‘JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country,’ says Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris commented in a newly released video that former President Trump chose Senator JD Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate to be a “rubber stamp” for the Republican White House hopeful’s “extreme agenda.”
This statement comes just before Vance’s acceptance speech, which is scheduled for Wednesday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Trump, now officially the Republican nominee for president, announced Vance as his vice-presidential pick on Monday.
“Trump looked for someone he knew would be a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda,” Harris said in the video.
“Make no mistake: JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country,” Vice President Kamala Harris continued in her newly released video.
Harris and Vance had a brief and respectful phone conversation after his nomination, according to Fox News’ Alexis McAdams, following Harris’s congratulatory voicemail.
Harris also criticized Vance for his stance on the 2020 election. Earlier this year, in an interview with ABC News, Vance said he would not have certified the 2020 election results until states submitted pro-Trump electors, echoing unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
“Unlike Mike Pence, Vance said he would have carried out Trump’s plan to overturn the 2020 election,” Harris said.
Harris further highlighted Vance’s comments from his 2022 Senate campaign, where he expressed support for a national abortion ban at 15 weeks, with exceptions for the life of the mother. She also noted Vance’s recent vote against a Democrat-led bill to protect access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), which was blocked by Republicans in the Senate.
“He supports a national abortion ban and voted against protecting IVF,” Harris stated.
Harris also referenced Project 2025, a controversial initiative by the conservative Heritage Foundation, authored by several conservatives, including former Trump administration officials. The initiative offers right-wing policy recommendations for a potential second Trump term, such as replacing civil service employees with Trump loyalists, abolishing the Department of Education, criminalizing pornography, eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, cutting Medicaid and Medicare funding, rejecting abortion as health care, and infusing the government with Christian values.
Although Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, calling parts of it “absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” Harris warned of its implications.
“If elected, [Vance] will help implement the extreme Project 2025 plan for a second Trump term, which would target critical programs like Head Start and Medicare,” Harris said. “But we are not going to let that happen.”