Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) equated CNN anchor Dana Bash to a “Democratic propagandist” on Sunday after she appeared to accuse him of inciting violence.
For several weeks, Vance has brought attention to the immigrant problem overwhelming the city of Springfield, Ohio, refusing to accept the media’s outright dismissal of allegations that immigrants are targeting animals in the area.
‘You accused me of causing a bomb threat. … Don’t you realize you’re engaged in basic propaganda to silence the concerns of American citizens? Please.’
Vance believes the allegations should be fully investigated not only because there is some evidence pointing to their validity but because his office has fielded numerous calls from constituents testifying to the problems.
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Bash accused Vance of placing his constituents “at risk” for bringing attention to the problems in Springfield.
At first, Vance took the high road, ignoring the accusation. He told Bash the media “completely ignored” Springfield’s problems until recently, explained how Vice President Kamala Harris’ policy record would create more Springfield situations, and disclosed how many constituents have called his office to report problems in Springfield.
“My attitude is: Listen to my constituents,” Vance explained. “Sometimes, they’re going to say things that people don’t like. But they’re saying things that people don’t like because their town has been overwhelmed, and it’s my job to try to fight for them and to protect them.”
But instead of addressing the substance of Vance’s comments, Bash responded by trying to fact-check him.
The CNN anchor — who admitted to going light on Harris in her one sit-down interview with the Democratic presidential nominee — dismissed 911 calls and social media videos seemingly providing credibility to the animal-targeting allegations.
Then she went a step further and directly accused Vance of “saying things that are wrong and actually causing the hospitals, the schools, the government buildings to be evacuated because of bomb threats.”
With that accusation, Vance finally had enough.
The Republican lawmaker called Bash’s accusation “disgusting,” characterizing it as a comment that “is more appropriate for a Democratic propagandist than it is for an American journalist.”
“There is nothing that I have said that has led to threats against these hospitals,” Vance added. “These hospitals, the bomb threats and so forth, it’s disgusting. The violence is disgusting. We condemn it. We condemn all violence and threats of violence.”
As the interview went on, Vance tried, once again, to explain how policies that Harris supports hurt communities like Springfield. But Bash told Vance she did not want to discuss policies while repeatedly interrupting him.
“Dana, would you like to ask me questions and then let me answer them, or would you like to debate me on these topics?” Vance said. “I noticed that when you had Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, you gave them multiple choice answers to the questions that you asked and you allowed them to answer the questions. I’m happy to be here to talk about policy, but if you’re going to interrupt me every single time that I open my mouth, then why am I even doing this?”
For the rest of the interview, Bash asked Vance more leading and charged questions while repeatedly implying that he is lying about Springfield. Vance, for his part, tried to discuss immigration policies.
But something incredible happened at the end of the interview.
Despite having accused Vance of “saying things” that are “causing … bomb threats” and suggesting that Vance and Donald Trump are responsible for the bomb threats because they happened after Vance and Trump brought attention to Springfield’s problems, Bash outright denied having accused Vance of inciting violence.
But Vance wouldn’t let her get away with it.
“You accused me of causing a bomb threat,” he said. “Don’t you realize you’re engaged in basic propaganda to silence the concerns of American citizens? Please.”
In her denial, Bash excused herself by claiming she was merely quoting the mayor of Springfield. But even that backfired on her.
“Look, the Springfield mayor, he’s dealing with a lot of terrible things,” Vance shot back. “But he did not accuse me of inciting a bomb threat. He just didn’t.
“And if we’re going to take the firsthand accounts of people who are on the ground in Springfield, why don’t you bring on some of the people on your program who say that the migrants are eating their pets?” he continued. “You’re applying a double standard here. You’re saying if one person accuses JD Vance, I’m going to take that person’s word as the gospel truth even if you misrepresent it. If you have another person who’s saying they’re eating the cats, you’re going to completely ignore them, attack them, silence them, and harass them.
“That double standard is why that people don’t trust the media and why we’re not talking about public policy 51 days out from a presidential election,” Vance said.
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Cnn, Dana bash, Election 2024, Jd vance, Legacy media, Media bias, Springfield ohio, Politics