Mike Rogers’ specific policy prescriptions, I’d like to have a noncrazy person like Mike Rogers representing Michigan in the United States Senate rather than a crazy person like El-Sayed,” Mr. Vance said in response to a question from The Washington Times.
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