A Town Hall with JD Vance

[0:04] A critical midterm election just days away. [0:08] Are we ready to do what we need to do in November? [0:11] Americans are casting their ballots with everything on the line. [0:15] The battle for Congress. [0:16] Will Republicans still control the balance of power? [0:19] Americans, you my friends, that's who we fight for. [0:22] Tonight, CBS News presents Things That Matter with Vice President J.D. Vance. [0:29] We're doing everything that we can to bring down prices. [0:32] What is the Trump administration's strategy on affordability and to end the war in Iran? [0:38] Will J.D. Vance make a presidential run in 2028? [0:42] All of these answers and more tonight. [0:47] A CBS News Town Hall starts right now. [0:52] And good evening. I'm Tony DeCoppo. [1:01] Thank you all for joining us tonight for the CBS News Things That Matter Town Hall right here in Flat Rock, Michigan. [1:07] We are just over two weeks away from a midterm election that may alter the course of the Trump-Vance administration. [1:14] And few states matter more than this one right here. [1:16] In fact, this could be the one that determines control of the U.S. Senate. [1:21] And the race between Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers is a toss-up. [1:27] It's also a tough year for Republicans overall. [1:29] While the president's approval rating has plummeted 14 points since the start of his term, and the same voters who sent the Trump administration back to the White House in 2024 are now deciding whether, this election, they want to instead send Trump a message. [1:44] Tonight, voters will get an opportunity to ask their urgent questions to the Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance, who at an earlier point in his life might have been among those swing voters. [1:55] Vance grew up just a few hours south of here in Middletown, Ohio. [1:59] He served in Iraq, went to Yale Law School, and then worked as an investor before Ohio sent him to the U.S. Senate in 2022. [2:07] Just two years later, he was Donald Trump's running mate, and he is now widely seen as the early frontrunner for his party's 2028 nomination for president. [2:17] We have a lot to talk about, so let's get started. [2:19] Vice President Vance, thank you very much for being here. [2:20] Good to see you. [2:21] Thank you for doing this, and thanks to everybody for being here. [2:23] I will say, Tony, you did me a huge disservice by reminding a crowd of Michiganders that I'm from Ohio, but hopefully they won't hold it against me. [2:30] Not only that, we've got a medallion back there for the Ohio State Buckeyes. [2:34] Oh, wow. [2:35] Yeah, it might be stolen before the night is over. [2:37] We just lost the crowd. [2:38] I know. [2:40] Look, we are just over two weeks away from a major midterm election, and there are some very tight Senate races, closer than I think a lot of people expected. [2:48] In fact, your former Senate seat in Ohio could flip to the Democrats. [2:52] I'm thinking also about Kansas, Alaska, Iowa, maybe most surprisingly, Texas. [2:58] And the Democrats only need to pick up a net of four seats to take control. [3:03] Are you nervous? [3:04] No, I'm not nervous because I fundamentally trust the judgment of the American people. [3:08] I mean, whenever you get into election season, there are always races that you look at and say, how are we close in that race or how is that race so close? [3:14] I mean, you pointed out some Republican-leaning states that are maybe tight, but we're also competing in Maine, a state that Kamala Harris won by eight points. [3:23] We're competing, I think, very, very well in Minnesota, a state that Kamala Harris won by a pretty comfortable margin. [3:28] So, you know, the nature of these races is that you get out there, you make the best case you can to the American people, and they ultimately get to decide. [3:34] And on this matter, I am one vote out of many. [3:38] I'm going to vote for John Huston for Senator in Ohio. [3:41] I think he's going to win, but all you can do is make your argument to the American people, and they get the opportunity to decide. [3:47] Well, you're making the argument here in the state of Michigan, and this is one of those races that could decide the outcome, who controls the Senate. [3:53] And it's closer than I think a lot of people expected. [3:56] It's close in part because there are some Trump voters from 2024 who have now switched to say, I'm going to vote for a Democrat this time around. [4:03] I'm going to vote for Abdul El-Sayed. [4:06] And, in fact, we have one of those voters here tonight, Keyshawn Wheaton. [4:09] He's a 43-year-old barber. [4:10] Keyshawn, where are you? [4:12] He's got a question for the vice president. [4:13] Go ahead. [4:14] Greetings, Mr. Vice President. [4:15] My name is Keyshawn Wheaton from Detroit, and I voted for Trump in 2020 and 2024 because I saw the gas prices fall [4:23] during his first term, as low as $117 a gallon in Detroit, and now I'm paying $433 a gallon for gas. [4:31] And I wanted to know, what aren't we doing that we could be doing to obtain the previous Trump administration's gas prices? [4:38] And also, I plan on voting for El-Sayed in this upcoming election, and I wanted to know, why should I vote for Mike Rogers instead? [4:46] Okay. [4:47] Well, I really appreciate that, man, and appreciate the question and, obviously, the support in 2024. [4:52] I'm vice president because of it. [4:54] But I think that, first of all, I recognize that gas prices are too high right now. [4:59] And I think it's important to be honest about why they are so elevated. [5:03] And there are a few different things going on. [5:05] So the first thing that's going on, obviously, is what's happening in the Middle East, [5:09] particularly the fact that the Iranians are shooting at every commercial ship that they can. [5:13] It's a global energy market, so that's pushing up the price of fuel everywhere. [5:16] But there are also a lot of things that we've done already to lower fuel prices and, frankly, to keep them from going even higher. [5:23] We've never had a situation like this where you have effectively the largest state sponsor of terrorism that's trying to completely choke off world energy supply. [5:31] The fact is that if we just, like, left and we let the Iranians control shipping out of the Strait of Hormuz, [5:37] what that would mean is you would pay a lot more for gasoline. [5:41] There are also other things that we, frankly, should have been doing years ago and we are now doing quite affirmatively. [5:47] So a couple days ago, I was in Texas, and we announced that we were going to use what's called the Defense Production Act [5:51] to massively increase the amount of refining capacity that we have in the United States of America. [5:56] That's actually the biggest reason why gas prices are so high is because when Joe Biden was president, [6:02] we had about 20 percent of American refining capacity that went offline. [6:05] We're slowly bringing that online, but it does take a little bit of time. [6:09] And because we shut down so much refining capacity, we were more susceptible to the shock that we've seen in the Middle Eastern energy prices. [6:17] So there's a lot that we are doing. It's just we also are working against an Iranian regime that's shooting at commercial shipping. [6:26] But, my friend, Vance, if I may, Keyshawn's talking about this increase in gas prices just since you guys took office. [6:33] It's almost been two years. At a certain point, it becomes your economy, not Joe Biden's economy. [6:38] Also, back in March, right here in Michigan, you said it was just a temporary blip in gas prices. [6:44] How long is temporary? [6:44] Well, look, I don't think that when this conflict is over, we are going to see gas prices come down. [6:52] But it takes two to tango. [6:54] And what's happening right now in the Middle East is that you have these terrorists who are shooting at all these ships. [7:01] They're blowing up the ships. They're blowing up world energy markets in the process. [7:05] And what we've tried to do, we've actually gotten more oil and gas out of the Middle East than we've had in a very long time. [7:11] That's because, frankly, our troops are doing incredibly brave work and we're the only people in the world that could actually do it. [7:17] And I guess that, Keyshawn, what I would argue to you is, yes, I'm very aware. [7:23] And look, you know, you probably know my story. [7:25] I grew up in a working class family. [7:27] When gas prices were high, I know that it made my grandmother suffer. [7:31] And I'm sure that you're struggling with it in a variety of ways. [7:34] But what I would say is, is what is Abdul El-Sayed saying about it and what is Mike Rogers saying about it? [7:40] And what are their actual ideas to fix the problem? [7:42] And what I'd say is we drew down way too much oil and gas capacity and we drew down way too much refining capacity. [7:50] We are bringing that stuff online, but it does take a little bit of time. [7:54] Now, I see what Abdul El-Sayed says about the war in Iran. [7:56] I see he criticizing decisions that the president has made, the military has made. [8:00] But fundamentally, we are where we are. [8:03] And you have to, in my view, I'd like to know what is Abdul El-Sayed's solution for the problem that we have right now? [8:10] It's easy to criticize something that happened seven months ago. [8:13] And the reason why I think Mike Rogers is going to make a great senator is because he's fundamentally a problem solver. [8:18] By the way, he's one of the point I want to make on this, Tony, is he's been remarkably independent about this. [8:23] It's not easy for a Republican who's running for Senate in Michigan to say, for example, we got to bring this conflict to a close. [8:29] He has done that, shown a willingness, I think, to stand against his own party on that. [8:33] So I think Mike is a courageous guy. [8:34] But most importantly, he's a problem solver. [8:37] And there's a lot that we are doing right now to work against those rising energy prices. [8:42] It's too high, but we're working on it. [8:45] You know, thank you, Keyshawn. [8:46] I appreciate it. [8:47] Vice President Vance, you didn't campaign, you and President Trump, on it's going to take time, Rome wasn't built in a day, you've got to be patient. [8:55] And there are voters here who are wondering when are the benefits of their vote in 2024 going to show up in their bank accounts. [9:01] And we do have one voter here like that. [9:04] It's Sandy Johnson. [9:05] She's from Woodhaven, Michigan. [9:06] Sandy, could you... [9:08] There she is. [9:09] Sandy, the floor is yours. [9:10] You've got a question. [9:11] I'm so nervous. [9:12] Don't be nervous. [9:13] It's all right. [9:13] Don't worry. [9:14] Sandy, I'm nervous, too. [9:16] You've just got to power through it. [9:19] Thank you for this opportunity. [9:21] I really appreciate it. [9:23] President Trump, when he was campaigning, he promised a golden age of economy if he got elected. [9:31] Ever since the president has been elected, our business, an amusement center, a restaurant, and bar, has struggled. [9:41] We're barely making ends meet. [9:43] Your administration has done many good, positive things that we're very grateful for, but none of it has really trickled down to our business. [9:57] What is being done to change the economy so that the normal American has money to spend on small businesses like ours? [10:07] We understand these things take time, but when can we expect to see a change? [10:14] Sure. [10:14] Sandy, can I ask what your business is? [10:16] I know, Keisha, you're a barber. [10:17] Is that right? [10:17] Yeah. [10:17] What's your business, Sandy? [10:18] It's a family entertainment center. [10:21] Okay. [10:22] So, first of all, there are some things that we've done that I'm very, very proud of. [10:27] No taxes on overtime. [10:28] No taxes on tips. [10:29] No taxes on people who are earning Social Security income, which my attitude is, you paid into this your entire life. [10:36] Why is it being taxed on the way out when it comes back into your pocket? [10:39] We've eliminated those taxes, and that, hopefully, is going to create more money. [10:43] I think it already has created more money. [10:45] This tax season, we have the best tax season in American history in terms of refunds for Americans, and that's going to put more money into your pockets. [10:51] But I take your point that this hasn't flown down to your business entirely, and I want to just be honest about this because, Tony, you made a point. [10:58] You said we didn't campaign on Rome, was it built in a day? [11:01] But I think, fundamentally, if you go back to the speeches that I was making and that President Trump was making, what broke the United States? [11:09] As much as I might like to criticize Joe Biden, but it was a bipartisan, multi-generational failure to underinvest in American workers, to underinvest in American manufacturing, to ship all of our good jobs overseas. [11:21] And, of course, if all the good jobs are overseas, then people here in Michigan can't spend money at your family business. [11:27] And what we have tried to do, and I think that we've already seen some significant signs of progress. [11:31] We've seen over a million jobs created since Donald Trump was president. [11:35] By the way, those jobs, unlike in the last administration, all of the net job growth went to American citizens rather than under the Biden administration went to the foreign-born. [11:45] You're seeing $11 trillion of new investment come into the United States of America. [11:52] Now, where you see that in the jobs numbers right now, and if you think about it, it kind of makes sense. [11:55] I was like, why are we seeing more in construction than manufacturing? [11:58] And somebody said, well, you've got to build the factories first. [12:01] That's the construction, and then the manufacturing jobs come online. [12:04] And in Michigan, GM, Ford, we've seen massive, Stellantis, massive new investments in Michigan auto factories. [12:12] And so what I really believe, and I grew up in a town where it's like every other year or maybe every other month, you would see some new factory close down. [12:22] You'd find out that some friend of yours lost their job or their dad lost their job, their mom lost their gainful employment. [12:28] And as you know, it's not just a wage. [12:30] It's also your sense of dignity and purpose. [12:32] Is that mistake happened over my entire life, closing down factories rather than reinvesting in America and American workers. [12:39] We are turning the tide on this. [12:41] And I think there are all these things I pointed to that show signs of progress. [12:44] But, Sandy, I'll be the first person to tell you that just as this country wasn't broken in one presidential term, it's going to take more than 18 months to fix things and turn them around. [12:52] So, Vice President Vance, there's a big difference between what you're saying right now and what President Trump says when he's out on the trail. [12:59] He says it's an A-plus economy. [13:01] You say it's going to take time. [13:02] You say you're frustrated at times. [13:04] Which is it? [13:05] Well, I think that what the president is saying is that we are seeing all of these massive new investments come into our country. [13:11] But he would be the first person to tell you that you've got to build the factories first before you can employ the workers working in those factories. [13:17] But to her point, it's not an A-plus economy if you hear stories like this. [13:21] Well, I think what we're doing is we're turning the ship around, Sandy. [13:24] That's what I would say. [13:26] And I really do believe that rather, you know, and frankly, it was Democrats and Republicans who pursued what I would call a sugar-high economy, where you just kick the can down the road. [13:34] You don't try to solve the fundamental issues. [13:36] To your point about what the president has said and what he's done, Sandy, I've sat in a lot of meetings with the president in the Oval Office. [13:42] And it's interesting where people will come to him and say, well, why are you doing this? [13:46] This is hard. [13:47] Just do the easy thing. [13:48] Just do the politically popular thing. [13:50] And sometimes he'll say because America was broken by politicians doing the easy thing and doing the politically popular thing. [13:57] Sometimes you've got to be willing to do the hard things and those things take time. [14:02] And by the way, Sandy, there are things that we look we need to do more and we can certainly do better. [14:07] One of the things I'm proudest of is that we at the Small Business Administration, I'm sure an agency that is very close to your heart, we've uncovered tens of billions of dollars of fraud so that we can make better small business loans to businesses like yours. [14:21] We want the money to go to you and not to the fraudster. [14:23] So there are things that we're doing and we've just got to keep working at it. [14:27] And I go back to Keyshawn's point here, and I'll just be very brief on this. [14:31] But when I hear the Democrats, what I hear very often is them complaining about problems, sometimes problems that they themselves created. [14:41] When a Democrat talks to me about high energy prices and that same Democrat supported the Green New Deal, I say, you are the reason why this happened and we are trying to fix it. [14:50] But I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that it's going to be fixed overnight. [14:53] We've made a lot of progress, but there's a lot more to do. [14:55] I'm glad you brought up fraud because while we hear from people like this and others around the country who are not feeling like they're getting richer themselves, they see others that they feel are getting richer. [15:05] And that includes people inside the Trump administration. [15:08] There was a Fox News poll that came out. [15:09] You did a great job. [15:11] Yeah, well done. [15:12] Bravo. [15:13] Just moments ago, before we came out, they found that corruption was the number one issue on voters' minds, even more than gas prices, that Keyshawn was talking about. [15:22] Another poll found that even half of Republicans believe that Donald Trump's personal business interests are affecting his decision as president. [15:32] And what that all comes back to, I think, is the question of, have you seen anything inside the White House when it comes to corruption that makes you squeamish? [15:40] You're asking, has Donald Trump's decision-making been influenced by his business interests? [15:45] No, I'm asking if you've seen anything. [15:47] I've never seen anything like that. [15:48] From anybody inside the White House. [15:50] I've never seen anything like that from the president. [15:51] Certainly, I mean, look, in Washington, D.C., people are constantly trying to get an edge. [15:56] It's something that I've complained about in Washington, D.C. for a long time. [15:59] You see K Street lobbyists who have tried to get meetings with me to advocate for a particular issue, and I won't take the meeting where the president won't take the meeting. [16:06] So, yeah, you certainly see evidence of corruption in Washington, D.C. [16:09] Do I see evidence of corruption from the president of the United States, from the administration that the administration is taking? [16:15] No, Tony, I just don't. [16:17] I think that there's a lot of allegation out there, and there's a lot of stuff where, frankly, I've read these articles, and I've read the superficial summary, and I say, oh, that doesn't sound right. [16:25] And then I go and do the investigation myself, and I say, wait a second, what they're saying the president did or what they're saying the president's son did, he didn't actually do. [16:34] So I think it's important in these things, let's not convict people in a court of law, because, look, two things I'll say about the United States is that, one, he hates it. [16:41] This is not really about the president. [16:43] He hates it. [16:44] No, it is. [16:45] It's a broader point. [16:45] Well, you're implicitly, I think, saying that there's a corruption problem, that if he's not involved, then I think you're accusing him of at least sanctioning it. [16:54] The voters are saying that. [16:56] Donald Trump hates when people make money off of him. [16:58] He hates the idea that somebody would come in and say, I'm going to give you a meeting with the president, and I'm going to get rich because I gave you access to the president. [17:07] The president would never tolerate that behavior, Tony. [17:11] Now. [17:11] Just one more question here, guys. [17:12] Go ahead. [17:13] Vice President Vance, I appreciate it. [17:15] The issue that voters see and that gets on their mind and that I hear when I'm out there is the president is making a lot of money off of crypto. [17:24] His own IRS has barred itself from looking into his tax returns. [17:28] You have this recent issue with the ambassador to Greece seeming to sell access to the White House. [17:33] That's why people are concerned. [17:36] And if there's nothing to hide, you say you've seen nothing. [17:40] First of all, somebody's selling access to the White House. [17:42] That's disgusting and despicable when they should suffer consequences. [17:45] What I'm saying is. [17:46] That's an isolated incident, though. [17:47] I want to make those judgments based on the facts and not based on a random news media report that I read. [17:52] Fair enough. [17:52] So when the facts are being investigated, let's say in January, if there's a Democratic-controlled Congress, will you comply and honor subpoenas? [18:02] Of course. [18:03] Of course I will. [18:04] Look, I mean, we follow the law. [18:06] I follow the law. [18:07] I'm a law-abiding guy outside of speeding, which luckily, thanks to the Secret Service and the generosity of the American people, I don't drive anymore. [18:14] Okay. [18:14] Probably good for the insurance rates in Southwestern Ohio. [18:17] But look, man, I think that I've seen these media reports and I have the same reaction I imagine a lot of people in this room have, which it makes me uneasy when I read about my public officials potentially getting wealthy off of my public trust. [18:31] And I'm telling you that while, yes, D.C. is a corrupt town, Tony, you know this as well as anybody, Donald Trump, I have not seen a single shred of evidence that he participates or sanctions in that corruption. [18:42] By the way, this guy was a billionaire before he ever got into politics. [18:46] He made a lot of money before he got into politics. [18:49] Would anybody look at what happened to him from 2016 to 2021? [18:52] They tried to throw him in jail for like 900 years and say that Donald Trump has personally enriched himself. [18:58] You can make all kinds of criticisms of our policies and decisions, but I don't see a single, I've not once seen evidence that Donald Trump has enriched himself. [19:06] You know, for tonight's town hall, we got more questions on the topic of data centers than anything else. [19:12] Sure. [19:13] And a lot of the questions came in from self-identified Trump voters. [19:17] I guess they're part of this 70 percent of Americans who do not want data centers built near their homes. [19:23] And we have one such voter tonight. [19:25] Lindy Valenzuela is here. [19:27] Lindy, the floor is yours. [19:29] Mr. Vice President, I live in Dowagiac, Michigan. [19:33] My family and I live directly across the street from a data center. [19:39] For years, we had been exposed to the constant noise from this company's daily operations. [19:45] Being outdoors for any amount of time became unbearable, resulting in our yard becoming a useless patch of grass that we could look at but not enjoy. [19:56] Opening our windows to let in a breeze became a luxury that we could no longer enjoy. [20:00] Even with our windows closed, the buzzing could be heard throughout our home, day and night, 24-7. [20:09] Our children's room faces the data center, and our two small boys had to sleep through this constant noise. [20:18] It was like having a vacuum in our living room. [20:21] It has taken a class action lawsuit, of which I am a plaintiff, for this nuisance to finally be addressed. [20:29] You claim to care about communities like mine. [20:32] What are you doing about this problem? [20:34] Well, it's a great question, and I want to assure you that we do very much care about communities like yours. [20:41] How old are your kids, can I ask? [20:42] Yeah, sure. [20:43] My youngest is three months, and my oldest is 21 months. [20:46] Oh, wow. [20:47] What's the birthday of your youngest? [20:49] His birthday is July 11th. [20:51] Oh, wow. [20:51] Okay, so ours is July 19th. [20:53] So that's when baby Alec was born, so we have a baby eight days apart. [20:56] That's amazing. [20:57] So I really do care about this, and I care about it not just because, you know, I can tell you, as I'm sure you could tell everybody else, that when you have a three-month-old who's exposed to constant noise, it can be a problem for everybody, especially mom's sleep. [21:11] And so very mindful of that. [21:13] And I guess the way that I think about it is data centers can be good. [21:18] They can also, as in your case, cause real problems. [21:21] And I think there's some basic principles that we've tried to apply in the Trump administration. [21:24] My guess is that that data center is a little older and it wasn't built in the last year or so. [21:30] So it's a bit complicated. [21:33] So the building has always been there, but the company came in and the data center took place around 2024. [21:43] Okay. [21:44] So I guess my point is I think that we have to make sure that these things are good community members. [21:51] And there are a couple of examples of this where I think it's worked very well for the local community. [21:55] So there's an example in Louisiana of a data center where the local community, the local teachers are going to be getting $50,000 bonuses per teacher because of the revenue that's been generated by data centers, which I'm sure is going to make the school system a lot better, make the teachers a lot happier and get them some of the money that they've earned. [22:12] At the same time, that data center is going to feed electricity back into the grid. [22:16] And your complaint is about noise. [22:18] One of the biggest complaints I've heard with data centers, even from friends of mine who are typically pro-innovation, pro-technology, is a data center went up and my power bill went up by $300. [22:28] And that's totally unacceptable. [22:31] And what we've done, it's called the ratepayer protection pledge, is that we've effectively required the data centers to say before they go into community, they're going to make sure that they're good community citizens. [22:42] They're going to be giving teachers bonuses rather than making it impossible for your three-month-old to sleep. [22:46] And I think that basic principle has to apply because there is a good that comes from data centers, too. [22:52] And what I mean is, you know, that whenever we use AI on our phone, like the actual work, the computation is actually being done at a data center, whether it's in Michigan or anywhere else across the country. [23:04] And we do know, and I've seen the intelligence reports, that our biggest competitor internationally, the People's Republic of China, they really, really want to beat us in this arms race of technology. [23:18] And so I think that so long as we follow a simple principle, that data centers have to be good citizens. [23:24] They have to not build in a way that's going to make it impossible for your kids to sleep. [23:27] They have to feed power back into the community. [23:30] They have to maybe, some of the economic benefits they're generating, they can't just go to a few tech billionaires. [23:34] It has to go to the community writ large. [23:36] And I think if we follow that principle, we can actually solve your problem, but also a lot of the problems that people have with data centers, too. [23:43] But we have to do it. [23:44] We can't just say data centers are going to go in everywhere. [23:47] I think that what we have to say is data centers can go in so long as local communities are okay with them, and they can have real benefits if they're done in the right way. [23:55] Thank you, Lindy. [23:55] We have a lot of topics to get to, but you mentioned tech billionaires. [23:58] And when you take a step back on the data center question, for a lot of people, it's about cultural and political power. [24:04] It's about those tech billionaires. [24:06] Of course. [24:07] Do you feel like tech billionaires have too much power over the country? [24:11] Oh, yes. [24:13] I mean, I've been saying that for 10 years. [24:14] And I say that as this person who actually knows the technology industry pretty well. [24:19] I worked in the technology industry for a little while. [24:22] Look, I think AI, there are a lot of people who focus on the risks and what are the benefits and what are the bad things. [24:30] And sometimes, you know, you'll see one of these AI company CEOs, and I always laugh at this because if you think about it, it's really absurd. [24:37] For a tech CEO to come out and say, we have built this extremely dangerous product. [24:43] It's terrible, and it's going to do all these terrible things. [24:46] And what we need now is the government's help. [24:48] And my response to that is, no, no, no, no. [24:50] If you've built a dangerous product and you know you are building a dangerous product, that's on you. [24:55] It's not up to the government or your fellow citizens to come and bail you out. [24:59] Build safe products. [25:00] And one of the principles that we followed in the Trump administration, and we have been, to be clear, we've been pro-innovation. [25:05] We want people to build in the United States of America. [25:08] But if you're a technology company, you have responsibility for what you build. [25:12] So if it creates great benefits and it's a great product, wonderful, everybody benefits. [25:17] However, if it creates real problems, then you have liability for the problems your product creates. [25:22] And we think that's the right approach to take to this particular thing. [25:25] Let's move on to immigration. [25:25] Can I just make one more point about this? [25:29] Tony, the way I worry most about the tech industry, because you saw this back in 2020, [25:35] who here knows somebody who said something on Facebook or on YouTube and was immediately banned from their social media account [25:44] because they said something that turned out to be totally true that everybody agreed on two years later? [25:49] My biggest concern is that we have to be clear that the American people and the First Amendment drives what we're allowed to say in our country. [25:56] not tech leaders. [25:57] And that's one of the ways in which the president, I think, has been a leader on this, [26:00] not just the past couple of years, but the past 10 years, [26:03] is the First Amendment determines what we're allowed to say in the United States of America, not some billionaire. [26:09] All right, Vice President Vance. [26:10] I want to move on to immigration, another topic that stirs passionate opinion in this country. [26:14] And we have a voter here tonight, Nancy Sylvester, sister Nancy Sylvester, [26:18] from Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Congregation in Monroe. [26:23] She's got a question for you. [26:24] Sister Nancy? [26:25] Right here. [26:26] Thank you. [26:26] Mr. Vice President, we have sisters who minister at the southern border in the United States, [26:32] as well as here around Detroit. [26:34] And they are constantly seeing families who are affected by our immigration policies. [26:39] They see the trauma of children who are separated from their parents, sometimes on a moment's notice. [26:44] They go to school and they come back and they're not there, and they have to sort of fend for themselves. [26:49] And so the sisters see the kind of effect, the fear and violence of the ICE behavior. [26:56] We know the complexity of this issue, but what really pains us is how it's being implemented in such ways. [27:03] And so I'm going to sort of know that both of us share the same faith. [27:07] We may not always agree, because I understand you don't always even agree with our Pope sometimes. [27:12] And so I want to, though, wonder what would you say, how would you justify to people of faith, [27:19] especially those of us who try to follow the gospel, how the behavior of the ICE men and women [27:25] can constantly be justified in terms of the kind of values we want to live by? [27:32] And also, what policies would you advocate to try to promote more compassionate [27:37] and respective behavior toward our immigrant sisters and brothers? [27:42] Sure. [27:43] Well, Sister Nancy, I appreciate you, and hopefully I'll be in your prayers, as you'll certainly be in mine. [27:48] And on the subject of the Pope, just because you brought him up, he just had a lung cancer diagnosis. [27:53] But as I understand, his health is in a good place. [27:55] So I hope all Christians and people of faith will join me in praying for the Pope, [27:59] because I think he's a good man, and obviously the first American Pope, which is something we're very, very proud of. [28:05] So let me just say, one, we're trying to strike the right balance. [28:11] And when you have a country where approximately 25 million illegal aliens have come in over the past 30 or so years, [28:18] many of them completely unchecked and unvetted, [28:21] we're trying to strike a balance between how do we do law enforcement, [28:24] but how do we also do it humanely, [28:26] and how do we not do so little law enforcement that you actually empower some of the worst people in the world? [28:30] Are you not striking that balance? [28:32] Well, I think that it is constantly a work in progress, Tony. [28:36] When you're talking about millions and millions of people [28:38] and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers, [28:40] you know, we've even just in the past year or so increased training protocols. [28:44] Because I do think the men and women of ICE, by the way, [28:47] it's like the men and women of law enforcement. [28:49] Most of them are amazing people who are patriots, [28:52] and they want to do a good job protecting their country. [28:54] Sometimes you have some people who make mistakes. [28:56] Sometimes you have some people who really screw up. [28:58] And obviously, we have a responsibility to prosecute, investigate when people do screw up. [29:03] What are some of those times? [29:06] I think it's important. [29:07] She's seen the things that we've all seen online, [29:09] these incidents that come up. [29:11] A lot of times people talk about them before they're investigated. [29:13] You just mentioned times where there have been mistakes and there have been investigations, [29:17] but I actually haven't heard you talk about those. [29:20] What comes to mind for you as the biggest mistakes in this ICE policy and rollout? [29:25] There are a number of cases where we've investigated and either provided further training [29:30] or sometimes even provided disciplinary situations within ICE. [29:34] We don't always advertise that stuff, as you know, Tony, [29:36] because we believe that people have to be judged in a court of law [29:40] and through a normal investigatory process. [29:42] We don't jump in and try to accuse people just, again, [29:45] because of what we've seen in a news media article. [29:47] But I think Sister Nancy's point, because I'm sure, Sister, that you're, [29:51] the people working with you, I'm sure they're doing amazing ministry work, [29:54] and I'm very grateful for it. [29:56] What I would say is that what we saw over the last five years, [30:01] before we came in, I mean, is we have to talk about the fact that [30:05] drug cartels were sex trafficking thousands and thousands of children, [30:10] thousands and thousands of girls who were sold into sex slavery. [30:12] Of course, the fentanyl trade, which killed a lot of people in Michigan. [30:15] So I do think, despite what some people say in the press, [30:19] I promise you that we wake up every day and we try to balance law enforcement [30:23] with humane law enforcement. [30:25] And of course, when you're dealing with hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officials, [30:29] you're never going to get everything perfect. [30:31] But I think the men and women of ICE, by and large, have done a good job. [30:36] And where there are people who have screwed up, [30:38] of course, they should suffer consequences. [30:39] So just taking a step back. [30:41] Go ahead, Sister Nancy. [30:41] I want, I'm interested in how, from your very core of your faith, [30:48] how would you want to be, how do you want to treat immigrants? [30:51] Because in many cases, we get slammed. [30:55] They all are called terrorists sometimes by people. [30:58] They are misaligned. [30:59] How does, what would you want? [31:01] How would you want to do it? [31:02] Sister Nancy, actually, our next question is on that same point. [31:06] So I want to make this, you've got Sister Nancy's question there, [31:09] how you treat immigrants, the words that you use. [31:12] There's another voter here who's concerned that your immigration policy has been swept up into this broader anti-immigrant sentiment. [31:20] Niv Agarom is here with a question. [31:22] Hey, my name is Niv. [31:24] My family and I immigrated here about 20 years ago, and I became a citizen about five years ago. [31:30] So you were the first person I voted for, actually. [31:33] Oh, wow. [31:33] Congratulations and welcome. [31:35] One reason, because of the reasons you just mentioned, I was concerned about border safety, [31:41] as in the trafficking and the drugs, not because I think immigrants actually take away jobs from Americans. [31:47] But after seeing ICE behave like military police, and you recently call H-1 visa workers foreign indentured servants, [31:57] I think Americans are anything but safe. [31:59] So I'm just curious, why are you scapegoating immigrants for the issues you're supposed to be solving as a vice president? [32:09] So, Niv, first of all, I appreciate the question. [32:11] And I would say, and to the extent that my rhetoric has been imperfect here, that's on me. [32:18] But what I said about certain visa holders, certain H-1B visas, not the entire category, [32:23] is here's what happens with an H-1B. [32:24] You may know a lot about this, but other people may not, is when they come in on an H-1B, [32:29] they're very often coming in, and the company is certifying that they're doing a job that they can't find an alternative American labor applicant for. [32:38] And importantly, their visa is their only lifeline to the United States of America. [32:43] So when I say an indentured servant, that's not a criticism of the H-1B visa holder. [32:47] That's a criticism of a company who brings a person in, who sometimes will literally lay off an American worker, [32:54] bring somebody else in, and knows that person. [32:56] If they complain, if they get too uppity at work, if they have a disagreement with their boss, [33:01] they couldn't just lose their job, which is what could happen to any American citizen. [33:05] Could happen to me in a couple years. [33:07] It's what, fundamentally, they can be shipped back to their country of origin. [33:11] And I think that gives employers way too much power. [33:14] That's not a criticism. [33:15] Again, maybe my rhetoric has been imperfect here, but of the person holding the visa, [33:20] it's a criticism of the visa system that allows people to be treated effectively as indentured servants [33:25] that can be shipped back to their country of origin. [33:28] Now, to your other question about the demonization of immigrants. [33:32] You know where my family comes from, and I love my mother-in-law and father-in-law who immigrated from South India, [33:40] and obviously their daughter, born in the United States of America, is now the second lady, [33:44] and I'm very proud of her, and I love her very much. [33:47] But I think that we can have a respect and a welcome to people who want to contribute to the United States of America, [33:53] I'm sure as you do, as certainly my wife and her family does, [33:56] but also recognize that if you're a major corporation, let's say you're a trillion-dollar company, [34:02] and you bring in somebody, an accountant, and you say that you cannot hire an accountant from your existing labor pool, [34:11] and when you're doing that, you fire an accountant that was already on the payroll, that's not fairness. [34:16] It's not good for the immigrant, and it's not good for the American worker, [34:19] and I do think that we can strike that balance in the right way. [34:21] I think that our immigration system has to balance the fact that, obviously, we have duties of charity to people, [34:29] people who want to come to the United States of America and build a better life, who can contribute to that. [34:32] They're not talking about the system or the policy. [34:34] They're talking about the rhetoric, the language, what they see as dehumanization of immigrants. [34:39] Sure, and Tony, I will tell you that nobody's perfect, certainly not me, [34:45] but my goal here is not to dehumanize any immigrant. [34:49] In fact, I love a number of immigrants. [34:51] My goal here is to make it so that we can have a country with some baseline of social cohesion and sense of community, [35:00] because what happens when too many people come to the United States, [35:04] even if they're very good people, Sister Nancy, [35:06] when too many people come to the United States too quickly, it changes the country in very profound ways. [35:12] I have neighbors, I have friends of mine, who literally don't know a single person in their neighborhood who speaks the language they do. [35:21] Now, that's not a criticism of anybody, but I don't think it's unreasonable for an American citizen to want to share their community with people they have something in common with, [35:30] and I think our immigration system has to build that. [35:33] It has to obviously be charitable to people, it has to welcome people who are going to contribute to the country, [35:38] but it also has to not do it so quickly that we fundamentally transform the country in a bad way. [35:43] Mr. Vice President, the war in Iran has gone on much longer than I think a lot of people expected, [35:49] certainly people in the administration. [35:51] I have really just one big question on Iran. [35:55] Why haven't we won decisively? [35:56] Well, Tony, I would say in some ways we have won decisively, but the Iranians, the enemy gets a vote here, and they have responded in certain ways. [36:05] And so to step back a little bit, why did the President of the United States do this? [36:08] The President of the United States did this because he believes it is very important, and I think he's right, [36:13] I think most people here would agree, even if they don't agree with all the particulars of the policy, [36:17] to say Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, cannot have a nuclear weapon. [36:21] That would be a massive thing that they could threaten. [36:24] That's also potentially something they could use to kill millions of innocent civilians. [36:28] So Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. [36:30] Now, have we destroyed the Iranian nuclear program? [36:32] The answer is yes. [36:34] So what are we doing now? [36:35] There are two things that we're trying to accomplish. [36:36] Number one, ensure the Iranians make a long-term but also verifiable commitment that they're not going to rebuild. [36:42] You have to wonder, not over the administration of Donald Trump because this stuff, excuse me, takes a while, [36:47] but five years from now, could the Iranians rebuild that nuclear arsenal? [36:51] Could they try to rebuild that enrichment capacity? [36:53] So that's number one. [36:54] But then number two is when we destroy their nuclear program, the Iranians responded by terrorizing commercial shipping. [37:01] And that's, of course, the big reason why, or one of the big reasons, I should say, why energy prices have gone up. [37:06] And so what we have to do is simultaneously make sure that we get the final firm commitment from the Iranians, [37:13] that they're not going to rebuild their nuclear program. [37:15] But we also have to ensure that we don't have a worldwide energy crisis. [37:18] And again, I will be the first to tell you, gas prices are too high. [37:23] They would be three times as high if it weren't for the United States Navy keeping oil and gas moving out of the Strait of Hormuz. [37:30] So if we just give up, and we walk away and say, oh, we destroyed their nuclear program, who cares? [37:36] Energy prices are going to go way up. [37:38] And that's something the President of the United States, he wants American consumers to see that relief. [37:42] You have seen gas prices, not as low as they should be, but come down from their highest point of the conflict. [37:49] And that's something we have to keep working on. [37:51] Vice President Vance, gas prices are one cost of this war. [37:54] They're also human costs as well. [37:56] And with us in the audience tonight is Joey Amor, whose wife, a U.S. soldier, Master Sergeant Nicole Amor, [38:02] was killed in March in an Iranian airstrike. [38:06] Joey, the floor is yours. [38:07] God bless you, Joey, and thank you for your service. [38:09] Thank you, sir. [38:10] Mr. Vice President, my wife, Master Sergeant Nicole Amor, gave her life on March 1st, 2026. [38:18] I am damn proud of my wife. [38:20] As you should be. [38:21] And the five soldiers that stood next to her that died alongside with her. [38:26] Excuse me. [38:31] Take your time, man. [38:32] Take your time. [38:33] They raised their right hand, and they gave an oath. [38:36] They understood what they were doing. [38:38] They understood the sacrifice that they were potentially giving. [38:41] You understand that oath. [38:44] I understand that oath. [38:45] There are now six families living in a nightmare. [38:49] It is a hard price to pay. [38:59] Though the Iranian drone was the weapon that killed my wife, there were a lot of mistakes [39:05] and a lot of fundamental failures that led up to that. [39:10] I believe CBS has reported on that. [39:13] My wife has told me things before she passed. [39:16] There are other soldiers that know things that are being quiet about certain aspects of this. [39:21] There is a failure in the leadership, and I want to know how this administration is going to start holding those leaders accountable for the actions and the deaths of the soldiers that we honor and that we love. [39:37] So, Joey, first of all, look, I owe and the whole country owes your family a debt of gratitude that is quite literally impossible to repay. [39:50] I won't pretend that anything that I say is going to make it better or easier, but I hope it helps a little bit to know that your wife was a precious human being who served her country honorably, and I'm never going to forget about her. [40:04] I'm never going to forget this conversation, and I want to continue this conversation offline because that raises the second point. [40:11] When you talk about failures that we were implicated, the administration, the Department of War, whoever you want to say, was implicated in, I want to know about that stuff. [40:21] Because if there were failures, and I don't doubt that there were, literally the first time I've heard of this is this conversation, and I want to fix that stuff. [40:30] I do not want this stuff to happen. [40:33] Now, I will say, Joey, we have tried to learn because warfare has changed. [40:38] Drones are cheap. [40:39] They're very deadly. [40:40] They're easy to manufacture, and we have changed a lot of our tactics to try to suppress that drone fire, to try to protect our troops, to make it so that more people don't have to pay the ultimate sacrifice. [40:52] But I want to understand what we can do better and what those soldiers are seeing, because part of the problem of this job, this job is an amazing honor, but you live in a bit of a bubble. [41:03] And sometimes information doesn't filter up to me. [41:06] This is an opportunity for it to filter right directly to me, and I promise you, I will take every single failure extremely seriously, and we'll work on it. [41:15] And I promise you that one of the ways that I'm going to show gratitude to your wife is by taking this seriously and trying to figure out what exactly happened and what exactly we can do better. [41:25] Now, it may be that some of the things that you're talking about are things where our tactics have already improved. [41:30] I know that there's some issues with, for example, just to get into the nitty gritty a little bit, there were issues with how, where troops were located that we realized was a huge mistake and that we could do better on, and we have changed that. [41:43] Now, I'm not going to get into the details because, God forbid, I don't want the Iranians to learn something else where they're going to use to target somebody else's wife or somebody else's mother. [41:51] But, man, I promise you, this is not something I'm going to forget, and I want to talk to those soldiers, and I want to talk to you to better understand what we can do. [42:00] It sounds like he's resolved to look into this for you. [42:05] Does his answer satisfy you for the purpose of this conversation and you'll continue it offline, or do you want it? [42:12] You're going to continue talking. [42:13] I promise you I'll work on it. [42:15] Okay. [42:16] God bless you, Mr. Vice President. [42:18] Something that happened right here in the state of Michigan. [42:20] It was back in March when a terrorist inspired by Hezbollah drove a pickup truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, not far from where we're sitting. [42:30] There were hundreds of schoolchildren inside at the time. [42:34] And tonight in the audience is a father of some of those children, Eddie Rubin. [42:38] Eddie, the floor is yours. [42:40] First off, apologize. [42:41] You came hoping for Buckeyes and Republicans. [42:44] I'm a Wolverine and a Democrat, but appreciate you being here. [42:48] My five-year-old daughter and my three-year-old son survived the terrorist attack at their preschool housed in our synagogue on March 12th, just a few miles away from here. [43:02] I am very concerned about the rise in anti-Semitism in this country. [43:08] As a lifelong Democrat, I've traveled to D.C. [43:11] I've pushed back against my own party and will have trouble and not the ability to feel comfortable voting for our Democratic candidate in this election cycle. [43:21] But I'm not here to find out what he may or may not be doing. [43:26] I want to know what you will commit to doing about this problem with the right. [43:32] Will you publicly confront influential people like Tucker Carlson in your own coalition who continue to spread anti-Semitic rhetoric that has put a target on my children's back? [43:44] So, Eddie, first of all, to be clear, your five- and three-year-old are okay? [43:50] Okay is a relative term. [43:52] Are they here with us? [43:53] Yes, absolutely. [43:53] Thank you. [43:55] My daughter still allowed bang, dropped to the floor in coverage protection and cry, allowed noises and tries to understand what she has experienced. [44:06] Not okay from that perspective. [44:09] And I'm very, very sorry about that. [44:11] And I will say I've met with the leadership of the temple there and I've met with some of the security guards who frankly prevented what would have been one of the worst terrorist attacks in the history of the United States of America, but for their bravery. [44:22] And God bless them and it's amazing. [44:24] If you don't know anything about this story, this guy would have killed, I think, dozens of children, possibly worse, were it not for a very brave security guard. [44:33] And so thank God for him and thank God for you and your family that you're okay. [44:36] And I'll say, here's what I'll say, I condemn anti-Semitism, I condemn Jew hatred, I condemn anybody who would judge another human being based on who their mother or father were, what their ethnicity was, what their religion is. [44:51] And I think that leadership, that fundamental leadership principle has to start there, that we can condemn this unequivocally. [44:59] I also think that we have to remember, we got to show some empathy for our fellow citizens. [45:05] And I think you in particular, you know, I cannot imagine as a father, I've got kids that are not that different ages from you. [45:11] I cannot imagine what you've been dealing with, what you dealt with on that day. [45:15] And I'd ask all of our fellow Americans, whatever your background is, try to understand the perspective of a father getting that phone call and finding out, oh my God, I don't know if my little babies are okay. [45:25] And I think if we have that empathy and we combine that with the simple principle that we reject ethnic hatred, we reject Jew hatred, I think that is a first start. [45:35] But it's not hardly enough. [45:38] You know, if you look historically, ethnic hatred has ebbed and flowed, not just in this country, but all over the world. [45:44] In fact, I think what makes America unique is not that we've ever had racism in America. [45:48] I think what makes us unique is that America's racial groups have gotten along, ethnic groups, religious groups have gotten along a lot better here than they have in other places in the world. [45:56] I'm not saying we're perfect because we're not, but we do it a lot better. [46:00] And I think that one of the things that we have to do is recognize that there are people out there who are, whether they're sick or evil or deranged or however you want to put it, [46:10] they are targeting innocent schoolchildren and we have to stop it. [46:14] And my point about empathy, I want to make one other point because I think this is a real difference. [46:18] And I hate to be partisan here, but I think it's a real difference. [46:21] You're a Michigan voter, I assume. [46:23] A real difference between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed. [46:26] Because if, God forbid, and we, of course, I know you most of all pray this would never happen, [46:31] But if there was a terrorist attack or an attempted terrorist attack at an Islamic community center, do you know what Mike Rogers would do? [46:39] He'd be the first person there praying with the people affected and condemning that violence. [46:44] But when that happened to your community and your family, what did Abdul El-Sayed do? [46:49] He went around and said, hurt people, hurt people. [46:53] Showing empathy, not with you and your family, which is where I think that we got to show empathy, [46:57] but showing empathy to a guy who nearly killed hundreds of innocent children. [47:03] So, look, there are people in our coalition who certainly say terrible things, things I disagree with, anti-Semitic things. [47:10] You know, there's this podcaster who obsessively goes after me and my family. [47:15] And I joke with my Jewish friends, he also obsessively goes after Jews, so we're in good company. [47:19] Or I guess, since you're a Democrat, you might say you're in bad company. [47:21] But regardless, we're in the same boat. [47:24] I think we had to condemn this stuff, we had to call it out. [47:26] And I really believe, I'm a big believer in free speech, because I think sunlight is the best disinfectant. [47:32] This is the final point I'll make. [47:33] I think that those people are always going to lose the argument. [47:36] And, you know, I know you're Jewish. [47:38] I'm a devout Christian. [47:39] I think the antidote to ethnic hatred is fundamentally the message that we are all made in the image of God. [47:46] And I try to live that in my life, and I certainly try to live that principle as a public official. [47:50] Vice President Vance, you've mentioned a couple times tonight the importance of open conversation, free speech, free expression. [47:56] But there are some parents who have kids, some of them young voters, some of them voted for the Trump administration in 2024. [48:04] And they're worried about how some parts of the online right are affecting their kids. [48:10] And I have one such voter here, Matthew Burford. [48:13] He's a minister and a professor and a father of two young kids. [48:16] Matthew, the floor is yours. [48:18] Hey, I teach college students in the South. [48:21] Many of them are white men, and I'm the father of two Gen Z children. [48:25] Many feel unheard and singled out. [48:29] I also hear bigoted rhetoric and sweeping judgments about whole groups. [48:34] At odds with what I think America's founding ideal of equal dignity and equal value. [48:40] So, Mr. Vice President, how do you take these young men's frustrations seriously without ignoring the harmful rhetoric just to keep them in our coalition? [48:50] Well, first of all, I don't think you can ignore the harmful rhetoric. [48:53] You've got to disagree with it. [48:54] What I don't think is that censorship is the answer to these problems. [48:58] I think that whenever you try to silence people rather than prove them wrong, you actually give power to these ideas. [49:03] When you censor ideas, you can actually give them more power than they had when you disagree with them and beating them on the field of free exchange. [49:13] You know, I think that there is something very dark going on in the Internet. [49:18] And the one thing I do try to remind people is sort of an optimistic take on this is that we know, and I've seen some of the intelligence reports, [49:25] we know that a lot of the most virulent racism and anti-Semitism that exists online, a lot of it's actually coming from foreign paid actors. [49:33] So, is what you're seeing real? Absolutely. [49:37] Is it out there? Absolutely. [49:38] But I would resist the view that most of our fellow citizens, if you're a white guy, most white guys have no problem with people based on their skin color. [49:47] If you're a black guy working at a barbershop, like Keyshawn, you're not attacking people based on their skin color. [49:53] Most of our fellow citizens are fundamentally decent people, and I think we have to lean into that decency. [49:57] But let me, this is a very important point because, look, I thought a lot about this, okay? [50:03] And, you know, I was talking with this about, with my wife probably five, six years ago before I ever got into politics. [50:10] And, you know, we heard somebody say something about this person is a mediocre white man, [50:17] as a criticism of ideas that they had seen, or this guy has a white privilege, so you can ignore what they're saying. [50:22] I do think, and I'm not justifying it, but I do think that one of the ways that we're making a huge mistake, [50:30] and we have made a huge mistake in this country, is by re-allowing the demonization of people with skin color. [50:38] And when you demonize a guy because he's white, it's just as evil as when you demonize a guy because he's black. [50:43] And most of the people, by the way, most of the white guys who hear somebody say, you know, [50:48] you have white privilege so we can ignore what you're saying, [50:51] or use white man as an insult as opposed to just a descriptor, [50:55] when you do that, most people are going to get a little annoyed. [50:58] They're going to go on living their lives. [50:59] But some people will get radicalized into some very dangerous ideas, [51:03] and I think that we have to confront both sides of this. [51:06] The very dark rhetoric we see from certain corners of the right, [51:08] but also the way in which, in the last administration in particular, explicit racial discrimination was normalized. [51:16] And it's not shocking that a lot of people reacted to it in the wrong way. [51:18] We can reject the reaction, but we also have to understand, [51:21] it is inevitable when you demonize people that they respond in nonproductive ways. [51:26] Mr. Vice President, you mentioned a couple minutes ago that in a couple years you might be out of a job. [51:32] That, even in the structure of the sentence, suggests that you'd be running for a continued job. [51:36] Not necessarily. [51:37] No? So there's a chance. Okay, so let's go right there. [51:40] Is there a chance you don't run for president in 2028? [51:43] Of course there's a chance. [51:44] Yeah, man, we've got four little kids. [51:47] My wife has never loved politics. [51:49] She loves public service. [51:50] I think, you know, you can do a lot of good in this job, [51:52] and I've tried to do as much good as possible. [51:55] But I really, people ask me this question all the time, [51:58] and I think they assume, because I'm a politician, [51:59] of course she's going to run for president in 2028. [52:01] The way that I think about life, big life decisions, [52:04] my wife will tell you this, is I'm a procrastinator. [52:06] I hate thinking about it. [52:08] And what will happen is that, first of all, [52:10] after all of these fine people elect Mike Rogers, [52:13] United States Senator for the state of Michigan, [52:15] what's going to happen is then I'll have to think about it. [52:18] And then I will actually have to make a decision. [52:20] But, you know, anything could happen, man. [52:23] Wow, anything could happen. [52:24] I mean, I do find it hard to believe that you haven't begun to make some plans, [52:27] even as a procrastinator. [52:28] You've got the Naval Observatory, 130 acres or whatever it is. [52:32] You've got that back porch. [52:33] You've talked about having a beer with Usha at the end of the day. [52:36] Yep. [52:37] This is the time of the year when families talk about plans for next summer. [52:41] Are you going to Disney? [52:42] Are you going to book this vacation place? [52:44] Are you going to run for president? [52:44] Is your brother going to visit? [52:46] Are you running for president? [52:47] Every husband in the room here knows you're definitely talking about it. [52:51] We're really not, though. [52:52] We're really not. [52:53] It's, it's what, whenever it comes up, it's always let's figure it out after the midterms. [53:00] And that's what we're trying to do, man. [53:01] Elect as many good candidates as possible. [53:03] There are some people I think are really good people running. [53:05] I mean, look, not talking about 28, but 26. [53:09] The reason to vote for Mike Rogers, it's not because you're going to agree with him on every issue [53:13] because nobody will. [53:14] I know him. [53:15] He's a good dude. [53:17] And I think that what I've seen in Washington is that the people who thrive [53:21] and the people who actually do a good job for their people are people of character. [53:25] Mike Rogers is a guy of character, so I hope you guys vote for him. [53:28] Not you. [53:29] I guess you're not a Michigander. [53:30] No, I live in the state of New York. [53:32] Okay. [53:32] The Republic of Brooklyn. [53:35] Vice President J.D. Vance, thank you very much. [53:37] The Socialist Republic of Brooklyn. [53:39] No comment. [53:40] Thank you all. [53:43] Thank you to our questioners. [53:45] Thank you to our audience. [53:46] Thank you to the Vice President. [53:47] You can watch the Town Hall on CBSNews.com and also on our YouTube page. [53:51] And CBS News will have many more conversations on the things that matter, [53:55] topics that are important to Americans across the political divide. [53:58] So please stay tuned. [53:59] I'm Tony DeCoppo for CBS News. [54:02] Good night.