In a blitz of media appearances on Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance took friendly fire from the hosts at Fox & Friends and Gutfeld!, and some not-so-friendly fire from the hosts of The View.
On the surface, Vance was trying to drum up interest in his new book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, which is about his conversion to Catholicism. What ended up happening, though, was an advertisement aimed at Christian Republicans who feel alienated from the party by its more sensationalist wing.
During his roughly half-hour appearance on The View, a daytime show hosted by a group of women whom President Donald Trump has often called “degenerates,” Vance’s Christian beliefs came into question when host Sara Haines asked, “What are you willing to excuse in the name of power?”
In response, Vance said it took personal humility to admit that he had originally been wrong about Trump.
“I would say fundamentally that one of the things I underappreciated about Donald Trump is that so many of the things that people said about him weren’t actually true,” he said.
Vance pointed to earlier media reporting on Trump that claimed the then-presidential candidate had called all Mexican immigrants “rapists,” and said such reports were simply untrue.
Later in the show, Haines pushed back by arguing that, as a Christian, Vance should be far less supportive of the Trump administration’s no-exceptions policy for deporting illegal immigrants. Haines criticized the arrests of many illegal immigrants as appearing brutal.
“Law enforcement is always inherently not a very pretty process,” Vance said, “especially when you’re dealing sometimes with violent people, with people who are resisting arrest.”
Vance later defended his convictions as a Catholic, saying of the Catholic Church’s teaching, “I think it strikes the right balance here. You can have borders, you’re allowed to enforce your borders … but you also have to take certain precautions and certain care.”
Vance notably got each of the six hosts to tacitly, if not explicitly, agree that the United States has an inherent right to protect its own borders, a far cry from the stance of other left-wing talking heads. Billie Eilish, for example, memorably asserted that “no one is illegal on stolen land.”
Vance’s composed and patient demeanor on The View is what Republicans need to win back many who were once part of Trump’s base but dislike the theatrics and sensationalism of many public figures on the Right.
Vance offered nuanced answers on the issues the Trump administration has been waging a crusade over, including illegal immigration and foreign threats. He did not apologize for his own principles or for Trump’s words, even if his comments earned him the title of “the president’s interpreter” from host Joy Behar.
In contrast with Vance’s stoic answers to the combative hosts of The View, former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt captivated the public as a no-nonsense outsider bent on shaking up the political order.
Everyone watched Pratt’s social media videos. His political stunts made waves. How could they not, when video after video portrayed Mayor Karen Bass as Thanos, or Pratt as Batman saving Los Angeles from Bass?
Pratt’s social media campaign was hailed as the Republican response to Zohran Mamdani-style media politics. That is true, and Pratt’s approach was almost completely effective at winning over a city that has had a Democratic mayor since 2001.
When it comes to the national stage, however, Republicans need to promote voices that appeal both to hard-line MAGA supporters and to voters who agree with Trump’s policies but disagree with his methods.
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While he presented an amicable demeanor, Vance made clear that the policies of the Trump administration would not change: The president would never support mass amnesty, he would not slow down prosecutions of illegal immigrants, and he would continue to work for safer American cities.
“I think everybody is welcome in our political coalition, frankly, even if you didn’t vote for us,” Vance told Whoopi Goldberg. “Everybody is welcome in our country, so long as you’re an American citizen, with the duties and legal obligations and rights to be here.”