Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) dismissed concerns from members of both parties who say he was the “wrong pick” for former President Trump’s running mate, calling the criticism “a badge of honor,” in an interview on Sunday.
On Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” host Maria Bartiromo pressed Vance to respond to the criticism “on both the Democrat side and the Republican side,” asking him, “Some people are saying you were the wrong pick for Trump's running mate. What are you doing about it?”
Vance laughed softly to himself and said, “Look, I recognize that there are a lot of folks, even in the GOP establishment and certainly on the far left, who don't like the fact that Donald Trump picked me.”
“I actually take their criticism as a badge of honor. Of course, the media is going to attack the people they fear the most. The media is going to attack the people, I think, who can most effectively bring President Trump's message to a broader swath of the electorate.”
Vance pointed to his childhood upbringing – the basis for his bestselling memoir, “The Hillbilly Elegy” – and dismissed the GOP establishment’s concerns, saying “normal” Americans will relate to his story.
“And I don't come from inside the beltway, Maria. You know I grew up as a poor kid. I didn't come from a political family or a wealthy family. I worked my way through college, through the Marine Corps, and eventually landed as Donald Trump's running mate,” Vance said.
“I think that's a story that a lot of normal Americans can empathize with. I'm not shocked that a lot of inside the beltway media types don't like me, but their policies are the problem. Of course, they don't like me because we're running to fix what they have broken.”
