Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and CNN anchor Jake Tapper did not pull their punches during an interview that centered around recent criticisms of former President Donald Trump, with Tapper at one point laughing at Vance’s answer.
The interview comes as former Trump administration officials are sounding the alarm over Trump’s alleged authoritarian tendencies and while Trump himself continues to create controversy with increasingly inflammatory rhetoric while campaigning. Vance spent most of the interview on CNN’s State of the Union was spent disagreeing with Tapper.
Tapper asked Vance about comments from former White House chief of staff Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, who recently said Trump “falls into the general definition” of fascist.
TAPPER: They’re all just going after Donald Trump because they want to send people into war? That’s really your argument?
VANCE: Absolutely that’s my argument.@jaketapper presses @JDVance over warnings from former Trump officials. Watch the full interview on @CNNSotu at 9am ET. pic.twitter.com/XCNGCbXbjC— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) October 26, 2024
Vance claimed that Kelly and other former Trump administration officials who have disavowed the former president were not giving an “honest account” of Trump.
“All of these people have this horribly damaged worldview, and they’re all just going after Donald Trump because they want to send people into war? That’s really your argument,” Tapper asked.
“Absolutely,” Vance said.
“These aren’t conservative Republicans who are concerned about Donald Trump? They’re not? That’s not true?” Tapper asked.
“All of these people, Jake, they came into office thinking that they could control Donald Trump, that when he said he wanted peace in the world,” Vance said.
Tapper laughed then, saying, “Mike Pence thought he could control Donald Trump? Really?”
.@jaketapper: “[John Kelly] agrees with Trump on most policy. He disagrees with Trump on how Trump views his role and the fascism and the authoritarianism.”
@JDVance: “I don’t buy that. Jake.” pic.twitter.com/KUOvKmap9W— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) October 27, 2024
Tapper also asked Vance why voters should not trust former Trump administration officials who have been outspoken in their concern of a second Trump presidency.
“I actually think there’s an interesting conversation here to have, Jake, which is, why does John Kelly not support Donald Trump? It’s about policy, it’s not about personality,” Vance said.
“He disagrees with Trump on how Trump views his role and his and the fascism and the authoritarianism,” Tapper said, noting that Kelly agreed with the policies of the former president.
“I don’t buy that, Jake, I don’t buy that,” Vance responded.
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) October 27, 2024
Vance has claimed without evidence that Kelly is in communication with Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, claiming the “fascist” comments are part of Harris’s campaign strategy. Tapper said he had spoken with Kelly’s team and Harris’s campaign team and that there was no communication between them. Vance said he was “highly skeptical of that.”
“So you made it up?” Tapper asked.
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“No, I said that the American media and the American Democratic Party apparatus works a certain way. If it comes out that John Kelly never spoke with a person in the Kamala Harris orbit,” Vance said before Tapper cut him off to say he was telling Vance the evidence he was, in fact, looking for.
Vance said he still did not believe Tapper because Tapper only had “second-hand conversations.” Vance said he would be “happy” to apologize to Kelly for misstating how he gave the news to the Atlantic, the outlet that broke the story in which Kelly likened Trump to Adolf Hitler.