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The interview comes amid heightened concerns from former Trump administration officials over Trump’s alleged authoritarian leanings, as the former president’s campaign rhetoric continues to draw controversy. Senator JD Vance spent much of his appearance on CNN’s State of the Union disagreeing with host Jake Tapper.
Tapper questioned Vance on remarks from Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, who recently said Trump “falls into the general definition” of a fascist. Vance argued that Kelly and other former Trump officials criticizing Trump were not providing an “honest account” of the former president.
“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 replied.
Tapper pressed further, “These aren’t conservative Republicans who are concerned about Donald Trump? They’re not? That’s not true?”
Vance responded, “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…”
Tapper interrupted, laughing, “Mike Pence thought he could control Donald Trump? Really?”
Later, Tapper questioned Vance on why voters shouldn’t trust former Trump officials who are openly concerned about a potential second Trump term. Vance responded, “There’s an interesting conversation here, Jake, which is, why does John Kelly not support Donald Trump? It’s about policy, not personality.”
“He disagrees with Trump on how Trump views his role, on the fascism and authoritarianism,” Tapper said, emphasizing that Kelly aligned with Trump’s policies but questioned his approach.
“I don’t buy that, Jake,” Vance replied.
Vance then suggested, without evidence, that Kelly might be communicating with Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, claiming Kelly’s “fascist” remarks were part of her strategy. Tapper said he had spoken with Kelly’s and Harris’s teams, confirming no communication between them. Vance responded skeptically, “I’m highly skeptical of that.”
“So you made it up?” Tapper challenged.
“No, I said that the American media and Democratic Party apparatus works a certain way. If it turns out John Kelly never spoke with anyone in the Kamala Harris orbit…” Vance trailed off as Tapper interjected, insisting he had provided Vance the confirmation he was seeking.
Vance stood firm, expressing doubt over Tapper’s “second-hand conversations” but said he’d be “happy” to apologize to Kelly if his claims were proven false.
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