JD Vance's Most Brutal Moments On CNN

The 2024 Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance has had his share of press and media attention since he was announced as Donald Trump's running mate. However, there are some weird things about JD Vance that can't be forgotten. One example is the way he flip-flopped on his opinion of Trump, since Vance used to be a very vocal critic of the former president.

Vance has also had a string of awkward moments on the campaign trail. Who can forget the horrendously awkward video of him attempting to order donuts, where the employees had the most tepid response to Vance being there? It even inspired Vance's rival Tim Walz to school him on how to properly order donuts and interact with possible future constituents.

It also seems like Vance's less-than-stellar people skills have been on display in some interviews he's done. Especially while speaking to CNN, some of Vance's on-camera appearances have been nothing short of brutal to watch.

In May 2024, prior to the announcement that JD Vance was Donald Trump's vice presidential pick, he was interviewed on CNN's "The Source with Kaitlan Collins." Vance and Collins discussed the pro-Palestine college campus protests, including the demonstration at Columbia University's Hamilton Hall that led to the NYPD getting involved.

"You can't police people for being pro-Israel or anti-Israel, but you can police people for violating the law," Vance said (via The Hill). "We have seen some of that with some of these protests." However, Vance's take on how pro-Palestine protesters should be treated seemed to contradict how he felt about the January 6, 2021 insurrection attempt, since Collins pointed out that Vance contributed to fundraisers for those who stormed the Capitol that day.

Also during the interview, Vance tried to downplay the way January 6 protestors threatened politicians, especially former vice president Mike Pence's life. "Kaitlan, I'm truly skeptical that Mike Pence's life was ever in danger. I think politics and politics people like to really exaggerate things from time to time," Vance said (via CNN). Collins interrupted to say, "I think Mike Pence would disagree with that, Senator."

JD Vance's memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" was turned into a movie, but there's no place in Hollywood for him based on Vance's unconvincing dodge of a tough question. In August 2024, Donald Trump said he would vote for the Florida state constitution amendment extending the window of time for Floridians to have an abortion. His campaign team later dismissed that Trump's statement was a definitive yes or no on the amendment, and the candidate himself later told Fox News, "I'll be voting no" (via NPR).

Before that had been cleared up, Vance did a remote interview with John Berman on CNN. Vance was asked Trump's feelings on the abortion amendment and claimed Trump would say for sure which way he was voting at another time, but Berman pressed for clarity, due to the fact that Trump had said he would be voting for it.

Although this section of the interview was deleted from the published footage, a video making the rounds on X showed Vance seeming to fake audio troubles during the interview. "Sorry, could you repeat that John?" Vance asked, tugging on his earpiece. He continued not to reply after Berman rephrased his question. Then Vance pointed at his ear, looking perplexed. Critics on X had a field day with that footage, fully believing that Vance was (poorly) pretending he couldn't hear.

JD Vance and Dana Bash had a tense interview on CNN's "State of the Union" in September 2024, following Vance's non-proven claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating cats and dogs (claims Donald Trump later repeated). Bash quoted Mayor Rob Rue of Springfield, who said such talk was causing a problem for Springfield and questioned why Vance kept spinning stories even though officials had proven them untrue. The senator of Ohio doubled down that he was speaking about real situations from citizens of Springfield.

Later on, Vance was furious when Bash mentioned bomb threats in Springfield were because of his comments. Bash said those threats of violence started after Vance and Trump said Haitian immigrants were eating pets. In addition to the duo speaking over each other, Vance made a comment about being treated worse than Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz. Bash said if they made accusations with no proof and dodged questions, she'd treat them the same.

Vance wouldn't admit that his stories of immigrants eating pets were unproven, continuing to cite accounts he'd supposedly heard. Then, Vance said he'd been trying to bring attention to issues in Springfield for ages and would construct stories if necessary in order to shed light on the city. "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm gonna do Dana," Vance snapped. He continued to ramble, but Bash interrupted and said, "You just said that you're creating a story." Vance stopped and sat in silence for a moment. He later continued repeating that he'd heard the stories from real people in Ohio, saying they were "creating" the media attention based on those.

There was major drama brewing between JD Vance and CNN's Jake Tapper during their sit-down interview on "State of the Union" in October 2024. Prior to that talk, General John Kelly, who used to be Donald Trump's chief of staff, spoke to The New York Times and compared Trump the definition of a "fascist." Kelly said, "Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he's certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that." When Tapper brought that up, Vance said Kelly didn't agree with Trump's policies. Tapper corrected him and said that wasn't Kelly's issue with Trump. Vance wasn't convinced, listing Kelly as an example of a Republican who opposes Trump because they're pro-war, which Tapper did not think was true based on a lack of proof. 

Later in the interview, Tapper brought up how Vance assumed Kelly spoke with Kamala Harris' team prior to giving that interview. Tapper said he talked to people on both sides, and there was no such communication. "Oh, I'm highly skeptical of that, Jake," Vance said. "You know the way these attacks work. You know the way that these people are often vetted by a campaign before somebody goes out there." Tapper replied, "So you made it up?"

Vance also claimed many of those from Trump's former administration who have spoken out against him were just bitter for being fired, although Tapper said many of them weren't actually fired. The heated discussion didn't cool down as the conversation continued.

During his "State of the Union" interview with Jake Tapper, JD Vance seemed keen to ignore Donald Trump's glaring red flags. Tapper listed things Trump has said about punishments for people that disagree with him, and Vance denied such talk proved Trump was a fascist. He also said Tapper was conflating multiple conversations and that in context, Trump's words would sound different.

After criticizing the way CNN handled coverage of the FBI investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 election, Vance lamented about how Kamala Harris' team and media outlets spend so much time discussing Trump's past actions. He continued, "Because you guys seem to care more about Donald Trump's past than the future of the American people. We're running this campaign on making of the American dream." Tapper tried to explain that his questions were to see what another Trump presidency would look like. Vance also claimed CNN got their info from anonymous sources or "a disgruntled employee." Tapper denied those claims.

Later in the interview, Tapper tried to make sense of what Vance was saying. "So all those 10 people, including the former vice president, Mike Pence, all of these people are — have this horribly damaged worldview," Tapper said. "And they're all just going after Donald Trump because they want to send people into war? That's what — that's really your argument?" Vance replied, "Absolutely." How will Vance's pro-Trump stubbornness and willingness to overlook his running mate's flaws affect his future political career?