Vance insists Trump's “enemy within” comments were not aimed at political rivals

CNN
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Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance insisted that Donald Trump's attacks on “the enemy within” were not directed at Democratic Party leaders but at dissident Americans, whom he described as “far-left lunatics” ready to riot if the former president wins in November.

Vance was sharply criticized by CNN's Jake Tapper over Trump's use of the loaded phrase and defended his colleague, saying the former president would not use the military against “Americans writ large.”

“He has said publicly that he wants to use the military to go after the enemy within, which is the American people,” Tapper said in an interview that aired Sunday on “State of the Union.”

“He didn’t say that, Jake,” the Ohio senator replied. “He said he was going to send the military after the American people? Show me the quote where he said that.”

Earlier this month, Trump initially suggested the use of military force on Election Day to combat the “enemy from within,” citing the potential chaos sown by “radical left-wing lunatics.” Then, in an interview with Fox News, Trump called California Rep. Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “an enemy within.” Most recently, Trump said in a podcast with Joe Rogan on Friday that “the enemy within” – Americans with different policies – posed a greater threat to the US than nuclear-armed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The former president spoke in clearer, more threatening terms as the campaign entered its final days. His claim that political rivals are traitors to the American people echoes the language of authoritarians and strongmen around the world. However, Vance argued that Trump was simply misunderstood.

“He said he wanted to use the military to crack down on left-wing lunatics who were rioting, and … he also called them 'the enemy within.'” “He said separately, in a completely different context, in a completely different conversation, that Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff were threats to this country,” Vance said, repeating a script that other Republicans have followed when asked similar questions.

“He’s talking about marauding gangs,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told Tapper last week when asked about Trump’s comments.

Like Vance, Johnson said — even after being confronted with Trump's singling out of Pelosi and Schiff — that the former president was not talking about using the military against political opponents.

“I did not hear President Trump saying in this clip that he is going to send the military after Adam Schiff. That’s not what he says,” the Louisiana Republican said. “You have two different clips in two different contexts.”

The week before, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, also speaking to Tapper, said that Trump did not talk about political opponents.

“I think what I want to make very clear is that I believe that what former President Trump is talking about is the people who are coming across the border, who are actually committing crimes, who are bringing drugs with them.” Human trafficking, every state turned into a border state,” the Republican governor said.

There is no known credible threat from American leftists – many of whom are angry at Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris – related to violence or “unrest” after the election.

In his interview, Vance also vigorously pushed back against a now-popular attack from the Harris campaign, which frequently points out that a growing number of prominent former Trump administration officials have said their old boss is unfit for office.

“The people who know Donald Trump best, the people who worked with him in the White House, in the Situation Room, in the Oval Office — all Republicans, by the way — who served in his administration, his former chief of staff, his “National National security advisers, former defense secretaries and his vice president have all called him unfit and dangerous,” Harris said in a CNN town hall last week.

Vance claimed that these former administration officials targeted Trump because he rejected their efforts to control his behavior and push for the start of “ridiculous military conflicts.” The group includes Trump's longest-serving chief of staff, John Kelly, who told the New York Times last week that the former president met the “general definition of fascist.”

Kelly said it was “a new concept” for Trump that the loyalty of senior government officials was to the Constitution and not to the president personally, and that Trump praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's generals for their loyalty.

Vance then argued that Kelly's concerns about Trump were based on policy and “not personality.”

“No, (Kelly) agrees with Trump on most policy points,” Tapper said. “He disagrees with Trump about how Trump views his role and fascism and authoritarianism.”

Vance attempted to shift the discussion from Trump's behavior to the records of Kelly and other anti-Trump conservative Republicans.

“If you actually look at John Kelly and people like Liz Cheney, the fundamental disagreement between them and Donald Trump is that even though they say they are conservative, they are conservative in the sense that they want America gets involved in something “There are a lot of ridiculous military conflicts,” Vance said.

Cheney, a former congresswoman from Wyoming, and her father, former vice president and Iraq War architect Dick Cheney, have both endorsed Harris.

At an event in Waterford, Michigan, last week, Vance described Kelly as a “disgruntled former employee” who was “pissed off” about being fired by Trump.

“So all of these … people, including former Vice President Mike Pence, all of these people have this terribly damaged worldview and they're all just going after Donald Trump because they want to send people to war? “That’s really your argument?” Tapper said.

“Absolutely, that’s my argument, Jake,” Vance said.

Another former Trump administration official, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, said in Bob Woodward's new book “War” that Trump is “the most dangerous person to this country” and “a fascist through and through.” be.

Vance rejected the idea that these were conservative Republicans worried about a second Trump presidency.

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

“Mike Pence thought he could control Donald Trump? “Really?” Tapper said.

“Yes, he did. And when he found out he couldn't, they all turned against Donald Trump,” Vance said.

In an earlier interview with CNN's Dana Bash during his own presidential bid, Pence said Trump had asked him to break his oath to the Constitution.

Vance tries to sand down his edges

Vance, who faced backlash for his past comments about “childless cat ladies” and more recently for false claims about Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, tried again to sand down his own edges – as he did recently in his Debate with the Democratic Party did vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

“Whether you live in a blue state or a red state, whether you vote for Trump or for Harris, I want you to be able to live a good life in this country,” Vance said. “But that won’t happen with the broken leadership in Washington, DC.”

He also resorted to the populist rhetoric that had made him a favorite among some anti-establishment right-wingers, blaming both parties for the country's “decline.”

“There are many people who have become rich and powerful because of American decline. Some of them have an R next to their name. Some of them had a D next to their name,” Vance said. “And the first person who I believe will truly put the interests of the American people first is Donald J. Trump.”

Vance has recently tried to show a more personal side on the trail and spread a message of unity. On Friday, he told a crowd in Raeford, North Carolina, that he and his wife had “lost a few friends” since he became the vice presidential candidate, and he urged people not to lose their friendships because of politics.

And in a NewsNation town hall in Michigan on Thursday, Vance advised: “Whether you vote for me, whether you vote for Donald Trump, whether you vote for Kamala Harris, don't discard family members and lifelong friendships.” Politics is not worth it.”