Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) appeared on multiple Sunday show programs this week where he advocated for the Trump-Vance ticket. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, were meanwhile nowhere to be found.
Vance also had to contend with correcting mainstream media's lies. During ABC News' "This Week," Jonathan Karl interrupted to claim that Harris wasn't the border czar while Vance was pointing out the failures of the Biden-Harris administration on the issue.
As Karl claimed "you know she's not actually--she wasn't the border czar," Vance reminded Harris "assumed the title" and "had control over a lot of our border policy."
Senator @JDVance DESTROYS Jon Karl as he tries to claim Kamala Harris was never the Border Czar🔥
— William Martin (@wsmartin218) August 11, 2024
"We have to start with the fact that we have a wide open southern border because our Border Czar set a lot of open border policies...She assumed the title. She had control over a… pic.twitter.com/tAj8fGcOP0
Karl also wished to discuss comments that Trump made at a rally about Walz's policies on gender transitions for minors.
"Tim Walz has supported taking children from their parents if the parents don't consent to gender resignment. That is crazy. And, by the way, Tim Walz gets on his high horse about mind your own damn business. One way of minding your own damn business, Jon, is to not try to take any children away from me if I have different moral views than you," Vance pointed out.
As Mia pointed out when covering Walz's extremism, parents do not have legal recourse if their children run off to Minnesota:
In April 2023, Walz signed a law that turned Minnesota into a "transgender sanctuary state." House File 146 "prevents state courts or officials from complying with child removal requests, extraditions, arrests, or subpoenas related to gender-affirming health care that a person receives in Minnesota." This gave state courts the power to take kids away if parents don't sign off on so-called "gender-affirming" surgical procedures, allowing the state to have temporary emergency jurisdiction over the child.
If a child runs away to another state to seek these services, Minnesota will not return the child.
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Vance also urged Karl to show an interest in issues that matter to voters.
"Why aren’t we talking about inflation? Why aren't we talking about the fact that groceries are unaffordable thanks to Kamala Harris' policies, and so is housing? We've talked a little bit about the border. Why aren't we talking about the fact that the entire world is on fire because of Kamala Harris' foreign policy? She's just asleep at the wheel," he pointed out.
"We have a set of plans. You talk about sticking to the facts. Donald Trump and I have a set of plans to lower the cost of housing and food," Vance continued.
🔥“Tim Walz has supported taking children from their parents if the parents don't consent to gender reassignment…Tim gets on his high horse about mind your own damn business. One way of minding your own damn business, is to not try to take people’s children away.” - @JDVance pic.twitter.com/5Fylko8wFu
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 11, 2024
Vance made a similarly focused point while talking to CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." They had been discussing Walz's labeling of Vance as "weird." Vance has been consistent when responding to the "weird" narrative.
"I think that it drives home how they're trying to distract from their own policy failures. I mean, look, this is fundamentally schoolyard bully stuff. They can accuse me of whatever they want to accuse me of," he pointed out on Sunday. Vance also reminded that "I'm doing this because I think that me being vice president will help improve people's lives. So I accept their attacks, but I think that it is a little bit of projection."
When it comes to that "projection," Vance reminded that Walz went to give his wife a handshake instead of an embrace. "And so they're name-calling, instead of actually telling the American people how they're going to make their lives better. I think that's weird, Dana. But, look, they can call me whatever they want to," he also pointed out.
When I gave my VP nomination speech, I gave my wife a hug and a kiss.
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 11, 2024
When Tim Walz gave his big speech, he gave his wife a nice, firm midwestern handshake.
— @JDVance pic.twitter.com/pAk7vq6eyn
As Bash missed the point, Vance got her back on track by calling to mind what the actual issues are.
"I said that he acted weird, which he did, on a national stage in front of his wife and in front of millions of Americans who presumably were watching at home. And I think that it's projection, Dana. Look, I think this election should be about who's going to solve the inflation crisis, who's going to make groceries and housing more affordable, who's going to secure that southern border," he explained.
"Kamala Harris' record is that she supported all of the policies that made that problem worse, Dana. We're trying to say we're going to take the country in a different direction. I really think that it's important to point this out, Dana. Their entire campaign has not been about, here's our policy for how we're going to make your lives better, or here's what's wrong with Donald Trump and JD Vance's policies. We're going to name-call and hope that you don't notice that we don't have an agenda," he continued, pointing out "that is the entire Democrat approach to this election."
While Bash claimed Democrats "have done both" and then tried to move on, Vance reminded her that Harris' campaign website doesn't even have a policy page.
”I think this election should be about who's going to solve the inflation crisis? Who's going to make groceries and housing more affordable? Who's going to secure that southern border? Kamala Harris's record is the policies that made these problems worse." - @JDVance🎯 pic.twitter.com/KWjKjr5JuW
— William Martin (@wsmartin218) August 11, 2024
Concerns about Walz and stolen valor came up as well.
As Matt highlighted earlier on Monday, Vance summed up that the issue is not about Walz's service, but about the lies he's told to do with his National Guard duty.
JD Vance torches CNN for covering up Tim Walz's stolen valor 🔥
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) August 11, 2024
""This is a guy who was captured on video saying, I carried a gun in war. He never went to war....I'm not criticizing Tim Walz's service. I'm criticizing the fact that he lied about his service for political gain." pic.twitter.com/gUt7dELbN7
On his past comments, Vance also expertly turned that around on Bash, by asking why the media have been covering for Harris by not asking her questions.
"You've now asked me three questions about comments that I made three years ago," Vance said, which Bash did not deny. "I wonder what Kamala Harris thinks about the fact that she supported policies that opened the American southern border. I wonder what Kamala Harris thinks about the fact that she lied to the American people... about Joe Biden's mental--mental facility for the office."
In response to Bash pointing out that she was interviewing Vance rather than Harris, he pointed out that "you are interviewing me, Dana, because I respect the American people enough to sit down for an interview," also reminding that "Kamala Harris has been the nominee for three weeks. She hasn't sat down for a real interview."
🔥JD Vance: “You've now asked me three questions about comments that I made three years ago. I wonder what Kamala Harris thinks about the fact that her policies opened the southern border...Kamala's been the nominee for three weeks and she hasn’t sat down for a real interview.” pic.twitter.com/KWPSvWvxWG
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 11, 2024
Vance also pointed out that Harris isn't even running a real campaign. This again comes back to the lack of policy positions she puts out there. "She's not running a political campaign. She's running a movie. She only speaks to voters behind a teleprompter. Everything is scripted. She doesn't have her policy positions out there. She hasn't answered why she wanted to ban fracking, but now she doesn't. She wanted to defund police, but now she doesn't," Vance offered.
"She wanted to open the border, but now she doesn't. She should have to answer for why she presents a different set of policies to one audience and a different set of policies to another audience. And I think that's what President Trump is getting at. This is a fundamentally... fake person. She's different depending on who she's in front of," he also said.
Kamala Harris isn’t running a presidential campaign. She’s producing a movie. Everything is scripted everywhere she goes.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 11, 2024
She’s fundamentally a fake person who changes her tune depending on what audience she’s in front of. pic.twitter.com/HrCKF9XXSM
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