By MEG KINNARD Associated Press
Vice President JD Vance, appearing Tuesday on ABC’s “The View” to promote his newly released memoir on faith, was put on the spot from the first question, peppered for nearly an hour on Jeffrey Epstein, the economy, immigration and other issues facing the Trump administration.
The appearance was notable because it marked a rare foray for a Trump administration official into what they would consider hostile media territory, and it raised eyebrows since the Federal Communications Commission under the Trump administration has launched an investigation into the show over possible violations of the requirement that broadcast stations give equal time to political candidates when they appear on-air.
The long-running morning show, led by veterans Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar, is generally dominated by its liberal hosts. It combines entertainment and political interviews and often features commentary critical of President Donald Trump.
Vance himself acknowledged the uncomfortable terrain, joking with the hosts at the start of the hour: “This is a show of MAGA Republicans, right? That’s what my media team told me.”
He did get a few questions about his new book “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” which he described as “actually way less political than you might think.” The tentative deal he has worked on to try to bring about an end to the Iran war did not, however, come up.
Vance asked to explain Trump’s remarks on affordability
The show’s hosts almost immediately began questioning Vance about the country’s economic situation, specifically Trump’s comments on affordability and inflation. In both circumstances, Vance turned into somewhat of a Trump translator.
Behar asked about Trump’s dismissal of the affordability issue as a “hoax” started by Democrats while instead focusing on projects including refurbishing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, building a triumphal arch across the river from Arlington National Cemetery or refashioning the White House South Lawn into a UFC arena for Trump’s birthday.
“Why is he doing them when everybody knows that Americans are struggling?” Behar asked. “What is he spending all this money for?”
Vance rejected Behar’s characterization of Trump’s comment. “What the president said is, the idea that Republicans caused the affordability problem is a hoax, and I think that’s true,” the vice president said.
After co-host Ana Navarro interjected with Trump’s recent statement, “ I love the inflation,” Vance offered another Trump translation.
“What he said is that he loves the fact that the inflation is going to come down when this war is over,” Vance said, eliciting cross talk from the table.
“That’s not what he said,” Goldberg responded.
“Are you his interpreter, or are you his vice president?” Behar added.
Vance tried to pivot, talking about increases in manufacturing jobs and other economic improvements.
“My view — I’m sure you guys don’t agree with it — is that we inherited a mess and we’re fixing it, but sometimes it takes a long time to fix a mess,” he said.
Vance acknowledges he’s an Epstein ‘conspiracy theorist’
Vance was questioned at length about the Epstein files, as well as recent reporting from The New York Times that he had been a major advocate for releasing the materials, including during meetings in the White House Situation Room.
“I am, frankly, kind of a conspiracy theorist on the Epstein stuff,” Vance admitted, acknowledging he agrees with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles on that point.
The vice president said he did want to defend his boss on the issue, referring to Navarro and others’ assertions that Trump ejected Epstein from membership in his private club because of a business deal gone wrong and not Epstein’s nefarious sexual proclivities.
“He was very frustrated when the Democrats were making this about him,” Vance added of Trump and the fractious political conversation over the files’ release and their content.
Pressed repeatedly by co-host Sunny Hostin over other matters related to the files, including millions that have yet to be released, Vance said there are many duplicates, as well as others over whose release a court would need to rule, but that “we’re not holding anything back.”
After promising Hostin he’d check on some files that remain unreleased, Vance playfully suggested a return to the purported show agenda when Goldberg shifted to another commercial break.
“Let’s talk about the book. I’m here to sell books. ‘Communion!’” he said.
“Eventually, we will,” Goldberg said. “But this is a good opportunity for us to get some clarity.”
Vance also dove into Trump’s signature issue: immigration
The conversation shifted to Trump’s signature issue as Vance explained the evolution of his relationship to the president, whom he once criticized and about whom he now says he — and others, chronicling Trump’s political rise — got some things wrong.
“One of the things I underappreciated about Donald Trump is that so many of the things that people said about him weren’t actually true,” Vance said. “I read stories that said, ‘Donald Trump said that all Mexicans were rapists’ — he never said that.”
After several hosts queried how Vance as both a Christian and father would explain Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and urged him to visit detention centers, Vance acknowledged the need to “strike a balance, of course,” between enforcing laws and treating people appropriately.
“Law enforcement is always inherently not a very pretty process, especially when you’re dealing sometimes with violent people, with people who are resisting arrest,” he allowed.
As the show began to wrap up, Goldberg aimed to try to tie in the book, asking Vance about rationalizing his Catholic faith with a hard-line stance on immigration.
“I think it strikes the right balance here,” Vance said of Catholicism, that “you can have borders, you’re allowed to enforce your borders … but you also have to take certain precautions and certain care.”
Hosts asked Vance about administration’s stance on race
Some of the most impassioned moments of the show were when the hosts questioned Vance about some of the administration’s moves when it comes to race.
“What did Black people do to this administration that has allowed it to really stigmatize folks of color?” Goldberg asked. Some audience members reacted negatively as Vance asked for more information.
When Vance responded that the question suggested that “allegedly the administration is holding back the appointments of people based on skin color,” Hostin jumped in with a correction.
“I’m talking about Black history getting erased from public spaces, Black voter districts are being dismantled, Black leaders are being sidelined from our ranks,” she said. “Where do Americans of color fit in this vision? Because it doesn’t seem like we fit.”
Saying that “everybody is welcome in our political coalition,” Vance pointed toward the administration’s efforts to increase safety in Washington, D.C., a heavily Black city, adding, “Black history is not erased.”
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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.