Did you catch Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) on TV yesterday?
It was hard to miss him: Trump's running mate delivered a Sunday morning media blitz, sitting for interviews that aired on ABC, CBS, and CNN. The goal, it seemed, was to clean up the mess he had made with his past comments on “childless cat ladies” and abortion, among other topics, that seem to be part of why the Democrats' branding of him as "weird" works.
Unfortunately for Trump and Vance, it's questionable whether the aspiring VP's Sunday screen time actually helped the Republicans' cause. That's because his comments were a combination of false, chilling, and—you guessed it—weird. Some of the highlights:
—Perhaps the weirdest exchange was when Vance agreed with Trump's claim that the VP pick "does not have any impact" on the election. “I think President Trump’s right about that, actually,” Vance told Margaret Brennan of CBS. “I think most people are voting for Donald Trump or for Kamala Harris.”
—He described, in clinical terms, how the Trump administration would enact the "mass deportation" plan it has promised. “I think it’s interesting that people focus on, well, how do you deport 18 million people?" Vance told Jonathan Karl of ABC. "Let’s start with 1 million.”
—Not only did Vance falsely imply that abortion pills are unsafe—more than 100 scientific studies have confirmed they are safe and effective, including when they are prescribed virtually and mailed to patients—but he also lied about his record of trying to criminalize them when Brennan, of CBS, asked him about it.
Read my full piece to get the rundown on Vance's wildest statements on his TV tour yesterday—and expect more to come between now and November.
—Julianne McShane
P.S. This week's episode of Reveal is the second in a three-part series about failures in federal data collection of Covid-19 and the volunteer-led effort to fill the data gap. Make sure to give it a listen wherever you get your podcasts.
