In a tense interview, Vance pressed Trump’s “enemy from within” rhetoric.

WASHINGTON – Sen. JD VanceR-Ohio, it was pressed former president Donald Trump attacks on the “enemy from within” and accusations of fascism from former allies of the former president in a series of tense interviews.

The talks took place after Trump’s former White House chief of staff, John Kelly, said so New York Times believes that Trump does not understand the Constitution or the rule of law – and that the former president fits the bill of a fascist.

On Sunday, Vance responded to the comments. He accused Kelly and other former Trump officials – who have since criticized the former president – of taking office thinking they could “control” him, but he was ultimately fired.

“Everyone has turned against Donald Trump,” Vance told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

But the vice presidential candidate also addressed Trump’s repeated attacks on what he calls “enemies of the nation.” Trump he told Fox News earlier this month that “if it’s really necessary,” he believes the military should be called in to crack down on “radical leftist lunatics” and “enemy from within“in the event of electoral unrest.

Here are the key moments from Vance’s combative conversations on USA TODAY.

Vance asked about accusations of fascism

Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats are highlighting criticism from former Trump administration officials who say the former president would gut the democratic process if he returned to the White House.

Kelly he told the Times. that Trump “certainly fits the general definition of a fascist”; Mark Milleyformer chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told author Bob Woodward that the former president is “the most dangerous person of all time… I realize he’s a total fascist.”

On CNN, Vance described critics as disgruntled employees who wanted to push Trump into military conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere.

“The fundamental disagreement they have with Donald Trump is that even though they claim to be conservative, they are conservative in the sense that they want America to engage in a lot of absurd military conflicts,” Vance said.

The Ohio senator argued with CNN’s Tapper, who disagreed with the concept that officials like former Vice President Mike Pence ever thought they could “control” Trump. At one point, Tapper asked, “Are you running for vice president of the United States or for vice president of red states?”

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.one of Trump’s most vocal critics, who joined Harris on the campaign trail, noted on CNN that Vance himself was sharply critical of Trump before starting his political career.

“We just saw what it looks like when someone has to go through incredible contortions to find a way to defend the person that J.D. Vance himself called America’s Hitler,” Cheney said.

Vance w message to a friend from 2016 he wrote that he believed “back and forth” that Trump might be “American Hitler.” Trump’s nominee said he changed his mind during the former president’s term.

“The Enemy from Within”

Trump also mentioned the possibility of using the military to solve the problem “enemy from within”, a term he has used widely in recent weeks to refer to people ranging from violent protesters to prominent Democratic officials and more.

On CNN, Vance said Trump was referring to the “far-left lunatics” who are “burning our cities,” and denied that the former president had tried to use force against people like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

“What he said, which I agree with, he said the biggest threat we have in our country is not a foreign adversary because we can deal with those guys. We can handle foreign conflicts,” he added on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Vance called political threats on the left a greater threat than foreign adversaries. He cited Harris and Pelosi on issues such as the decline of the U.S. industrial base and border security.

“The fact that Americans have their southern border wide open is a much greater threat than any foreign threat,” Vance said on NBC. “And yes, it is due to broken leadership.”

Gender difference

Polls show a deadlock in the race, although they also show a significant gender gap among voters.

In the latest USA TODAY/Suffolk University national poll, women supported Harris, 53% to 36%. That’s a mirror image of men’s overwhelming support for Trump, 53% to 37%. If these margins persist through Election Day, it would be the widest disparity since the gender gap emerged more than four decades ago in 1980.

Vance told CBS on Sunday that he doesn’t believe Republicans have a “women’s problem” and that their domestic and foreign policies are better for all Americans, regardless of gender.

“We have to present ourselves as best as we can to men and women,” Vance said.

Abortion rights are one of the main issues in the 2024 race for the White House. Other reproductive rights, such as access to in vitro fertilization, also came into focus voters across the country in the first presidential election since the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade.

While Harris presented a specific policy in appealing to male voters, but it’s unclear how effective these proposals have been because Trump has reached out to men, especially Blacks and Latinos.

Putin and the war in Ukraine

Vance gave a series of interviews amid news that Russia was again interfering in the election with false statements and fake photos online.

For example, the FBI and the director of national intelligence announced on Friday that Russia was behind the fake video showing some of them ballot ripping in Pennsylvania, key battlefield condition.

During his appearance on “Meet the Press,” Vance refused to call Russian President Vladimir Putin an “enemy” of the United States, instead saying: “I think he is clearly an adversary. He is a competitor.”

“But I think we also have to be smart about diplomacy,” Vance added. “Just because we don’t like someone doesn’t mean we can’t strike up conversations with them from time to time.”

Vance’s response comes after the Republican has been criticizing NATO for months. Earlier this year, Trump said he may not come to the aid of European nations if they are attacked by Russia and may even “encourage” Russians “to do whatever the hell they want” if they default on their financial obligations defensive alliance.

Vance also said sanctions against Russia are ineffective, but did not specify how a potential Trump-Vance administration would change them.

“We should encourage our fellow Americans to be cautious,” Vance told CBS. “Don’t believe everything you see on social media. And of course we should object if necessary.”

The latter is an important question, he added: “What is the appropriate response to a country making videos on social media? I’m not going to commit to that by sitting here.”