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Jake Tapper struggled to contain his laughter when JD Vance offered up his theory for why Mike Pence has now distanced himself from Donald Trump.
In an appearance on State of the Union, the Ohio senator sought to brush off comments from former Trump administration officials who have warned about the risks of a second Trump term.
He claimed that Trump’s feud with his former vice president came about because of Pence’s inability to “control” his former boss – and not the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, during which Trump supporters stormed the building chanting “Hang Mike Pence.”
“All of these people, Jake, came into office thinking that they could control Donald Trump. That when he said he wanted peace in the world…” Vance said.
“Mike Pence thought he could control Donald Trump?” Tapper swiftly interjected.
“Yes, he did,” Vance snapped, prompting the CNN host to laugh out loud, before scoffing: “Ha! Really?”
Tapper dug in, relaying Vance’s comments that it was differences over foreign policy that led to former Trump staffers speaking ill of the former president.
“Including the former vice president Mike Pence, all of these people have this horribly damaged world view and they‘re all just going after Donald Trump because they want to send people into war?” Tapper asked. “That‘s really your argument?”
Vance retorted: “Absolutely, that’s my argument.”
Vance also rushed to Trump’s defense over claims from the former president’s longest-serving chief of staff John Kelly, who last week declared that the former commander-in-chief is a fascist who once praised Adolf Hitler.
“It’s about policy. It’s not about personality,” Vance said.
He continued: “The people who have attacked Donald Trump the most vociferously on foreign policy will say, ‘Well, he’s a dictator,’ when what they really mean is they won’t listen. Trump wouldn’t listen to the leadership of the military when they wanted him to start ridiculous conflicts. That is a consistent theme.”
Tapper noted that Kelly has said he actually agrees with Trump on most policies.
“I don’t buy that, Jake. I don’t buy that,” Vance responded.
Trump’s VP pick also sat down for interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker during Sunday’s episode of Meet the Press, where he reduced Kelly, a retired general in the Marine Corps, to a “disgruntled ex-employee.”
“This disagreement is not about personalities. This disagreement is because John Kelly didn’t like the peace-through-strength policy of Donald Trump,” Vance claimed.
