Trump’s MAGA Veepstakes: J.D. Vance Must Answer for His Extreme MAGA Track Record

This week, Fox and Friends is desperately trying to cover for Donald Trump’s out-of-touch, far-right VP contenders who are as toxic to voters as the extreme MAGA agenda they’re all backing. 

With J.D. Vance set to appear on Fox and Friends this morning, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“J.D. Vance is desperate to push a toxic, far-right MAGA agenda to please Donald Trump — but his disastrously out-of-touch record leaves a lot to answer for when it comes to what voters want. From his support for a national ban on abortion (which he compared to slavery), to his attacks on Social Security and Medicare, to his commitment to spreading Trump’s election lies that inspired a mob to try to overturn an election, Vance is auditioning to aid a convicted felon’s pursuit of power, revenge, and retribution — all while driving away the voters necessary to win this November.”

Here are a few questions J.D. Vance should answer – but that he won’t be asked:

  1. Will Vance drop his dangerous election-denier conspiracy theories and finally commit to accepting the results of this November’s election?

Vance: “I think the entire post-2020 thing would have gone a lot better if there had actually been an effort to provide alternative slates of electors, and to force us to have that debate. I think it would’ve been a much better thing for the country. … [Trump] was trying to take a constitutional process to its natural conclusion.

“I think it would’ve been extraordinarily disappointing to a whole host of people that I care a lot about if Trump had just taken it [and conceded the 2020 election before January 6].”

Vance: “No real Republican with any credibility in the party is still blaming [Trump for January 6].”

HuffPost: “[Vance] said he would accept a Biden win only if he considered the election to be legitimate. … Vance’s comments illustrate a new tactic by Republican lawmakers, who are now placing conditions on accepting election results.”

New York Times: “J.D. Vance Says He Would Accept the Election Results, With a Caveat”

ABC News: “JD Vance says [he] wouldn’t have certified 2020 race until states submitted pro-Trump electors”

New York Times: “[Vance] has said that, unlike Vice President Mike Pence in 2020, he would have helped Mr. Trump overturn the results, by accepting Trump electors that had not been elected by voters.”

The Guardian: “Potential Trump running mate JD Vance says he still questions results of 2020 election”

The Hill: “JD Vance says he is ‘skeptical’ Pence’s life was in danger on Jan. 6”

Politico: “[Vance] downplayed the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, when Pence was forced to evacuate the building as rioters called for his hanging.”

  1. Will Vance explain why he supports a national abortion and called rape and incest “inconvenient” circumstances while comparing abortion to slavery?

Manu Raju, CNN: “J.D. Vance, the Ohio GOP senator, says Republicans need to shift their approach on abortion and begin to embrace federal legislation … ‘We can’t give into the idea that the federal Congress has no role in this matter,’ he told us.”

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

Washington Post: “Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance argues against need for rape and incest exceptions in abortion laws”

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

Associated Press: “Vance said that he would vote for the national abortion ban at 15 weeks introduced by Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham … He did not explicitly say he supports a rape exception … He said the issue is too complex for him to name all the exceptions he might support on a debate stage.”

Vance: “Ohio has a heartbeat bill [banning abortion before many women know they’re pregnant], I think that’s a good bill.”

Vice: “JD Vance Compared Abortion to Slavery”

  1. Do you stand by your position of turning back the clock once again on women’s rights by making it harder for women to pursue a divorce?

The Guardian: “Conservative US lawmakers are pushing for an end to no-fault divorce”

“Conservative commentators such as Matt Walsh, Steven Crowder and lawmakers such as the Republican senator JD Vance of Ohio have argued that the laws are unfair to men and hurt society because they lead to more divorces.”

  1. Will Vance defend his attacks against Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act, which Trump is pushing to “terminate”?

Vance: “[Social Security and Medicare] are the biggest roadblocks to any kind of real fiscal sanity.”

Vance: “The way forward is as obvious as it is politically difficult: … reform current entitlements and avoid enacting new ones.”

Vance: “We’ve got to, frankly, stop spending so much on welfare benefits and start having a lot more workers who are paying into the system.”

New York Times: Vance claimed the Affordable Care Act “failed to take care of” high healthcare costs.

  1. Is Vance proud of his support for white nationalists and Trump’s offensive, racist rhetoric?

The Hill: “Vance slams ‘poisoning our blood’ comparisons between Trump comments, Nazis”

“‘[Trump] said illegal immigrants were poisoning the blood of this country, which is objectively and obviously true’… Vance said.

“The Ohio Republican, who has endorsed Trump’s campaign, also criticized the framing of questions from reporters who likened the remarks to those by Hitler around World War II, calling it ‘absurd.’”

The Hill: “JD Vance: Greene ‘did nothing wrong’ by attending white nationalist conference”

“Vance said the Georgia Republican was his ‘friend’ and that she did ‘nothing wrong’ by appearing at the conference.

“‘There’s no business in the world that asks you to stab your friends in the back like politics. I absolutely refuse to do it to Marjorie Taylor Greene. She is my friend, and she did nothing wrong,’ Vance said. ‘She said nothing wrong, and I’m absolutely not gonna throw her under the bus or anybody else who’s a friend of mine.’”

J.D. Vance: “In 2022, national Democrats lied about @JRMajewski and his service record. Too many Republicans ran from these dishonest smears instead of fighting them. 

“JR is running for Congress in 2024 and I’m proud to support him.”