J.D. Vance is doubling down on his remarks on immigrants from a podcast in 2021.
In a press conference on Friday, Vance defended his remarks in response to a question from The New York Times’ Chris Cameron, who asked the Republican vice presidential candidate about his comments on Jack Murphy Live about the problems from European immigration in early American history, and whether he would have recommended mass deportation back then.
“Has anybody seen the movie Gangs of New York?” Vance asked the room filled with reporters, citing a 2002 film depicting the city in 1863. “That’s what I’m talking about. You know that when you have these massive ethnic enclaves in our country, it can lead to higher crime rates.”
Vance: Has anybody seen the movie “Gangs of New York?.” That is what I’m talking about, with these ethnic enclaves in our country, it can lead to higher crime rates. pic.twitter.com/3UOBRSvOfJ
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 16, 2024
Citing a fictional movie is probably not the best way to defend controversial comments, especially since the major villain of the movie is an anti-immigrant nativist crime boss based on a real person, which people on X were happy to point out.
Xenophobic undertones aside, Vance’s point loses more credibility in the face of the fact that immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans, “ethnic enclaves” or not. And while Vance later segued into stating that immigration policy needs to encourage more assimilation, he also skirted around mentioning Donald Trump’s plan for mass deportations. It seems clear that Vance’s words on immigration will probably help the Harris campaign further paint him as weird.
