J.D. Vance hints at tension between him and Donald Trump: ‘I’ve learned my lesson’
- Trump broke down on the issue of abortion during Tuesday’s debate with his running mate
Sen. JD Vance says he will not speak for Donald Trump in the future after the vice presidential nominee expressed contradictory views on a federal ban on abortion.
The admission followed a moment during Tuesday’s debate in which the former president disagreed with his running mate, saying they had not yet discussed vetoing the abortion ban at the national level.
“I think I’ve learned my lesson about speaking for the president before he and I have actually talked about an issue,” Vance said in an interview with Meet the Press host Kristen Welker on Sunday morning.
The Ohio senator said last month that he wanted to reiterate that Trump has made it clear he does not support the idea of a nationwide ban, but that he also thinks the issue would never cross his desk because it wouldn’t get through Congress in the first place.
Sen. J.D. Vance says he’s ‘learned his lesson’ about speaking publicly on behalf of Donald Trump before specifically discussing an issue after he said the former president would veto a national abortion bill if it landed on his desk
When Trump was asked during Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whether he would veto a bill that would ban federal abortions, he remained evasive.
“That’s not necessary,” he insisted.
But when ABC debate moderator Linsey Davis pressed him about Vance’s comments a few weeks earlier, the ex-president broke with his running mate
“I honestly didn’t discuss it with JD,” Trump said onstage. “JD — and I don’t care if he has a particular opinion — but I think he spoke for me. I really didn’t.”
Vance said in an August interview with Welker that he “thinks” Trump would not sign a bill to regulate abortions nationally. And he reiterated Sunday that a “national abortion ban is not on the table.”
“I think he’s been clear, he wouldn’t support it. I mean, he’s said that explicitly,” the Republican vice presidential nominee said last month.
“I mean, if you don’t support it as president of the United States, then you should basically veto it,” he added.
When asked for the last time whether Trump would veto the bill, Vance said, “I think so. He specifically said he would.”
Trump was coy during Tuesday’s debate with Kamala Harris when asked whether he would veto an abortion ban, but he insisted he does not support the idea of regulating terminations of pregnancy at the federal level.
Vance is now backing off his position, but maintains that the Republican Party will not support a nationwide ban on abortion in 2024.
“We haven’t talked about it. We still haven’t talked about it. Because it’s not realistic,” Vance said Sunday.
“He’s been incredibly clear that he doesn’t support a national abortion ban,” the senator said of Trump. “He wants abortion policy to be made by the states. Because he thinks, look, Alabama is going to make a different decision than California and that’s OK. We’re a big country, we can disagree.”
“I think President Trump has been clear: a national abortion ban is not on the table. He would not support it, he would not sign it,” Vance concluded.