In response to Donald Trump continuing to attempt to distance himself from his own running mate, JD Vance, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“JD Vance’s fanbase is shrinking by the day – and now he’s on the outs with his own boss. Trump made his buyer’s remorse clear on the debate stage as he tried to distance himself from his running mate’s own dishonest spin – instead doubling down on his well documented anti-choice extremism. Trump brags about overturning Roe and has opened the door to a national abortion ban while Vance himself has said he wants abortion to be ‘illegal nationally’ – and their Project 2025 agenda would rip away women’s freedoms across the country with or without Congress. While Trump and Vance are running on a losing, out-of-touch agenda, Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will continue to hold them accountable for their cruel extremism and fight for our freedoms.”

Donald Trump is still trying to distance himself from his own extreme running mate JD Vance as Vance continues to be an historically unpopular VP pick.

Daily Beast: “Trump Throws JD Vance Under the Bus on Abortion During Presidential Debate”

MSNBC: “In 2016, Trump became the first presidential candidate to distance himself from his own running mate during a debate. In 2024, he did it again.”

New Republic: “J.D. Vance Can’t Explain Why Trump Threw Him Under the Bus in Debate”

Trump on a national abortion ban: “I didn’t discuss it with JD, in all fairness. JD — and I don’t mind if he has a certain view.”

Vance admitted that Trump has NEVER told him that he would veto a national abortion ban – and Trump himself refused to answer if he would veto one on the debate stage.

Jon Karl, ABC News: “Why won’t [Trump] just say he would veto a national abortion ban? And by the way, had you spoken to him about it before you were put in a position to answer that question?”

Vance: “No, I hadn’t spoken to him about it.”

Vance: “We haven’t talked about a veto.”

The Hill: “Trump refuses to say he would veto a national abortion ban”

Vance is making history as the most disliked VP nominee our country has seen in decades, and many Americans – including Trump himself – don’t think he’s ready to lead.

Harris Faulker, Fox News: “When you look at JD Vance, is he ready on day one?”

Trump: “Is he what?”

Faulkner: “Ready on day one if he has to be?”

Trump: “I’ve always had great respect for him. And for the other candidates too. But I will say this, and I think this is well documented; Historically, the vice president in terms of the election does not have any impact, I mean virtually no impact.”

Newsweek: “JD Vance Is the Least Liked VP Nominee in Decades, According to Polls”

“JD Vance is the first non-incumbent vice presidential nominee to have a net-negative favorable rating after a convention since 1980, according to poll numbers.”

Salon: “‘Making history in the completely wrong way’: JD Vance is really unpopular and ‘dragging Trump down’”

“Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is making history as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, but not in the way that the Trump campaign had hoped. According to a CNN survey taken after the Republican National Convention, Vance has an approval rating of -6 points, making him the first vice presidential nominee to enter the general election with a negative rating since 1980.

“‘Frankly, I don’t really understand the pick, and apparently neither do the American voters,’ CNN data analyst Harry Enten said on Tuesday’s OutFront with Erin Burnett. Vance, he said, is ‘dragging Trump down.’”

Newsweek: “Nearly four in 10 people do not believe Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, is ready for the presidency if necessary, according to a new survey…

“The poll also found that one-third (33 percent) were not sure if Vance was ready for the presidency or not. This is a possible sign that the Hillbilly Elegy author, who has been a senator for less than two years, still needs to raise his national political profile since being named as the Republican vice presidential nominee…

“It has already been suggested that Trump may have made a mistake in picking Vance as his 2024 running mate.”

Vance is the Project 2025 poster boy: He has deep ties to Project 2025 architects, has praised the extreme MAGA blueprint as containing “good ideas,” and “has made it impossible for Trump to run away from Project 2025.”

Vance: “I’ve reviewed a lot of [Project 2025]. There are some good ideas in there.”

New York Times: “Vance Championed 2017 Report on Families From Architects of Project 2025”

Vox: “J.D. Vance has made it impossible for Trump to run away from Project 2025”

Vox: “Vance is on record supporting these [Project 2025] ideas. Last year, he signed a letter demanding that the Justice Department prosecute physicians and pharmacists ‘who break the Federal mail-order abortion laws.’ In 2022, he said he was ‘sympathetic’ to the idea that the federal government should stop efforts to help women traveling out of their states to get abortions. … The second controversial area where Vance is sympatico with Project 2025 is centralizing presidential power over the executive branch.”

Axios: “J.D. Vance wrote foreword of upcoming book from Project 2025 architect”

New Republic: “Project 2025 Leader Is Overjoyed by Trump’s Vice Presidential Pick”

Vox: “Kevin Roberts, the president of the right-wing Heritage Foundation and the driving force behind Project 2025, told Ward that ‘[Vance] is absolutely going to be one of the leaders — if not the leader — of our movement.’”

Nick Corasaniti, New York Times: “[Roberts] reacted to the news [of Vance’s VP selection] ‘with a broad smile on my face’ and said that ‘privately, we were really rooting for him.’”

Politico: “[Project 2025 architect Russell Vought] told POLITICO Magazine that he is in ‘regular contact’ with Vance’s Hill office and that ‘we probably have one of the closest relationships with [Vance’s] office that we do with any Hill office.’”

REMINDER: Vance supports a national abortion ban and owns his extreme anti-choice record.

CNN: “JD Vance said in 2022 he ‘would like abortion to be illegal nationally’”

“During a podcast interview in January 2022, then-candidate JD Vance said he ‘certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally’ and was ‘sympathetic’ to the view that a national ban was necessary to stop women from traveling across states to obtain an abortion.”

Vance: “I am 100 percent pro-life, and believe that abortion has turned our society into a place where we see children as an inconvenience to be thrown away rather than a blessing to be nurtured. Eliminating abortion is first and foremost about protecting the unborn, but it’s also about making our society more pro-child and pro-family. The historic Dobbs decision puts this new era of society into motion, one that prioritizes family and the sanctity of all life.”

Newsweek: “J.D. Vance Backs ‘National Standard’ for Abortions”

Daily Beast: “J.D. Vance suggested he would support prohibiting abortion even in cases of rape and incest—and dismissed those catalysts as ‘inconvenient.’”

Vice: “JD Vance Compared Abortion to Slavery”

The Hill: “During his campaign for Senate, Vance applauded the overturning of Roe v. Wade and supported Texas’s ban on abortion, which does not allow exceptions other than cases where the mother’s life is at risk. 

“‘Two wrongs don’t make a right,’ he said in 2021 when asked whether abortion laws should allow for exceptions for rape and incest.” 

JD Vance: “I think that what I really think on – so first of all, the Dobbs decision, everybody knows, overruled Roe v. Wade – I think that was the right decision.”

NBC News: “Senate Republicans block Democratic bill codifying Roe v. Wade abortion protections”

“Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation led by Democrats to revive the protections of Roe v. Wade in the wake of the Supreme Court eliminating the nationwide right to abortion.”

Republicans who voted against include: JD Vance.

Letter Signed by Vance and Other Members of Congress: “Abortion is not health care—it is a brutal act that destroys the life of an unborn child and hurts women. Congress did not authorize HHS to extend special provisions for abortion such as these under the guise of ‘health care.’ The Proposed Rule unlawfully thwarts the enforcement of compassionate laws protecting unborn children and their mothers, and directs health care providers to defy lawful court orders and search warrants.”