J.D. Vance made another awkward, slightly sinister appearance Thursday at a press conference in Valdosta, Georgia.
“First of all, if it’s a fake news anchor, I’d appreciate y’all just letting them ask their question, it’s OK,” Vance joked to the crowd. “We can run them out of town after they ask their question.” There were mild laughs, but Vance’s joke hit a dark note as the running mate of the guy who once called the American press the “enemy of the people.”
even JD Vance's "jokes" are menacing pic.twitter.com/oO1OFO0wnE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 22, 2024
The vice presidential candidate noted that he was “just kidding,” but the grim joke isn’t a first for Vance, who regularly makes awkward, often hostile remarks about the press. Earlier this week, he visited a deli in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and made a similar joke.
“You have any food here you really don’t like? We’ll take some and feed it to the journalists on the plane,” Vance quipped, according to Reese Gorman, a reporter for NOTUS.
It should hardly come as a surprise that Vance has a certain resentment toward the press, as they’re the ones telling everyone just how weird he actually is.
Later, Vance was asked about Trump’s immigration plan, which he has promised will be the largest deportation plan in history.
“As a husband of someone who is a daughter of immigrants, how do you look at the deportation plan that Trump will put in place? Specifically the detention of families and children,” one reporter asked.
“Let me say three things about this,” Vance replied. “First, I am married to the daughter of immigrants to this country, I am married to the daughter of legal immigrants to this country—people who respected the country enough to follow the rules before they came.”
Q: As a husband of someone who is a daughter of immigrants, how do you look at Trump's deportation plan?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 22, 2024
VANCE: I'm married to the daughter of *legal* immigrants. pic.twitter.com/ZkVcL0eWy6
Beside the strange fact that Vance felt it was necessary to clarify his family member’s immigration status, the Ohio senator clearly imagines that it is a lack of respect that draws immigrants from around the world to the U.S. border, rather than any of the actual root causes of immigration.
“You can’t reward people for breaking the laws,” Vance continued, without a trace of irony for his rule-breaking running mate, who expects to be rewarded with the presidency in November.
To top the whole thing off, as Vance walked away from the podium, the Guns N’ Roses cover of Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” started playing—not quite an anthem of political victory, but one of disillusionment.
Vance's exit music is "Live and Let Die" pic.twitter.com/VEyOya4PSF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 22, 2024
