JD Vance: Don't believe everything you read...

[0:00] Today, a wide-ranging, exclusive, candid conversation with Vice President J.D. Vance. [0:06] How he found his way back to faith through family, a journey he's recounting in a new book. [0:11] Plus, his fraud crackdown in Minnesota and across the country, and what he makes of Governor Tim [0:17] Waltz trying to take a victory lap over yesterday's FBI raids at nearly two dozen businesses. [0:23] And this, in his first interview since the White House Correspondents Association dinner shooting, [0:28] what he was thinking at this exact moment when Secret Service whisked him away and out of danger. [0:35] That's where we begin. Here is the first part of my exclusive interview with Vice President J.D. Vance. [0:41] Saturday night, Mr. Vice President, White House Correspondents Dinner. In all transparency, [0:46] you and I spoke shortly before this interview, and I did confirm with you that this was the first time [0:50] something like this, for you, had ever been experienced, had to be rushed off of the dais [0:55] there at the front of the stage. Tell me a little bit about Saturday night. What was your [1:00] experience? Yeah, you know, I think, Will, honestly, it was tougher for my wife, who was at home with the [1:08] kids and started hearing things through, you know, text messages and social media, than it was for me. [1:14] I really didn't know what was going on. Just to give you my perspective, I'm sitting up there on [1:19] the dais with some journalists and obviously with the President of the United States a few seats to my [1:24] right, and there's a lot of commotion. You kind of hear some loud noises. I had no idea what it was. [1:30] And before I had any idea what was going on, I started seeing people sort of duck under their [1:34] tables or respond to what was going on far in the back of the ballroom. And then an agent comes [1:40] and whispers in my ear, basically says, sir, we have to leave. And you can kind of, you see the [1:45] video, Will, where the agent sort of lifts me to my feet. And then I walk off stage and then go to [1:51] my hold room and kind of wait and see what's going on. So, you know, the first thing that happened [1:56] that actually freaked me out a little bit, Will, is that we heard that an agent had been shot. [2:00] And in the fog of war, I thought, you know, oh, my God, this guy's actually seriously injured or [2:05] maybe worse. And then we found out later, of course, that he was uninjured or not seriously injured. [2:10] So as you learn this information, the thing that I really gained an appreciation for, Will, is [2:15] what an amazing job the agents of the Secret Service do. You saw they went right to me. They went [2:20] right to the President of the United States. They put their lives in harm's way. And if I could just say, [2:25] Will, you know, I've had a Secret Service detail for all of two years. I wouldn't say that I'm used [2:31] to it. And there's an interesting way where you just kind of get used to it, right? They're the [2:34] people who drive you to the White House or, you know, they're the people who hang out with your [2:38] kids when your kids are running around outside. And they kind of fade into the background of your [2:45] life a little bit. And it's easy to forget that the reason they're there is for nights like what [2:50] happens Saturday night. So I just feel very grateful to them and very grateful for what they do. [2:55] And frankly, grateful to God that that agent who was shot was not seriously hurt. It could have [3:00] been a lot worse, but the law enforcement did a great job, Will, and we should all be grateful for [3:04] that. As are we. You mentioned to me that it was the first time you had to be rushed off stage. [3:10] We're grateful that that was a successful night in terms of the Secret Service and your protection, [3:16] the President's protection. And we hope it's the last time that you ever have to be rushed off of a [3:20] stage like that. Now, I just think it would take an incredible amount of self-imposed ignorance [3:26] to not look around and see the way that our political environment is talking. [3:31] And if I'll editorialize, it is largely coming, not exclusively, but largely coming from [3:36] one direction. Certainly the bullets seem to be flying from one direction. You're now sort of [3:43] in the direction of the fire. You're in the direction of the words and unfortunately as [3:47] well, the bullets. What would you say about everything, Mr. Rice, from comedians who seem [3:53] to make some of this rhetoric mainstream to, to fringe elements now that have now gone mainstream [4:01] within the left? What would you say about the way we're hearing rhetoric and conversation in [4:06] politics? Well, I think you said it well, Will. I can't improve upon it, which is that political [4:14] violence right now is coming not exclusively, but largely from one side of the aisle. The [4:20] President has now faced three serious attempts on his life in just the past year and a half. Of [4:25] course, Butler, Pennsylvania. There was a situation at Mar-a-Lago that the media didn't really cover. [4:30] And then, of course, there was the White House Correspondence Association dinner. So I think really [4:35] it's incumbent upon everybody, but particularly to those who are driving some of the narratives [4:40] that Donald Trump, you know, that Donald Trump has somehow invited this violence upon himself, [4:46] that killing your political opponents is somehow justified. If you're engaged in that kind of [4:51] rhetoric, you need to check yourself. You need to look yourself in the mirror and say that political [4:55] disagreement is fine, but inviting violence upon your political opponents makes you part of the [5:01] problem. Of course, you know, our mutual friend, Charlie Kirk, was gunned down not even a year ago. [5:07] And immediately after that happened, you saw some mainstream voices on the left pivot, not to the [5:13] fact that Charlie was a good husband and father, not to the fact that he was going and taking his [5:18] message to campuses and talking to people, both those who agreed with him, but also those who disagreed [5:24] with him. You saw people come out and say that somehow it was justified or that somehow Charlie Kirk [5:31] believed this bad thing that you're not supposed to believe, which is implicitly justifying the [5:35] person who murdered him. Why can't we all just say disagree, disagree aggressively? That's part of [5:42] the beauty of the American system if you've got to, but we don't accept political violence in our [5:48] system. And if you're part of the left wing in this country, you've got to look yourself in the mirror [5:53] and say, why is it that so many of the people who are firing guns at their political opponents [5:58] agree with my perspective and listen to the same sources of information that I listened to? [6:04] Maybe that suggests the left has got to tone down the rhetoric a little bit. I certainly hope they [6:09] do because look, I love the president. Obviously, I love my family. We don't want this violence in [6:14] our country. But the last thing I'll say, Will, is look, this is fundamentally, you know, the president [6:20] has such a good attitude about this where he says the reason they come after him is because he's doing [6:26] big things. And that's exactly right. They always go after, there's always some evil character who's [6:31] going after people who are doing big things in our country. That doesn't mean you can't do big [6:36] things. That just means you need courageous leaders at the top. And I know we've got a courageous [6:41] leader in President Trump. It's amazing. But after all this, I've never seen the violence or the [6:46] threat of violence even have a little bit of an effect on how he thinks about his job. It's the best [6:51] thing maybe I could say about his character, which is saying quite a bit. Mr. Vice President, [6:55] there is a report out today, or it's from this week, rather. It's in the Atlantic. And it says [7:01] that sources with inside your office are telling the Atlantic that you've been expressing some real [7:07] concerns about missile depletion through the war with Iran. They read as follows. In closed door [7:14] meetings, J.D. Vance has repeatedly questioned the Defense Department's depiction of the war in Iran [7:18] and whether the Pentagon has understated what appears to be the drastic depletion [7:22] of U.S. missile stockpiles. Are you concerned on this front? Are you concerned about our missile [7:27] stockpiles? Well, let me say two things about that report, Will. So first of all, most of these [7:35] reports I ignore. This one I actually read because it, you know, it ascribed views to me and things [7:41] that I had allegedly said that I am just 100 percent certain that I have never said. And in particular, [7:46] there's a lot in that story, Will, and you know how this game works, that is attributed to people [7:51] who describe themselves as Vance advisors. You know, an Vance advisor could be a staff member [7:56] that I see every single day. It could also be a random person off the street that I've talked to [8:00] once at the White House Correspondents Association dinner. What I feel confident about, Will, is that [8:06] nobody who actually knows what I think, nobody who's close to me was speaking to that reporter [8:12] because if they did, then it would have been a totally different story. Now, to answer your question, [8:16] Will, of course, I'm concerned about, you know, our readiness because that's my job to be concerned. [8:21] But I think that Pete Hegseth, our Department of War secretary, I think General Cain, our chairman [8:26] of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they're doing an amazing job. But it's, of course, my job to ask [8:31] these questions. It's, of course, my job to make sure that we're on top of every issue. And of course, [8:36] it's the president's job, too. And I think that both of us are very focused on that. But we've got a [8:41] great military, a military that can do a lot, Will. So don't believe everything you read, [8:46] especially in papers like The Atlantic.