During a tense interview on the campaign trail earlier this year, Ohio Senator JD Vance shut down NBC host Kristin Welker after she pressed him with a critical tweet about Donald Trump from years ago. While Vance voiced reservations about Trump in past years, he has since aligned himself with the Make America Great Again platform.
Kristin asked Vance in the segment, “In October of 2016 you said this quote, Trump makes people I care about afraid immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this, I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us. This week in Springfield, buildings were closed because of bomb threats. Haitian immigrants say they are afraid for their lives. Are you not doing the very thing you once called reprehensible senator?”
Vance began his response, condemning any violence that has stemmed from the situation in Springfield. “Well, first of all, Christian we condemn all acts of violence and all threats of violence,” he said. Addressing his change of opinion toward Trump, he said, “But Kristen, the reason that I changed my mind on Donald Trump is actually perfectly highlighted by what’s going on in Springfield.”
Continuing, Vance said, “Because the media and the Kamala Harris campaign, they’ve been calling the residents of Springfield racist. They’ve been lying about them. They’ve been saying that they make up these reports of migrants eating geese, and they completely ignored the public health disaster that is unfolding in Springfield at this very minute.”
As Welker tried to interject, Vance maintained, “Let me finish this point, Kristen, and feel free to follow up. Donald Trump is the only person who brought Springfield to national attention, and is the only president who is going to fight for the residents, not just their right to live safely in their communities, but for their right to complain about what’s going on in their own community.”
Concluding his point, Vance called out Vice President Kamala Harris over her administration’s failures with illegal immigration at the southern border with Mexico. “I think it’s disgraceful that Kamala Harris has heard these complaints has decided to call people, racist, instead of actually trying to make their lives better by undoing her open border,” he said.
The clip from the interview garnered a massive response from conservatives on social media, who praised Vance for his navigation of the question. The popular conservative account Western Lensman wrote, “JD Vance flips the script on hostile DNC attack bot Kristen Welker over migrant issues in Ohio.” He added, “NBC’s Welker started a gotcha fight and Vance finished it … The hostile, vapid legacy media talking heads have no shot against Vance. None.”
Another commenter praised Vance, “Say what you will, he’s a fantastic communicator. So far, an excellent pick.” Calling out Welker’s agenda, one person wrote, “Vance: The media and the Kamala Harris campaign completely ignore the residents of Springfield, Ohio… Media: But Senator what about the Haitian immigrants…”
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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