JD Vance Falls On The Sword For Trump After Awkward Debate Fumble

Over 67 million people watched the debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump. During the fiery encounter heading into the 2024 election, Trump seemed to be missing the time when he was running against Joe Biden, and overall, he didn't seem to do that well against Harris. He did pull some familiar moves from his playbook, however, including throwing people under the bus. This time it was when Trump got in a dig at JD Vance, his own running mate. Like a dutiful soldier, Vance is already taking the blame.

During the debate, Trump was asked about a national abortion ban — would he sign it into law or would he veto it? It turns out Vance had already answered for Trump on NBC News a few weeks earlier; he confidently said Trump's answer would be no. As Trump avoided giving a direct answer to the question, he was confronted by moderator Linsey Davis with the fact that Vance had already answered for him. Trump wasn't having it. "Well, I didn't discuss it with JD, in all fairness. And I don't mind if he has a certain view, but I don't think he was speaking for me," Trump said via YouTube.

Vance has now gone ahead and flung himself under the bus for Trump about those apparently errant comments. In a September 15 interview with "Meet the Press," Vance said, "I've learned my lesson on speaking for the president before he and I have actually talked about an issue."

JD Vance confirmed in his "Meet the Press" appearance that he and Donald Trump haven't talked about an abortion ban. It's a fairly large national issue that some are surprised hasn't come up in their policy discussions. But Vance had an explanation for that. He said, "We haven't discussed it because it's not realistic. That's the point he made during the debate," he told NBC News.

The actual point that Trump seemed to make about Vance during the debate, whether it was intentional or not, is that the former president and his running mate are not on the same page when it comes to policy. Not only that, but if pressed, Trump has no problem using Vance as a scapegoat. In August, Trump said that a VP pick isn't all that important when it comes to an election, so maybe he doesn't think he needs to discuss policy with Vance? It's hard to tell for sure, but Vance certainly seems ready to toe the line after his earlier misstep.

Additionally, the debate also emphasizes that the two aren't spending all that much time together. They held a rally together in July shortly after Trump made Vance his left-field VP pick, and they were together in New York for a 9/11 memorial ceremony. Otherwise, their schedules don't seem to have them interacting all that much, at least in person. They're currently set for rallies and events in different cities in the weeks ahead.