JD Vance went all in Sunday on Donald Trump's relentless warnings about the nation's "enemy within," painting fellow Americans and elected lawmakers he doesn't like as more diabolical than people like Vladimir Putin.
Vance said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that, yes, Democratic Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff are a "bigger threat" than any "foreign adversary" because, he explained, the U.S. can "handle" the other countries.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson laughingly tried to insist to CNN's Jake Tapper earlier this month that Trump wasn't talking about Pelosi or Schiff when he discussed siccing the U.S. military on Americans Trump has demonized (Johnson insisted he was referring to mysterious "marauding gangs"). But Trump has specifically named the two Democratic lawmakers.
"Meet the Press" host Kristin Welker grilled Vance on Sunday if he agreed with Trump's assessment that dangerous fellow Americans, including the lawmakers, are a bigger threat than Russia or China.
"I think that what Donald Trump has said is that those folks pose a greater threat to United States peace and security because America is strong enough to stand up to any foreign adversity," Vance responded
"What he said, and I do agree with this – what he said is that the biggest threat we have in our country, it's not a foreign adversary, because we can handle these guys. We can handle foreign conflicts," Vance told Welker. "We can't handle ... Pelosi," he added.
Vance complained that Americans are struggling to afford groceries and falsely insisted the nation has a wide-open southern border — which he blamed on the Democrats, even though Donald Trump lobbied GOP lawmakers to defeat a restrictive bipartisan border earlier this year.
"That's a way bigger threat than any foreign threat. And, yes, it's caused by broken leadership," Vance said.
WATCH: Trump called his domestic political opponents “the enemy from within.” JD Vance says he agrees.@JDVance: “What Donald Trump said is that those folks pose a greater threat to United States’ peace and security. … That's a way bigger threat than any foreign threat.” pic.twitter.com/Hdo7yTv9sF
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 26, 2024
CNN's Jake Tapper and Vance earlier Sunday went at it over Trump's threats against the "enemy within," which Trump himself said included Pelosi and Schiff. This time, Vance insisted Trump only aimed to use the military against "enemies within" who riot, though that's not what the former president has said. He has defined both Pelosi and Schiff as part of the dangerous "lunatic left."
Vance's position is also inconsistent by calling Pelosi and Schiff bigger threats than Russia or China, which presumably the nation would take arms against in the event of a serious threat.
Jake Tapper confronts JD Vance on the enemy within until Vance gets flustered and admits, "I'm telling you that Donald Trump has said and I agree with them that we should use the US military to go after American people who riot." pic.twitter.com/WaicPZAiKZ
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 27, 2024
Trump has repeatedly railed against the "enemy within."
He told Fox News earlier this month: "We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within and the enemy from within in my opinion is more dangerous than China, Russia." He said the National Guard or military would have to deal with these Americans.
He later specifically named Pelosi and Schiff as "enemies from within."
"These are bad people," he said of the Democrats on Fox News' Media Buzz. "We have a lot of bad people."
Trump ominously warned at a Fox News town hall: "We have China. We have Russia ... If you have a smart president, they can all be handled. The more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis [apparently the former speaker and her husband]. These people, they're so sick and they're so evil."
Tapper also pressed Vance on Trump one-time chief of staff John Kelly warning that the former president admires dictators. Former Joint Chief of Staff head Gen. Mark Milley has called Trump "fascist to the core."
Watch their exchange here:
TAPPER: Why shouldn't Americans listen to somebody who worked closely w/ Trump, retired 4 star general, who agrees w/Trump on policy?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 27, 2024
JD VANCE: Pretty much all of what John Kelly says Pence's former chief of staff says Trump didn't say
T: Pence, who's not gonna support Trump? pic.twitter.com/0LPTqobgmT
