On Thursday, Vice President J.D. Vance led the first White House press briefing since Karoline Leavitt's departure as press secretary. He fielded questions on an array of subjects, including the economy, foreign policy, and the state of the GOP ahead of November’s midterm elections. 

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Asked whether the Iran War would end before the midterms, Vance conceded he “d[idn’t] know the answer to that question,” adding that “you would have to ask the Iranians.” He also contested the characterization of the conflict as a war. “I wouldn’t call it a war,” he said, because “right now there is no active shooting.”

In response to a question about his relationship with Tucker Carlson, the vice president affirmed that he counted the popular conservative commentator as a friend. “Yeah, Tucker is a friend of mine,” Vance said, “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. I think that is a terrible place for the United States to go.” 

Vance also defended the administration’s record on the economy and affordability, saying the White House was doing everything in its power to bring down prices. He noted that “because America’s inflation problem wasn’t created in a day,” it would take “a little bit of time to rebuild the foundation of America’s middle class economy.”