GOP vice-presidential candidate JD Vance sparred with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, addressing former President Donald Trump’s controversial statements and the characterization of Trump as a “fascist” by some of his previous senior advisors.

On “State of the Union,” Tapper immediately questioned Vance about Trump’s comments on an “enemy from within” and pointed to retired General John Kelly’s assertion that Trump fits “into the general definition of fascist.”

In response, the 40-year-old Vance dismissed former Trump allies like Kelly and ex-Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as proponents of military intervention, prompting Tapper, 55, to probe Trump’s pointed statements about election officials who engage in fraud.

“You’re taking words out of context,” Vance retorted in frustration. “If you’d like to put up a clip and actually put him in context, I think the American people would realize that Donald Trump is a hell of a lot more reasonable than the people like Liz Cheney, who would like to lie us into war.”

“Now, Jake, we also should remember, I mean, step back a little bit. Ask yourself a basic question about network integrity. You guys talked about the Russia hoax nonstop,” Vance continued.

Tapper defended CNN’s reporting, noting that “the FBI was investigating it, so, we covered them.”

Republican leaders have consistently criticized the media for their extensive focus on alleged connections between Trump and Russia, claiming that it misled the public and fueled misunderstandings.

Vance countered, “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.”

“A viewer of your network would’ve believed that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin conspired in 2016. Now that was totally and preposterously false,” Vance, the GOP vice-presidential pick, emphasized.

Tapper refuted Vance’s claim about CNN’s coverage, calling it “false” and maintained that the network simply reported on the FBI’s inquiry.

Vance insisted, “You covered it in a way that gave credence to anonymous sources [and] accusations. You did it yourself. Your network did it, Jake.”

The debate then returned to the topic of Trump’s language and the warnings voiced by several former members of his administration.

Kelly, Trump’s White House chief of staff from 2017 to 2019, had told The New York Times that Trump “certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.”

The ex-chief of staff also informed The Atlantic that Trump had expressed admiration for the loyalty shown by Adolf Hitler’s generals. Trump has denied this allegation.

Additionally, Kelly’s comments followed those of former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, who described Trump as “fascist to the core” in Bob Woodward’s recent book, War.

In turn, Vance criticized Kelly, suggesting he holds a “world view that’s so oppositional to peace.”

“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?” Tapper asked incredulously.

“That’s really your argument?” he added.

“Absolutely,” Vance replied firmly. “All of the people, Jake, they came into office thinking that they could control Donald Trump, that when he said he wanted peace in the world.”

Trump, 78, has since expressed regrets over some of his hiring choices, telling podcast host Joe Rogan that his “biggest mistake” was that “I picked some people that I shouldn’t have picked.”

The former president described certain appointments as “neocons, or bad people, or disloyal people.” During that same conversation, he spoke favorably about figures like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, known for his loyalty.

Following Vance’s heated exchange with CNN, the network featured Cheney, who offered her rebuttal. CBS’ “Face the Nation” similarly aired a segment with Vance on Sunday, followed by an interview with Cheney.

“What we just watched is what it looks like when someone has gotta go through unbelievable contortions to try to find a way to defend the person that JD Vance himself called America’s Hitler,” Cheney stated, referencing Vance’s past remark that Trump was “America’s Hitler” during the 2016 campaign.

Vance has since attributed that comment to a misconception about Trump at the time, which he claims was influenced by media bias.

The GOP vice-presidential candidate further stressed in his interview with Tapper that his aim is to serve all Americans, not only conservatives.

“Of course, I’m running to be the vice president of all Americans. I’m running because I want people to be able to afford a good life in this country,” he affirmed.

{Matzav.com}