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

Carlson recently suggested that he favored Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed over Republican candidate Mike Rogers, citing their differing foreign policies. 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 added.

"[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.