Jd Vance Swipes At Laura Loomer As He Tries To Mollify Anti-abortion Activists’ Frustrations

Vice President JD Vance fired back at far-right influencer Laura Loomer on Friday after she criticized his speech at a prominent anti-abortion rally, saying abortion messaging will cost Republicans the midterms.

Vance spoke at the annual March for Life rally in Washington on Friday, reaffirming his support for the movement and addressing frustrations from some anti-abortion activists about what they see as stalled progress in President Donald Trump’s second term.

“There will inevitably be debates within this movement,” Vance said at the rally. “I think these are good, honest and natural debates. And frankly, they’re not just good for all of you — they help keep people like me honest.”

Frustration among some conservative activists has been bubbling up throughout Trump’s first year in office. Earlier this month, Trump told GOP lawmakers to be “flexible” in ongoing health care negotiations, referring to the long-standing Hyde amendment barring federal funding for abortions.

His comment added to mounting frustrations from anti-abortion advocates, who are looking to advance their goals after achieving their decadeslong objective of overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Shortly after Vance’s speech, Loomer took to X and questioned why Republicans are repeating past mistakes by leaning into abortion messaging in a midterm election year, which she sees as a losing strategy, warning the party will “blow the midterms.”

“Didn’t they learn their lesson in 2018?” Loomer wrote, pointing to when Democrats flipped the House during the first Trump administration.

She also said the strategy ran counter to Trump’s preferences, saying the president “doesn’t like when the GOP focuses on abortion.”

Vance shut down that characterization, saying Trump had personally encouraged his participation.

“The president literally sent a video to the March for Life today and encouraged me to accept their invitation, which I was happy to do,” Vance wrote on X in response. “It’s interesting that some ‘conservative influencers’ spend all of their time attacking the administration and sowing division. Disgraceful actually.”

Loomer — who shot back at Vance on X— said in a brief interview with POLITICO that Vance was deflecting by going after her.

“It’s laughable that the vice president, who is friends with Tucker Carlson — and literally has Tucker Carlson's son working in his office at the White House — is picking me of all people to call out for so-called division when he's yet to call out people like Tucker Carlson or Nick Fuentes or Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene,” she said, calling federal-level talks about abortion during an election year “political suicide for Republicans.”

And when asked whether she leaned more toward backing Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Vance for a presidential bid in 2028, Loomer said her vote was still up for grabs.

“I don’t know who I’ll be supporting in 2028,” she said. “My vote has to be earned.”

Trump last week hosted the conservative influencer at Mar-a-Lago, where she was spotted at an event unveiling “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard,” the 4-mile stretch from Palm Beach International Airport to his Palm Beach club. Loomer, who was seated near the front row, got a shout-out from the president during his remarks.

“She can be a little nasty, but to me, she's always nice,” the president said of Loomer. As the president was exiting the event, the two spoke for a couple of minutes.

The Trump administration has also moved to solidify support among anti-abortion activists in recent days, announcing a series of anti-abortion policies and enforcement actions earlier this week, some of which Vance referenced Friday.

The White House on Friday also sent out a press release calling Trump “the Most Pro-Life President in History” after Vance’s March for Life appearance.

At the rally, Vance said the president “loves and cares deeply” about the anti-abortion movement.

“It’s why he has fought for the pro-life cause and why we do it in this administration,” he said.

Trump addressed participants at the rally in a pre-recorded video, continuing his long-standing engagement with the anti-abortion demonstration. During his first term in 2020, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to attend the March for Life. In his message Friday, he said he was “proud” to do so.

“We have made unprecedented strides to protect innocent life and support the institute of the family,” Trump said in his message, touting his appointment of judges and justices during his first term. “Because of that, the pro-life movement won the greatest victory in its history.”

Adam Wren, Ben Johansen and Alice Miranda Ollstein contributed to this report.