During an appearance on Sunday’s broadcast of CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and show host Margaret Brennan had a tense exchange regarding media bias as it pertained to former President Donald Trump.
Brennan pressed Vance on Trump’s responses to debate questions regarding abortion and January 6.
The Ohio Republican U.S. Senator accused the media of “running interference” on the January 6, 2021 incident. This triggered Brennan to claim she had been told the media were “on every single side.”
Partial transcript as follows:
BRENNAN: Donald Trump had a better night on Thursday during that debate by many measures.
But according to our poll, he fell short on at least one of them. Fewer voters thought the former president was truthful compared with President Biden. Mr. Trump falsely claimed states are passing legislation to execute babies. I think you know that killing people is illegal in every state.
He falsely claimed that the speaker of the House at the time turned down 10,000 soldiers that he had offered to keep the peace ahead of January 6, something his own acting secretary of defense testified to Congress did not happen.
If he has such a strong platform, why make false claims?
VANCE: Well, Margaret, I think the media is running interference on a lot of this stuff. We all know and Nancy Pelosi herself has admitted on camera that she could have requested more National Guard troops. She bears some responsibility for the fact that they weren’t there at the Capitol.
We know that — that multiple Democratic governors and states and even some Democratic senators and congressmen have tried to pass laws that would effectively legalize abortion up until the moment of birth. And, most importantly, we know that the media seems totally uninterested in fact-checking Joe Biden from any of the number of false claims that he made, including he said…
(CROSSTALK)
BRENNAN: You know, I lost track, sir, I have been told the media is on every single side of this and everything’s our fault.
But let’s get back to the candidate you’re here to talk about.
VANCE: But I’m…
(CROSSTALK)
BRENNAN: Chris Miller said 10,000 troops, he was never ordered by the president to send those to the Capitol that day.
VANCE: Nancy Pelosi has said on camera, Margaret, that she bears some responsibility for the fact that the National Guard didn’t play a bigger role.
But, of course, we know the speaker of the House has an extraordinary amount of influence over the Capitol Police. It’s not in dispute, Margaret. And, more importantly, Joe Biden said that no troops died on his watch, even though 13 American service members died…
BRENNAN: Yes.
VANCE: … thanks to his botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. Joe Biden made multiple statements of falsehood during the debate.
And a lot of folks in the media, yes, seemed totally uninterested in fact-checking him. And the reason, Margaret, is because Donald Trump just performed so much better. There’s — there was — there was this 24-hour period where effectively everyone was honest that there was an incredible contrast between Donald Trump’s energy and command to the facts, and Joe Biden’s obvious inability to do the job as president.
And now, of course, we’ve transitioned to this new media cycle where folks are trying to run cover. Look, the American people saw what they saw. Trump can do the job. Biden can’t.
BRENNAN: Yes, you might not have heard it, but I did raise a lot of those issues to Wes Moore, the Biden surrogate who was on before you.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
