Republican VP nominee J.D. Vance sparked controversy in a recent CNN interview with Jake Tapper. Vance and Tapper addressed allegations by generals Mark Milley and John Kelly, who called former President Trump a “fascist.” The claims have been denied by numerous sources, but have been widely discussed across media outlets.
Vance argued that Trump has primarily been targeted for opposing the military-industrial complex. Tapper challenged the assertion, citing anti-Trump remarks from Mike Pence and others.
The exchange grew tense as Tapper seemed unsatisfied with Vance’s defense.
“So all those 10 people, including the former vice president, Mike Pence, all of these people are, have this horribly damaged worldview and they’re all just going after Donald Trump because they want to send people into war? That’s what, that’s really your argument?” Tapper pressed.
“Absolutely… absolutely, that’s my argument,” Vance said. “These are not conservative Republicans? All of these people? These aren’t conservative Republicans who are concerned about Donald Trump?” Tapper began shouting, only to be cut off by Vance.
“Jake, they came into office thinking that they could control Donald Trump, then when he said he wanted peace in the world -,” Vance said before being interrupted again.
Vance then criticized CNN’s coverage of the “Russian collusion” investigation, accusing the network of using unverified sources and misleading the public.
“Ask yourself a basic question about network integrity. You guys talked about the Russia hoax nonstop,” Vance said, prompting Tapper to say, “The FBI was investigating it.
Vance cited the coverage as an example of CNN’s alleged bias against Trump, then proceeding to question the network’s integrity.
Vance claimed that CNN gives undue weight to anonymous sources. He urged Tapper to focus on issues affecting Americans rather than unresolved political controversies.
“No, you took the words of unnamed FBI agents and put them on your network as if they were the gospel truth you did it again and again of your of your network would have believed that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin conspired in 2016, now that was totally and preposterously false,” Vance said.