Vice President JD Vance on Thursday declined to disavow or condemn media personality Tucker Carlson as the former Fox News host's criticism of the administration escalated.

Vance spoke in response to a reporter's question about Carlson having recently called for President Trump's impeachment, Vance's "close relationship" with Carlson and what the reporter said were claims that he was "avoiding addressing a lot of these issues, which may be causing divisions within the GOP."

Carlson has also recently suggested that he favored Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed over Republican nominee Mike Rogers, citing their differing foreign policies. El-Sayed is a progressive pro-Palestinian politician, compared to GOP lawmakers and candidates, who in large part continue to support Israeli, considered the United States' longest and most loyal Middle East ally, and the Israeli government. 

While Vance made clear that he did not share Carlson's view, he declined to condemn or disavow him as a friend over a political disagreement.

"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," he said during the White House press briefing.

"I think El-Sayed's a crazy person," he also said.

"[I]f you have a disagreement with somebody politically, even over a deeply held issue, you should still be friends with that person because the whole republic depends on people with different perspectives being able to talk to one another," he went on.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.