Vance completes his Sunday show circuit as Trump's aggressive advocate
The vice presidential nominee participated in pre-recorded interviews from Cincinnati, making appearances on three Sunday shows.
TroibNews 
JD Vance is increasingly stepping into the role of attack dog for the Trump campaign.
The Republican vice presidential candidate made appearances on three Sunday shows, where he criticized Vice President Kamala Harris as a “chameleon” and attempted to counter Gov. Tim Walz’s description of him as “weird.”
This media blitz—two appearances short of the “full Ginsburg,” a term for a politician appearing on all five major Sunday shows—provided Vance with an opportunity to counter the momentum gained by the Harris-Walz campaign and to address critiques of his rocky launch, including past comments on former President Trump, his stance on abortion, and the controversial remark about “childless cat ladies."
The campaign faces challenges as the Trump-Vance team seeks to stabilize in the wake of Harris announcing Walz as her running mate. Meanwhile, the Democratic ticket has attracted millions in donations, drawn large crowds to their rallies, and begun to shift polling favor: Harris now leads Trump in 538’s national polling average and has the upper hand in critical states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, as highlighted by a recent New York Times/Siena College poll.
Vance appeared on ABC News’ “This Week,” CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” and CNN’s “State of the Union,” discussing topics such as his role on the ticket with Trump, their vision for the country, and his recent comments targeting Harris and Walz.
Vance called the accusations of being odd “fundamentally schoolyard bully stuff” and “projection.”
“They can accuse me of whatever they want to accuse me of,” Vance stated during his appearance on CNN. “I’m doing this because I think that me being vice president will help improve people’s lives, so I accept their attacks, but I think that it is a little bit of projection.”
He expressed enthusiasm for helping to "define” his opponents.
“I think that unfortunately, Kamala Harris has run a campaign where every time she's in front of voters, a teleprompter is in between. She doesn't really talk to the media, like at all. She hasn't answered, I think, a single tough question from a reporter. So yeah, one of my jobs is to get out there,” Vance said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Emerging as a fierce attack dog for the Trump campaign, Vance has kept a busy schedule, engaging in events that have taken him from a home rally in Middletown, Ohio, to various battleground states, where he has shadowed the Harris-Walz campaign for the past week.
In contrast, Trump's campaign trail presence has been minimal. He skipped key battleground states in the last week and only held one rally in Bozeman, Montana, aimed at unseating Sen. Jon Tester, a vulnerable Senate Democrat in a Trump-favorable state. He also participated in fundraisers in Wyoming and Colorado and held an impromptu press conference at Mar-a-Lago, where he disparaged crowd sizes and criticized Harris’ intellect.
When asked about Trump’s comments regarding Harris’ racial identity, Vance remarked that Trump was trying to highlight that Harris is “a chameleon.”
“She pretends to be one thing in front of one audience and she pretends to be something different in front of another audience,” Vance told CNN.
Vance accused Harris of shifting positions on topics such as fracking and border security, asserting that Trump seeks to portray her as “a fundamentally fake person.”
“She is different depending on who she is in front of,” he asserted.
However, he faced criticism about his own past remarks regarding Trump. Previously, Vance labeled Trump a “moral disaster” and questioned whether he was “America’s Hitler.” Vance defended his evolution, stating that people should be allowed to change their minds based on new facts, attributing some misunderstandings to media misrepresentation of Trump.
“It’s reasonable to change your mind,” he remarked.
Amid scrutiny of his prior comments and stances, Vance maintained his position, expressing no regrets about his previous assertion that people with families have more votes, calling it “not a policy proposal. It's a thought experiment.” He also championed “pro-family” policies, proposing an increase in the child tax credit to $5,000 per family.
As a Marine veteran, Vance continued to scrutinize Walz for how the Democratic nominee represented his military service. Walz had made comments about carrying “weapons of war” while discussing gun control, and Republicans have criticized the timing of his Army National Guard retirement before deploying to Iraq in 2005.
Walz left to run for Congress, with the Harris campaign claiming he had “misspoke.”
On CNN, Vance accused Walz of “lying about his own record” for “political gain.”
“I’m not criticizing his service. I’m criticizing dishonesty — dishonesty spoken in favor and for the purpose of political benefit,” Vance clarified.
Vance also defended his Indian-American wife, Usha Vance, against online attacks from white supremacists. Remarkably, Nick Fuentes—a known white supremacist previously associated with Trump—targeted Vance for his interracial marriage, but Vance emphasized that only a “smart” and “lucky” man could marry Usha.
“My view is, look, if these guys want to attack me or attack my views, my policy views, my personality, come after me,” Vance commented. “But don't attack my wife. She's out of your league.”
Despite the focus on him and Walz, Vance concurred with Trump that the vice presidential selection has limited sway over voters.
“I think President Trump's right about that, actually. I think most people are voting for Donald Trump or for Kamala Harris,” Vance stated on CBS. “Most people, when they cast their ballots, they're basing it based on who the presidential nominee is, not the vice presidential nominee. It's just straightforward political reality.”
Isabella Ramírez contributed to this report.
Emily Johnson contributed to this report for TROIB News
The Republican vice presidential candidate made appearances on three Sunday shows, where he criticized Vice President Kamala Harris as a “chameleon” and attempted to counter Gov. Tim Walz’s description of him as “weird.”
This media blitz—two appearances short of the “full Ginsburg,” a term for a politician appearing on all five major Sunday shows—provided Vance with an opportunity to counter the momentum gained by the Harris-Walz campaign and to address critiques of his rocky launch, including past comments on former President Trump, his stance on abortion, and the controversial remark about “childless cat ladies."
The campaign faces challenges as the Trump-Vance team seeks to stabilize in the wake of Harris announcing Walz as her running mate. Meanwhile, the Democratic ticket has attracted millions in donations, drawn large crowds to their rallies, and begun to shift polling favor: Harris now leads Trump in 538’s national polling average and has the upper hand in critical states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, as highlighted by a recent New York Times/Siena College poll.
Vance appeared on ABC News’ “This Week,” CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” and CNN’s “State of the Union,” discussing topics such as his role on the ticket with Trump, their vision for the country, and his recent comments targeting Harris and Walz.
Vance called the accusations of being odd “fundamentally schoolyard bully stuff” and “projection.”
“They can accuse me of whatever they want to accuse me of,” Vance stated during his appearance on CNN. “I’m doing this because I think that me being vice president will help improve people’s lives, so I accept their attacks, but I think that it is a little bit of projection.”
He expressed enthusiasm for helping to "define” his opponents.
“I think that unfortunately, Kamala Harris has run a campaign where every time she's in front of voters, a teleprompter is in between. She doesn't really talk to the media, like at all. She hasn't answered, I think, a single tough question from a reporter. So yeah, one of my jobs is to get out there,” Vance said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Emerging as a fierce attack dog for the Trump campaign, Vance has kept a busy schedule, engaging in events that have taken him from a home rally in Middletown, Ohio, to various battleground states, where he has shadowed the Harris-Walz campaign for the past week.
In contrast, Trump's campaign trail presence has been minimal. He skipped key battleground states in the last week and only held one rally in Bozeman, Montana, aimed at unseating Sen. Jon Tester, a vulnerable Senate Democrat in a Trump-favorable state. He also participated in fundraisers in Wyoming and Colorado and held an impromptu press conference at Mar-a-Lago, where he disparaged crowd sizes and criticized Harris’ intellect.
When asked about Trump’s comments regarding Harris’ racial identity, Vance remarked that Trump was trying to highlight that Harris is “a chameleon.”
“She pretends to be one thing in front of one audience and she pretends to be something different in front of another audience,” Vance told CNN.
Vance accused Harris of shifting positions on topics such as fracking and border security, asserting that Trump seeks to portray her as “a fundamentally fake person.”
“She is different depending on who she is in front of,” he asserted.
However, he faced criticism about his own past remarks regarding Trump. Previously, Vance labeled Trump a “moral disaster” and questioned whether he was “America’s Hitler.” Vance defended his evolution, stating that people should be allowed to change their minds based on new facts, attributing some misunderstandings to media misrepresentation of Trump.
“It’s reasonable to change your mind,” he remarked.
Amid scrutiny of his prior comments and stances, Vance maintained his position, expressing no regrets about his previous assertion that people with families have more votes, calling it “not a policy proposal. It's a thought experiment.” He also championed “pro-family” policies, proposing an increase in the child tax credit to $5,000 per family.
As a Marine veteran, Vance continued to scrutinize Walz for how the Democratic nominee represented his military service. Walz had made comments about carrying “weapons of war” while discussing gun control, and Republicans have criticized the timing of his Army National Guard retirement before deploying to Iraq in 2005.
Walz left to run for Congress, with the Harris campaign claiming he had “misspoke.”
On CNN, Vance accused Walz of “lying about his own record” for “political gain.”
“I’m not criticizing his service. I’m criticizing dishonesty — dishonesty spoken in favor and for the purpose of political benefit,” Vance clarified.
Vance also defended his Indian-American wife, Usha Vance, against online attacks from white supremacists. Remarkably, Nick Fuentes—a known white supremacist previously associated with Trump—targeted Vance for his interracial marriage, but Vance emphasized that only a “smart” and “lucky” man could marry Usha.
“My view is, look, if these guys want to attack me or attack my views, my policy views, my personality, come after me,” Vance commented. “But don't attack my wife. She's out of your league.”
Despite the focus on him and Walz, Vance concurred with Trump that the vice presidential selection has limited sway over voters.
“I think President Trump's right about that, actually. I think most people are voting for Donald Trump or for Kamala Harris,” Vance stated on CBS. “Most people, when they cast their ballots, they're basing it based on who the presidential nominee is, not the vice presidential nominee. It's just straightforward political reality.”
Isabella Ramírez contributed to this report.
Emily Johnson contributed to this report for TROIB News
