New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman on Tuesday brushed away the suggestion that JD Vance may want to coordinate more with Donald Trump’s campaign on messaging after the GOP vice presidential candidate appeared to expose the hypocrisy of the former president.
Vance drew backlash this week for saying — in the wake of the second apparent attempt on Trump’s life — that calling a candidate “fascist” — as Democrats have done to Trump — can spark violence. But Vance ignored the fact it’s exactly what Trump frequently calls Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
“I don’t think the Trump campaign is unhappy at all with what JD Vance is saying,” Haberman told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Trump has faced calls to replace Vance on the 2024 ticket following multiple controversies, including the resurfacing of his “childless cat ladies” remarks and his peddling of baseless rumors about immigrants eating pets in Ohio.
But “I think that we have seen for a long time that when Trump is called something he tends to say it back to whoever has said it to him,” she continued. “And I think that the Trump campaign is perfectly happy with the role that JD Vance is playing as attack dog. If they were not, he would not continue doing it.”
Trump, meanwhile, is currently trying to “project strength” and portray himself as “somebody who can live through anything,” said Haberman. But she suggested his campaign doesn’t feel “especially solid right now, security-wise.”
Watch the interview here:
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