Senator JD Vance defended former President Donald Trump’s statements about using the U.S. military against Americans labeled as “the enemy from within.” Vance dismissed warnings from retired Marine general John F. Kelly, calling him a “disgruntled employee.”
Vance also rejected claims that Trump poses an authoritarian threat. He argued that Trump merely wants to target “far-left people who commit acts of violence,” not lawmakers like Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff.
“What he said — and I do agree with this — what he said is that the biggest threat we have in our country, it’s not a foreign adversary, because we can handle these guys,” Vance said.
Vance reframed Trump’s comments on more than one occasion, and labeled Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “competitor.” The Senator also emphasized Trump’s desire for peace.
“Well, we’re not in a war with him, and I don’t want to be in a war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” Vance said. “I think that we should try to pursue avenues of peace.”
“If Donald Trump wanted to start a nuclear war with Russia, I guarantee you that John Kelly and [former congresswoman] Liz Cheney would be at the front of the line endorsing him,” Vance said.
Vance criticized Republicans opposing Trump, such as Liz Cheney, for supporting military interventions. Cheney challenged Vance’s defense of Trump, citing issues with Trump’s divisive domestic and international stances.
Cheney’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, is “responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent Arabs and tens of thousands of innocent American troops,” Vance said. Liz “loves to talk about how she would like to start wars with effectively every country all over the world.”
