Vance Sits Down For Interview With Kristen Welker

During a tense exchange on Meet The Press, Senator JD Vance took NBC’s Kristen Welker to task over what he saw as misleading questions on U.S.-Russia relations and the history of Russia’s invasions of its neighbors.

With the 2024 election around the corner, Vance—Trump’s running mate—used the moment to reinforce a stark contrast between the Trump administration’s stance on Russia and that of other administrations, while also emphasizing the importance of diplomacy over aggression.

The discussion turned heated when Welker pressured Vance to label Russian President Vladimir Putin an “enemy” rather than an “adversary.” Vance held firm, clarifying that the United States is “not in a war with [Russia], and I don’t want to be in a war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.”

He added, “We can condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine… but we also need to engage in some smart diplomacy if we’re ever going to get out of the mess that Kamala Harris has left us in and get back to a posture of peace.”

In an attempt to challenge Vance’s point, Welker then implied that Trump’s administration failed to address Russia’s incursions, mistakenly claiming, “Donald Trump was president for four years while Russia was essentially invading Crimea.” Vance quickly pointed out the flaw in this timeline.

He corrected her by noting that Russia’s annexation of Crimea occurred under the Obama administration. “The one four-year term where Russia did not launch a full-scale invasion against a neighbor was under the leadership of Donald Trump,” Vance remarked, emphasizing that Trump had bolstered Ukraine’s defenses by supplying them with javelins, a move he argued helped prevent further Russian aggression.

For Vance, this exchange underscored a broader point about leadership and historical context, stressing that Trump’s approach to Russia didn’t lead to war but actually kept Putin in check.

By comparison, Vance argued, recent administrations have failed to do so, with Russia’s incursions into sovereign territories occurring under the Obama, Bush, and Harris administrations, he claimed.

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