Vance insists Trump’s “enemy from within” comments were not directed at political rivals

This was emphasized by Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance Donald Trumpattacks on “enemy within” were not directed at Democratic Party leaders but at dissenting Americans, whom he described as “far-left lunatics” ready to riot if the former president wins in November.

Vance, ridiculed by CNN’s Jake Tapper over Trump’s use of a vulgar phrase, Vance defended his colleague, saying the former president would not use the military in connection with “Americans who write a lot.”

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

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

Trump earlier this month initially suggested using military force on Election Day to deal with the “enemy from within,” referring to the potential chaos sown by “radical leftist lunatics.” Then, in an interview with Fox NewsTrump called California Republican Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “the enemy from within.” Recently appeared on Podcast with Joe Rogan on Friday, Trump said the “enemy within” – Americans with different politics – poses a greater threat to the United States than nuclear-armed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

As the campaign enters its final days, the former president has spoken in more stern and threatening terms. His claim that political rivals are traitors to the American people reflects the language of authoritarians and strongmen around the world. Vance, however, argued that Trump was simply misunderstood.

“He said he wanted to use the military to go after the far-left lunatics who were inciting riots, and… he also called them the “enemy within.” “He separately, in a completely different context, in a completely different conversation, said that Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff are a threat to this country,” Vance said, repeating a script that other Republicans have stuck to when asked similar questions.

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

Like Vance, Johnson — even after being confronted by Trump’s distinction of Pelosi and Schiff — said the former president had not talked about using the military against political opponents.

“I didn’t hear President Trump say in that recording that he was going to send the military to kill Adam Schiff. That’s not what he’s saying,” the Louisiana Republican said. “You have two different clips in two different contexts.”

A week earlier, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, also speaking to Tapper, said Trump was not talking about political opponents.

“I think I want to make it very clear that I believe that what former President Trump is talking about are people who are crossing the border, who are actually committing crimes, transporting drugs, transporting drugs, trafficking people, which turns every state into a state border,” said the Republican governor.

There are no known, credible threats from American leftists – many of whom have been critical of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris – of post-election violence or “riots.”

Taking on Trump’s GOP critics

In his interview, Vance also took strong exception to a favorite attack of the Harris campaign, which frequently notes that a growing number of prominent former Trump administration officials believe 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 security adviser , former defense secretaries and his vice president all called him unfit and dangerous,” Harris said during a news conference CNN town hall last week.

Vance claimed that these former administration officials were targeting Trump because he rejected their efforts to investigate his behavior and insist on starting “absurd military conflicts.” That group includes Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, John Kelly, who said New York Times last week that the former president fits the “general definition of a fascist.”

Kelly stated that it was a “new concept” for Trump that top government officials were loyal to the Constitution rather than personally to the president, 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 politics and “not personality.”

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

Vance sought to shift the terms of the discussion from Trump’s behavior to the record of Kelly and other conservative Republicans opposing Trump.

“If you actually look at John Kelly and people like Liz Cheney“The fundamental disagreement they have with Donald Trump is that even though they say they are conservative, they are conservative in the sense that they want America to engage in a lot of absurd military conflicts,” Vance said.

Cheney, a former congresswoman from Wyoming, and her father, a former vice president and architect of the Iraq War Dick Cheneyboth endorsed Harris.

Last week at an event in Waterford, Michigan, Vance described Kelly as a “disgruntled former employee” who was “pissed off” by Trump’s firing.

“So all these… people, including former Vice President Mike Pence, all these people have this terribly damaged worldview and they are all going after Donald Trump because they want to send people to war? Is that really your argument?” Tapper said.

“That’s absolutely my argument, Jake,” Vance said.

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

Vance rejected the notion that these are conservative Republicans concerned about a second Trump presidency.

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

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

“Yes, he did it. And when he found out he couldn’t, everyone turned on Donald Trump,” Vance said.

In the previous one interview with CNN’s Dana Bash during his own presidential campaign, Pence said Trump asked him to break his oath to the Constitution.

Vance tries to smooth out the edges

Vance, who has faced backlash for his previous comments about “childless kittens” and most recently for pushing false claims about Haitian migrants eating animals in Springfield, Ohio, once again tried to blur his own edges – just as he did in his recent debate with Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

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

He also moved away from the populist rhetoric that made him a favorite of some anti-establishment right-wingers, blaming both parties for the country’s “collapse.”

“There are many people who have become rich and powerful because of the fall of America. Some of them had the letter R next to their name. Some of them have a D next to their name,” Vance said. “And the first person who I think really puts the interests of the American people first is Donald J. Trump.”

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

At 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 throw away family members and lifelong friendships. Politics is not worth it.”

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