Senator J.D. Vance’s statement on the Trump rally shooting hit a new low, even by the already low standards he has set for himself.
Senator Vance wrote:
Today is not just an isolated incident. A central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. This kind of rhetoric directly led to the assassination attempt on President Trump.
It’s unclear who the shooters were, whether they had any political motivations or why they did what they did.
None of this has stopped Vance from blaming President Biden, who has never said Trump needs to be stopped at all costs. Biden’s view has always been that Trump must be defeated democratically at the ballot box. The only way to defeat Trump’s authoritarianism is democracy.
Republicans are showing that they are the cause of polarization in the country. President Joe Biden is trying to unite the country while Republicans have turned the rally shooting into a partisan political issue.
It appears Vance is trying to use the shooting, which left one person dead and another injured, as an opportunity to secure Trump’s vice presidential bid.
America does not need political opportunists like Vance further dividing the country for political gain.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of Society of Professional Journalists and American Political Science Association
