JD Vance was everywhere on Sunday, giving three separate interviews with CNN, NBC News and CBS News. Faced with controversial questions and interviewers determined to protect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, Vance dominated the broadcast with precision.
He was prepared for every question and skillfully fended off various attacks while using each topic to his advantage. In a particularly satisfying moment, Dana Bash attempted to your own network to cover up Walz’s lies about his service. Vance was prepared for this.
BASH: And on the question of when he left the National Guard, he filed his ballot papers on February 10, 2005. That was a month before the National Guard even announced that there was a possibility of them being deployed to Iraq. That ended up being two months. He retired two months before they actually got the papers.
VANCE: But last night, Dana, one of the people who was actually in charge of him, said on CNN that they knew they were going to be sent to Iraq in February of 2004, excuse me, fall of 2004. So he knew he was going to go to Iraq and decided to quit, retire, whatever you want to call it.
BASH: Retire.
VANCE: Because he was going to run for Congress no matter what. He lied about it. He said when he decided to retire, he didn’t know he was going to Iraq. That’s another untruth, as even his highest-ranking military officer said.
You have to love that little interpolation from Bash that Walz didn’t quit, but “retired.” That’s quite a semantic leap, considering that leaving before the end of one’s term is a form of retirement. Walz didn’t get too elderly. He decided to leave his men after telling them he was going into action with them. As Vance points out, we know it was that way because it on CNN that Command Sergeant Major Doug Julin, Walz’s direct superior at the time, confirmed this.
SEE: Tim Walz’s former boss appears on CNN and gives scathing testimony
It is Orwellian to watch a supposed journalist reporting on her own Network, instead of continuing to spread a lie to protect a politician. But that’s exactly what Bash did. Many Republicans would not have been willing to refute that in an interview.
On ABC News, Vance showed a similar level of preparation, deflecting biased questions from Jonathan Karl. This moment on immigration is particularly good, with Karl trying to defend Harris on the grounds that he is not the “border czar.”
senator @JDVance DESTROYS Jon Karl when he claims Kamala Harris was never the border czar🔥
“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 took the title. She had control of a… pic.twitter.com/tAj8fGcOP0
– William Martin (@wsmartin218) 11 August 2024
VANCE: Well, John, we have to start with the fact that we have a wide open southern border because our border czar has actually taken many measures to open the borders. He has suspended…
KARL: You know that she was not really, she was not the border tsar
VANCE: Oh, that’s what the media called her. She embraced the title. She was in control of much of our border policy at one time…
KARL: Well, it was the root causes of migration…
Let’s pause here, because this has become a popular statement in the press. “Oh, she wasn’t the border czar, you stupid head, she was just in charge of addressing the root causes of migration,” they proclaim. Well, how did she do in that job? Because as far as I know, she was given the role in mid-2021. In the years prior, illegal immigration exploded, reaching record levels and completely overwhelming the southern border.
So is it a good defense to say she was responsible for solving the root causes when the root causes were not only not solved but escalated? The answer, of course, is no. It is a ridiculous diversion designed to deflect any responsibility from Harris, even though she is the Vice President of Administration. What is the argument anyway? That Harris did absolutely nothing as Vice President? Because that would be quite an admission.
In response to Karl’s incredibly obtuse phrasing, Vance laid out the litany of actions Harris had helped implement, including suspending the Remain law in Mexico and reinstating catch and release. Karl, realizing that the conversation was not going well for Harris, again tried to steer the topic in a different direction.
KARL: But how do you want to get 10, 15, 20 million people out of the country?
VANCE: Well, the first thing you have to do is stop the bleeding. Stop the open border. Get Kamala Harris out of there and reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, rebuild or finish Trump’s border wall, and when you do that, stop the bleeding. You’re right, when you do that, when you end Kamala Harris’ open border policy, you have to do something with the people who are already here, and I think you have to take a piecemeal approach to doing that. You’re going to have to deport some people. If you’re not willing to deport a lot of people, you’re not willing to have a border when there are 20 million illegal immigrants in our country.
KARL: But 10 to 15 million people, that is, I mean…
VANCE: Well, Jon, I think that’s the wrong attitude.
KARL: Would you knock on their doors and ask people for their papers?
Good thing Vance kept his frosty, because that was like arguing with a child. Just because something is going to be tough doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take steps to make it happen. Vance explains this energetic perfectly.
VANCE: I think that’s the wrong attitude. There are 20 million people here illegally. You start with what’s doable, implement that, and then go to what’s doable from there. I think if you deport a lot of violent criminals and, frankly, if you make it harder to hire illegal workers who will undercut the wages of American workers, you go a long way toward solving the problem of illegal immigration.
But President Trump is absolutely right. You can’t have a border unless you’re willing to deport some people. I find it compelling that people are focused on how to deport 18 million people. Let’s start with a million, which is where Kamala Harris failed, and then we can go from there.
This isn’t rocket science, no matter how strenuous Karl and other liberals try. What Vance is saying is common sense, and I suspect it resonates with most Americans.
Let me say this about Vance, and some people will take this as a criticism of Donald Trump. So be it, because I’m going to say it anyway. What Vance is doing is showing, from the second highest post in the MAGA movement, that you can be a “fighter” while being disciplined and sharp. You don’t have to throw out all strategy to be “tough.” Vance doesn’t run off cliffs to prove a point. He skirts them and makes his opponents look stupid in the process.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a little influence on the libraries along the way.
I enjoyed sitting down with three of the biggest networks today and answering the tough questions every politician should be answering. Kamala Harris has done as many tough interviews as Tim Walz has done battlefield missions.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) 11 August 2024
Vance hit the nail on the head on Sunday. When it comes time to debate Tim Walz, he will undoubtedly wipe the Minnesota governor’s face.
