Josh Meny: You're not an established senator or governor. Why do you think President Trump picked you?
Senator J.D. Vance: "I think he picked me because we agree on some of the big issues confronting the country. We have to rebuild American manufacturing. We have to lower energy prices and food prices for American citizens. We really have to do something serious about this border crisis because of the crime issues it causes by the fentanyl coming in. I know this stuff very personally; my family has been affected by addiction. So, I think I bring a different perspective than most established politicians, and obviously, he himself came from outside the world of politics and had a business background just like I did. So, I think there's a little bit of a sympathetic worldview there. And most importantly, there's a strong conviction that we have to rebuild this country."
Josh Meny: I'm from southwestern Pennsylvania. I enjoyed your book. Thank you. You've been getting a lot of heat lately for the childless cat lady comment. But what you're trying to say is why is the Democratic Party, the party of anti Children policy?
J.D. Vance: "Yes, I mean, look, it was a sarcastic comment. I also called Paul Krugman, a married man, a cat lady because I was making a joke. But the larger point here is if you look at why were toddlers masked years into the pandemic or why do you have senior officials including Kamala Harris say that we shouldn't have children because of concerns over climate change. Like that is not about any personality, that is about an ethos of anti-family that I think is really, I think we should be pro-family in our country. We should be lowering housing costs so that young people can start families and making it more possible to bring new life into the world. And I just think it's an odd attitude that I've seen from some Democrats. I criticized it years ago, and of course, they're trying to take it out of context because they don't have anything else to run on. If Kamala Harris could run on her lowering inflation or her securing the border, then that's what she'd be running on. Unfortunately, she raised inflation. She opened up the border, so she's trying to attack me. And I think it's a really sad strategy, but I think it's insulting to voters that instead of talking about issues, you're talking about a quip a guy made years ago."
Josh Meny: One of the major issues that Democrats are running on are abortion rights. Do you stand against abortion passports for people who are from different states where there are stricter regulations to come to Nevada, where doctors are protected to treat out-of-state folks?
J.D. Vance: "See, I think what President Trump has said, which I think is really the right approach, is look, we've had this culture war over the abortion topic for a long time. One of the ways of solving it, I think, is to give each member of a state the decision to make whatever abortion policy they want. Now, they are going to have a different abortion policy from Kansas, which will have a different abortion policy from California. And I think it's important that every state respects the other states. And that's just how I think we're going to actually have some common ground on this abortion debate that we haven't had for 50 years talking about the border."
Josh Meny: Trump wants to take away some birthright citizenship. Do you agree with him on that?
J.D. Vance: "I really do. I mean, one of the reasons why we have such a border crisis is you have somebody who comes in, maybe they're not a bad person, of course, but you can't have somebody who breaks the laws to come into the country, and then they give birth, and now their child has permanent rights to American citizenship. I don't think that's what the founders of the country envisioned. The idea was that if you're born here, you have a stake here, but that doesn't apply to people. I think who broke the laws to get into the country, which is what a lot of, you know, of course, illegal aliens have done fundamentally, by definition, a lot of them have broken the laws to come into the, I don't think we should reward that. Kamala Harris never won a delegate in the 2020 primary. She's considered one of the most progressive candidates, especially on criminal justice reform. Do you think this honeymoon period for her is going to wear out? Well, I think it has to end because we have to be honest with the American people about Kamala Harris' record. She has been incredibly pro-criminal. She wants to defund the police; she wants to let people out on cash bail. She wants to decriminalize illegal immigration. She's taken a whole host of issues that are very bad for public safety in this country. And I think once the American people learn more about our record, they're not going to be happy about it. And so part of our job in the campaign and the media's job is to tell the truth. Don't lie about anything that Trump has said or Kamala Harris has said; just tell the truth about their political positions and let the American people make up their own minds."
Josh Meny: This is the final question for me about the Ukraine War. You've discussed this, and you said it's a drain on the American taxpayer. Donald Trump says he wants to broker peace even before the inauguration. Do you think that's reasonable? But more importantly, what's the biggest picture in finding a solution to this war?
J.D. Vance: "I think it is reasonable in part because world leaders respect Donald Trump. I've seen this in classified briefings in the United States Senate. Still, world leaders, especially the bad guys, have a certain amount of fear of Donald Trump, and that allows him to impose order because people know if they don't keep their word, he's actually going to make them suffer consequences. So, I think President Trump will be able to broker peace. We need peace over there. Hundreds of thousands of people have died. It's been really bad for both Ukraine and Russia and Europe. I think that we should use our diplomatic leverage as Americans to promote peace in the world, and that's what we should be doing in Eastern Europe."
Josh Meny: Senator J.D. Vance. Thank you very much.
Watch our Tuesday Late Edition full report:
He unleashed a barrage of attacks on presumed Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris.
