JD Vance Rips 9/11 Plea Deal: ‘Need a President Who Kills Terrorists, Not Negotiates with Them’

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (OH) has been tearing into the Biden-Harris administration for cutting a plea deal with three accused September 11, 2001, terrorists so that they will avoid the death penalty.

A spokesperson for the Office of Military Commissions (OMC) — which is prosecuting the case against alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his accused co-conspirators, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi — confirmed to the New York Post on Wednesday that it had entered into pre-trial agreements with the defendants. 

All three accused al-Qaeda terrorists have been held at the U.S. military prison in Guantánamo Bay since 2003, the outlet reported. 

“In exchange for removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three Accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet,” said a letter that chief OMC prosecutor Rear Adm. Aaron C. Rugh signed, addressed to the September 11 victims’ families.

The letter upset many loved ones of the innocent Americans who perished at the hands of al-Qaeda, as well as Vance, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. 

“We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them,” Trump’s vice presidential pick told a crowd of supporters at a Wednesday campaign stop in Glendale, Arizona, shortly after the news broke. 

“Just today, I heard that the Biden-Harris Department of Justice cut a deal with al-Qaeda terrorist Khalid Sheik Mohammed to avoid the death penalty,” Vance continued. “As someone who enlisted in the Marines to serve after 9/11, that is ridiculous, but it’s not surprising.”

He went on to rip into President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris by name, though he incorrectly identified the Department of Justice as the prosecuting agency:

Just think about the point that we’ve gotten to: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have weaponized the Department of Justice to go after their political opponents, but they’re cutting a sweetheart deal with 9/11 terrorists.

We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them.

Vance also targeted the current vice president for appearing to switch to a southern accent when addressing the crowd at her Atlanta, Georgia, campaign rally on Tuesday:

“Kamala Harris is a phony who caters to whatever audience is in front of her,” Vance said, referring to Harris’s “fake southern accent.”

“Now, what the hell is that all about? Kamala Harris grew up in Canada. They don’t talk like that in Vancouver or Quebec or wherever she came from. Doesn’t matter,” he added. “It’s the same new liberal policies, but a different accent [depending on] whoever she’s talking to.”