Vice President JD Vance called previous presidents “dumb” while discussing military involvement in the Middle East during an interview with NBC on Sunday.
“I certainly empathize with Americans who are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East, I understand the concern, but the difference is, back then we had dumb presidents, and now we have a president who actually knows how to accomplish America’s national security objectives,” Vance said.
The NBC Meet The Press interview was aired Sunday morning after the strikes on Iran Saturday night.
Vance’s comments come at a time of anxiety among Americans wary of new involvement in the Middle East. According to a poll from The Economist/YouGov, only 16% of Americans support military involvement in the Iran–Israel conflict, with 60% opposing it.
Notably, only 19% of 2024 Trump voters wanted U.S. involvement, with 53% opposed. This reflects a wider split in the MAGA movement, with isolationist “America First” Republicans coming into conflict with more traditional neo-conservative-aligned Republicans.
The split has seen media personality and former FOX News host Tucker Carlson, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, all criticize any involvement in the conflict.
More traditional Republicans, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have expressed support for U.S. involvement in the conflict, highlighting America’s role in supporting Israel.
Support for Israel has been a cause of internal conflict for Republicans, with Tucker Carlson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene being particularly critical.
“This is not our fight,” Greene said in a post on X.
JD Vance has been recently attempting to mend the schism, and unify support behind President Donald Trump.
In a FOX News interview on Friday, Vance said Trump “gets to define America First, because he’s the person who ran, who was elected, and who actually leads this movement.”
Vance continued to answer questions and attempt to dispel anxieties about American involvement in the conflict throughout his NBC interview.
When asked if the U.S. is now at war with Iran, Vance said that the U.S. is solely at war with Iran’s nuclear program, urging Iran to come to a diplomatic discussion to permanently dismantle its goal of building a nuclear arsenal.
When asked if the president made his decision based on American intelligence or Israeli intelligence, Vance said the decision was made using American intelligence.
Vance repeatedly claimed any involvement will be short-term.
“This is not gonna be some long, drawn-out thing, we got in, we’ve done the job of setting their nuclear program back, and we’re now gonna work to permanently dismantle that nuclear program over the coming years,” Vance said.
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Author: JBaron
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