Vance insists Trump’s 'enemy from within' comments weren’t directed at political rivals
CTV
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance insisted that Donald Trump’s attacks on 'the enemy within' were not directed at Democratic Party leaders but dissenting Americans he described as 'far-left lunatics.'
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance insisted that Donald Trump’s attacks on “the enemy within” were not directed at Democratic Party leaders but dissenting Americans he described as “far-left lunatics” poised to riot if the former president wins in November.
Grilled by CNN’s Jake Tapper on Trump’s use of the loaded phrase, Vance defended his ticket mate, saying the former president would not unleash the military on “Americans writ large.”
“He’s 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 did not say that, Jake,” the Ohio senator responded. “He said that he was going to send the military after the American people? Show me the quote where he said that.”
Trump earlier this month initially suggested the use of military force on Election Day to handle the “enemy from within,” referring to potential chaos sown by “radical-left lunatics.” Then, in a Fox News interview, Trump referred to California Rep. Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “an enemy from within.” Most recently, appearing on a podcast with Joe Rogan on Friday, Trump said “the enemy within” – Americans with differing politics – pose a greater threat to the US than nuclear-armed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The former president has been speaking in more stark, threatening terms as the campaign enters its final days. His claim that political rivals are traitors to the American people echoes the language of authoritarians and strongmen around the world. Vance, though, argued that Trump was simply misunderstood.
“He said that he wanted to use the military to go after far-left lunatics who are rioting, and … he also called them ‘the enemy within.’ He separately, in a totally different context, in a totally different conversation, said that Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff were threats to this country,” Vance said, echoing a script other Republicans have stuck to when asked similar questions.
