According to the BBC, US Vice-President JD Vance's recent comments about the Antichrist and the end times were defended by his friend Rod Dreher, who said the views were common among many Republicans and within Christianity. Vance made the remarks on a Christian podcast with Bryce Crawford, saying he would not be shocked if the Antichrist were among us, while also saying he was not focused on such thoughts and was concentrating on his duties as vice-president. Dreher, a conservative writer, told the BBC's Today programme that the comments would not hurt Vance politically and said the world appeared to be going crazy because of rapid AI development and ongoing conflicts. Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 and is due to deliver the first White House press briefing since the departure of Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday afternoon.