Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) on Sunday argued it would be “preposterous” to think former President Trump would abuse power if reelected to the White House in 2024.
“The idea that Trump is going to be radically different that what he was four years ago is preposterous,” Vance said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He was an effective, successful president. I think he will be an effective, successful president again. That’s why I have endorsed him.”
Vance claimed Trump’s presidency brought “peace” and “prosperity,” and he dug into economic conditions under President Biden.
“Look, the guy was president for four years. We had peace. We had prosperity. We had wages rising faster than inflation,” Vance said. “Joe Biden has been president for three years now. The average Ohio family pays $10,000 more to afford the same standard of living.”
Vance’s remarks came after CNN anchor Jake Tapper pointed out “a lot of conservatives” have “deep concerns” about a second term for Trump and what it’d mean for democracy.
Tapper played a clip from last week of former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) discussing her concerns that Trump would try to seize power for a second time in 2024.
“[Trump] already tried to seize power once. So it shouldn’t be hard for anybody to imagine that he will do it again. Once a president decides that he’s above the law, as Donald Trump has, everything unravels nearly immediately,” Cheney said in a previous interview with Tapper.
Vance, a strong ally of Trump, argued the push to make the election about the past indicates “the fact that Democrats don’t have much to run on,” while Republicans do.
Tapper pushed back on Vance’s argument, claiming Trump is the one discussing the past the most, as evidenced by his repeated false assertions of the 2020 election being stolen from him.
“So, look, you just showed me a clip of Liz Cheney, and I think that’s a person who is clearly obsessed with 2020 and talks [about] almost nothing other than Jan. 6, 2021,” Vance shot back.
Cheney, a three-term conservative who emerged as one of the most outspoken GOP critics of Trump, has repeatedly warned of the risks to democracy that a second Trump term would bring.
These concerns, along with other details about the state of the Republican Party and the moments leading up to and after Jan. 6, are featured in her new memoir titled, “Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning.”
“I think, if you look at what [Trump] is out there campaigning on, he’s campaigning on redelivering peace and prosperity for the American people,” Vance said Sunday. “Now, if you want to talk about the 2020 election, we can have that conversation, but I want to talk about, and I think President Trump wants to talk about, the future. That’s what this election is going to be decided on. That’s what I’m focused on.”
Tapper then noted, “I think the concern is that he wouldn’t stock his administration with the JD Vances of the world. He would stock them with individuals who would not be able to tell him no.”
Vance later sidestepped a question on whether he would be interested in running as former Trump’s vice president amid reports he might be on Trump’s short list. Vance did not say whether he would take the job if offered but said he would help the former president as much as possible.
Trump endorsed Vance’s 2022 Senate run, and Vance previously announced his support for Trump’s 2024 reelection bid last January.