JD Vance on Thursday denied that a Donald Trump administration would use the military on American citizens who oppose him, even though Trump has suggested he would.
“Oh, of course not, of course not,” Vance said at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when a reporter posed the question to him directly.
The crowd booed the reporter. But Vance said that he was glad to get the question, calling the suggestion “so preposterous.”
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The issue has dogged the Trump campaign all week ever since the GOP presidential candidate said during an interview that “the enemy from within” poses a bigger threat to America than foreign adversaries. He said the military should be used to handle “radical left lunatics” if necessary.
Kamala Harris has attacked the former president for his threats on the campaign trail and in a new ad. At a women’s town hall, Trump doubled down, saying that the enemy from within is “very dangerous,” calling the former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband “evil,” and saying it was Democrats, not him, doing the threatening.
Trump suggested on Fox News last Sunday that if “radical left lunatics” cause chaos on Election Day, they should be handled by the U.S. military. “It should be easily handled by, if necessary, by the National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military,” Trump told Fox News.
Vance also positioned himself as the voice of reason with regard to the deadly violent Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol, which Trump this week called a “day of love.”
“The media loves to talk about January the 6th, and of course, January the 6th of 2021, if you were violent, if you committed acts of violence, then you should be prosecuted for them,” Vance said. “Everybody believes that.”
He also referred to the political protests and violence in the summer of 2020 following the police murder of George Floyd. And he promised if that were to happen again under his watch, he and Trump would deal with it.
“If that ever happens again, if you ever have people who think that they cannot just exercise their First Amendment right, but loot and riot and burn down American cities, we are going to go after them and we’re going to go after them hard,” Vance said. “We do not tolerate that crap in the United States of America.”
