Former President Donald Trump says that Senator JD Vance, his 2024 running mate, will have “virtually no impact” on the election.
Trump and Vance became the GOP presidential and vice presidential nominees at the Republican National Convention this month, just days before Vice President Kamala Harris became the likely Democratic nominee following President Joe Biden‘s withdrawal from the race.
Vance has since become the focus of intense criticism that extends to both ends of the political spectrum, while polling has shown that the senator has historically low approval ratings among VP picks. Trump has defended his choice, insisting that Vance has been ” very well received” by the public.
During an appearance at the annual conference of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Chicago on Wednesday, Trump said that Vance would have no impact on the election after being asked by Fox News host Harris Faulkner whether he would be “ready on Day One” to assume the presidency if needed.
“I’ve always had great respect for him and for the other candidates, too,” Trump said, declining to directly address Faulkner’s question about Vance’s readiness. “But I will say this, and I think this is well-documented, historically the vice president, in terms of the election, does not have any impact. I mean, virtually no impact.”
“It’s all about the presidential pick,” he added. “Historically, the choice of the vice president makes no difference. You’re voting for the president. And you can have a vice president who’s outstanding in every way—and I think JD is, I think that all of them would have been—but you’re not voting that way, you’re voting for the president.”
The Harris campaign quickly pounced on Trump’s answer, sharing a short clip of the moment in a post to X, formerly Twitter, to point out that the former president did not say whether Vance was ready.
A Yahoo News/YouGov poll released last week found that 38 percent of U.S. adults agree that Vance is not ready to become the president if required to do so, while just 29 percent said that he was.
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump/Vance campaign via email on Wednesday.
Trump’s appearance at the NABJ conference was marked by a number of bizarre and at times tense interactions between the former president and the journalists moderating the event. At one point, Trump suggested that Harris, who is Black, suddenly ” happened to turn Black” when she became a presidential candidate.
The former president’s appearance got off to a rocky start when ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott asked him why Black voters should “trust” him, prompting a furious response from Trump, who bristled at being “asked a question in such a horrible manner.” Trump’s appearance ended abruptly after he was asked a question about Project 2025.
“The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project
2025 agenda on the American people,” Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement following the event.
“Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us,” Tyler continued. “Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign.
Update 07/31/24 4:34 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and a new image.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
