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President Joe Biden’s has slammed former president Donald Trump for choosing Ohio Senator JD Vance to be his running-mate, calling the Hillbilly Elegy author turned MAGA politician identical to the ex-president on policy matters.
Biden weighed in on his opponents choice when asked by reporters as he boarded Air Force One for a trip to Las Vegas.
He said Vance is “a clone of Trump on the issues,” adding that he doesn’t see any difference between then.
Separately, officials with Biden’s re-election campaign called out Vance as someone who would serve as a blank check for the ex-president’s worst impulses.
In a statement, Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said Trump selected the Buckeye State Republican because he would “do what Mike Pence wouldn’t on January 6: bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people.”
Dillon also said Vance would “make it his mission” to implement the extreme policies laid out in the Trump-aligned Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, including a national abortion ban.
“This is someone who supports banning abortion nationwide while criticizing exceptions for rape and incest survivors; railed against the Affordable Care Act , including its protections for millions with preexisting conditions; and has admitted he wouldn’t have certified the free and fair election in 2020,” she said.
On a press call with reporters following the announcement, Dillon also slammed Vance as “proudly anti-choice” and accused him of wanting to “take women back decades.”
She also contrasted Trump and Vance’s agenda as one “focused on themselves and their wealthy donor friends” with that of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who she described as “fighting for the American people.”
“They’re building the economy from the bottom up and the middle out. They’re focused on lowering costs, defending reproductive freedoms and making sure that everyone has a chance to live out the American dream. So with Trump’s ticket set, it’s more clear than ever that our rights, our freedoms and our democracy are on the line this November,” she said.
Asked about Vice President Harris’ feelings on the announcement, Biden campaign spokesperson TJ Ducklo said Harris “is fully prepared to take him on.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren, who joined O’Malley Dillon and the Biden campaign team on the press call, said Harris “will take it to JD Vance.”
“I’ve known her for nearly 15 years, while she’s been in every kind of fight on behalf of working families, and she is strong. She knows what she’s talking about, and she doesn’t give an inch, and she has the better end of the argument. When Kamala stands up to argue, she will be arguing in favor of protecting Social Security and Medicare. She will be arguing in favor of protecting access to health insurance. She will be arguing in favor of making sure that we have infrastructure and strong unions. She will be arguing in favor of raising taxes for billionaires and giving real relief to middle class families,” Warren said.
