Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance insisted that Donald Trump's attacks on the “enemy within” were not directed at Democratic Party leaders but at American opponents whom he described as “far-left lunatics” willing to riot if the former president wins the elections. November.
Questioning CNN's Jake Tapper about Trump's use of the loaded phrase, Vance defended his running mate, saying the former president wouldn't unleash the military on “Americans in a big way.”
“He has said publicly that he wants to use the military to go after the enemy within, which is the American people,” Tapper said in an interview broadcast Sunday on “State of the Union.”
“He didn't say that, Jake,” the Ohio senator responded. “Did he say he was going to send the military to go after the American people? Show me the quote where he said that.
Earlier this month, Trump initially suggested using military force on Election Day to confront the “enemy within,” referring to the potential chaos being wreaked by “radical left-wing lunatics.” Later, in an interview with Fox News, Trump referred to California Rep. Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as an “enemy within.” More recently, Trump appeared on a radio show with Joe Rogan on Friday and said the “enemy within” — Americans with different policies — pose a bigger threat to the United States than nuclear-armed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The former president spoke in clearer and more threatening terms as the campaign entered its final days. His claim that political rivals are traitors to the American people echoes the language of autocrats and strongmen around the world. However, Vance said Trump was simply misunderstood.
He has said he wants to use the military to go after far-left lunatics who are rioting, calling them “the enemy within.” On the other hand, in a very different context, in a very different conversation, Vance said that Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff are a threat to this country, echoing a script that other Republicans have clung to when asked similar questions. .
“What you're talking about is marauding gangs,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told Tapper last week when asked about Trump's comments.
Like Vance, Johnson said, even after facing Trump's attacks on Pelosi and Schiff, that the former president was not talking about using the military against political opponents.
“I didn't hear President Trump in this clip say he was going to attack the military with Adam Schiff. “That's not what he's saying,” the Louisiana Republican said. “I got two different clips in two different contexts.”
The week before, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who also spoke with Tapper, said Trump doesn't talk about political opponents.
“I think what I want to make absolutely clear is that I think what former President Trump is talking about is people who are crossing the border and are actually committing crimes, bringing drugs and fleeing.” “Human trafficking and this turns every state into a border state,” the Republican governor said.
There was no known, credible threat from American leftists – many of whom resent Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris – regarding post-election violence or “riots.”
Taking on Trump's Republican critics
In his interview, Vance strongly disagreed with what has become a favorite attack of the Harris campaign, which frequently points out that a growing number of former top Trump administration officials have said their former boss is unfit to serve. the position.
“The people who know Donald Trump best, the people who worked with him in the White House, in the Situation Room, in the Oval Office (by the way, they are all Republicans) who served in his administration, his former chief of staff and your team. “The national security adviser, former defense secretaries and his deputy have called it inappropriate and dangerous,” Harris said at a CNN town hall last week.
Vance claimed these former administration officials are targeting Trump because he rejected their efforts to rein in his behavior and push to start “ridiculous military conflicts.” The group includes Trump's longest-serving chief of staff, John Kelly, who told the New York Times last week that the former president fits “the general definition of a fascist.”
Kelly said it was a “new concept” to Trump that the loyalty of top government officials is to the Constitution, not to the president personally, and that Trump praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's generals for their loyalty.
Vance later said Kelly's concerns about Trump were based on politics, not personality.
“No, (Kelly) agrees with Trump on most policies,” Tapper said. “He disagrees with Trump about how Trump views his role and his role and fascism and tyranny.”
Vance sought to shift the terms of the discussion from Trump's behavior to the records of Kelly and other conservative anti-Trump Republicans.
“If you really look at John Kelly and people like Liz Cheney, the fundamental disagreement between them and Donald Trump is that, although they say they are conservative, they are conservative in the sense that they want the United States to get involved in a war. “”Tons of ridiculous military conflicts,” Vance said.
Cheney, a former congressman from Wyoming, and her father, former Vice President and Iraq War architect Dick Cheney, Aida Harris.
At an event in Waterford, Michigan, last week, Vance described Kelly as a “disgruntled former employee” who was “angry” about Trump's firing.
“So all these… people, including former Vice President Mike Pence, all these people have this terribly damaged worldview and they're all going after Donald Trump just because they want to send people to war? Is this really your argument? Tapper said.
“Sure, that's my argument, Jake,” Vance said.
Another former Trump administration official, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, said Trump “is the most dangerous person to this country” and “a fascist to the core” in Bob Woodward's new book, “War.” .
Vance rejected the idea that these are conservative Republicans worried about a second Trump presidency.
“All these people, Jake, came to power thinking they could control Donald Trump, and that's when he said he wanted peace in the world,” Vance said.
“Did Mike Pence think he could control Donald Trump? Really?” Tapper said.
“Yes, he did that. “When he found out he couldn't, everyone turned against Donald Trump,” Vance said.
In a previous interview with CNN's Dana Bash during his presidential run, Pence said Trump asked him to break his oath to the Constitution.
Vance tries to sand his edges
Vance, who has faced backlash for his past comments about “childless cat ladies” and, more recently, for spreading false claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, once again tried to defend himself, as he did in his last debate with the Democrats. . Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz.
“Whether you're in a blue state or a red state, whether you're voting for Trump or Harris, I want you to be able to have a good life in this country.” Vance said. . “But that won’t happen under broken leadership in Washington, DC.”
He also moved away from the populist rhetoric that had made him a favorite of some anti-establishment right-wingers, blaming both parties for the country's “decline.”
“There are many people who have become rich and powerful as a result of American decline. Some of them had an R next to their names. “Some of them had a D next to their names,” Vance said. “And the number one person that I think puts the interests of the American people first is Donald J. Trump.”
Vance has been trying to show a more personal side on the track lately and promote a message of unity. On Friday, he told a crowd in Raeford, North Carolina, that he and his wife had “lost some friends” since he became a vice presidential candidate, and urged people not to lose their friendships over politics.
At a NewsNation town hall in Michigan on Thursday, Vance advised: “Whether you vote for me, Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, don't ignore your family and your lifelong friends. Politics is not worth it.”
