‘We would have had real civil strife’: JD Vance recalls 2024 attack on Trump

US Vice President JD Vance

US Vice President JD Vance said in a podcast released Tuesday (local time) that he feared a “real civil strife” had a 2024 attempt on Donald Trump’s life been successful.Vance made the remarks during a conversation with Christian podcaster Bryce Crawford. During the conversation, he cited the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, during which a bullet whizzed past Trump’s ear before striking a supporter, who was killed. The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by Secret Service snipers.“We would have had real civil strife in a way that I don’t know that the country could have ever come back from. There would have just been an illegitimacy to our entire political system,” the Associated Press quoted the vice president as saying.Vance further stated that, like many other Trump supporters, he too would have suspected a conspiracy had Crooks been successful.“I would have assumed very dark forces had taken out Donald Trump, right as he was about to come back into the White House. Many Trump supporters would have assumed a conspiracy had robbed them of their chosen president… I would have also had those thoughts ‘in the back of my mind,’” he added.On July 15, 2024, Trump formally announced Vance as his running mate, or vice presidential candidate. In the November 2024 election, the Trump-Vance Republican ticket defeated the Democratic ticket of Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz.

Vance on Trump’s AI-generated image as Jesus Christ

Crawford also asked Vance about a social media post Trump shared earlier this year featuring an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus, which the podcast host described as offensive. Trump initially contended that he thought the image depicted him as a doctor, but later removed the post amid widespread criticism, including from some of his own supporters.Vance defended the president, arguing that Trump did not intend to “mock or mimic God” and that “that’s just not who he is.” He added that Trump often tries to keep things light and frequently jokes. “He’s a bit of a ballbuster, for those of us who work with him, and he just likes to have a good time,” Vance remarked. “And I think that if people appreciated that, they would recognize, he’s not trying to offend people, he’s trying to keep things light.”