With Donald Trump's 2024 election win, James David Vance becomes vice president-elect [Post Updated #83]

[FearlessRoar]

JD Vance 'Absolutely' Commits to Trump Not Imposing Federal Abortion Ban​

Ohio Senator JD Vance, Donald Trump's running mate, said on Sunday that he "absolutely" commits to the former president not imposing a federal abortion ban despite his previous stance on the issue.

Abortion is just one issue that has been significant for voters since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, as many Republican-controlled states have put abortion restrictions into effect with 21 states banning or restricting the medical procedure at every stage of pregnancy.

Following months of speculation on Trump's abortion stance amid the 2024 election, Trump, the GOP's presidential nominee, has said that he thinks abortion limits should be left to the states and declined to endorse a federal abortion ban.

"My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both," he said in a video posted to his Truth Social account. in April. "And whatever they decide must be the law of the land—in this case, the law of the state."

Trump has previously labeled himself the "most pro-life president in American history" during the campaign trail and spoke about appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe.

Vance, meanwhile, has cast himself as a staunch social conservative and close ally to the former president since his 2022 election to the U.S. Senate. However, his stances on issues like abortion have sparked fierce backlash from Democrats after Trump picked him as his running mate in July.

While Vance has previously said he would want a nationwide ban on the medical procedure, he has since towed Trump's line on the issue, leaving it up to states to decide their own laws on it.

Appearing on NBC News' Meet The Press on Sunday morning for an interview, Vance was asked by host Kristen Welker that if he and Trump are elected if he can commit to Trump not imposing a federal ban on abortion.

Vance responded: "I can absolutely commit that. Donald Trump has been as clear about that as possible...Donald Trump wants to end this culture war over this particular topic...So I think Donald Trump is right. We want the federal government to focus on these big economic and immigration questions. Let the states figure out their own abortion policy."

JD Vance "absolutely" commits to Trump not imposing federal abortion ban

"We want the federal government to focus on these big economic and immigration questions. Let the states figure out their own abortion policy," Vance said.

www.newsweek.com

 

[FearlessRoar]

Vance refuses to answer whether Trump lost 2020 election​

JD Vance has refused to say whether he thinks Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, and whether he would contest the 2024 vote if Democrats win next month.

The Republican vice-presidential candidate - who has previously said he would have challenged the 2020 result if given the chance - avoided giving answers on both issues during Tuesday night's debate.

In a head-to-head that was largely civilised in tone, he was accused by his Democratic opponent Tim Walz of "a damning non-answer" after sidestepping a question about that result and the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021.

Trump was seeking a second term then and has spent years making false claims about voter fraud during that poll.

The exchange unfolded after the CBS News moderators asked Vance if he would try to challenge the results of November's election, even if every US state governor certified them - as was the case in 2020.

Vance did not directly answer, instead saying he was "focused on the future".

He sought to defend Trump over the riot during which President Trump's supporters attacked the US Capitol building in an effort to stop Joe Biden becoming president.

Vance said Trump had simply spoken of "problems" in 2020, and insisted that Trump had only said that "protesters ought to protest peacefully".

Turning to the outcome of the 2024 vote, he said: "If Tim Walz is the next vice-president, he'll have my prayers, he'll have my best wishes, and he'll have my help whenever he wants it."

But Walz persisted with the events of 2020 - challenging Vance to answer whether Trump had lost the poll. When Vance again sought to change the topic, Walz said: "That is a damning non-answer."

Walz added that they were "miles apart" on the issue, despite agreeing on other things during their 90-minute debate.

Other than one or two other tussles - including an exchange on immigration that led to the two men's microphones being muted - the debate was polite in tone.

Walz found himself under pressure from the moderators over past comments of his own - marking the latest occasion in which he has fallen foul of fact-checkers.

He admitted that he "misspoke" when he claimed he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. News reports from the time show that he was actually in the US when the events took place in China.

Tuesday's event in New York marked the first and only scheduled head-to-head between the pair.

Polling by CBS News immediately afterwards suggested that 42% of viewers felt Vance won the debate, compared to 41% who thought Walz came out on top. Some 17% called the debate a tie.

VP debate: Vance refuses to answer whether Trump lost 2020 election

The Republican dodged a question during the vice-presidential debate about the poll four years ago.

www.bbc.com

 

[FearlessRoar]

Vance: Trump's MAGA heir apparent and, now, VP-elect​

After Donald Trump's victory in US elections, JD Vance is officially Trump's heir apparent as vice president-elect.

When he was picked as Donald Trump's running mate in July, JD Vance's rise through the Republican ranks was confirmed. Many pundits see him as heir apparent to Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement and the favorite to be the Republican presidential candidate in 2028.

While Trump's brash brand of politicking is a natural extension of the larger-than-life persona he carved out over four decades in the public eye, Vance, a 40-year-old father of three, is from another side of America, and his rise to the vice presidency has been unconventional by Republican standards.

Vance was born James David Bowman and raised primarily by his maternal grandparents — whose surname he later adopted — in a steel manufacturing town in Ohio while his mother struggled with drug and alcohol use.

After graduating from high school, Vance joined the US Marines and served for four years, including a six-month deployment to Iraq in a noncombat role as a military journalist in 2005. After leaving the Marines, he graduated from Ohio State University and Yale Law School. He later switched from law to tech investing in California, where he started his own venture capital firm.

In Yale he also met his wife Usha Chilukuri. The couple got married in 2014 and has two sons and a daughter.

It was in May 2016 that Vance entered the public eye with the publication of his acclaimed "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis." The bestseller reflected on Vance's upbringing in Appalachia and was considered a window into the lives of people in the declining manufacturing region known as the Rust Belt just months before slim-margin wins in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania swept Trump to power in 2016.

In a 2016 interview on NPR, Vance said he couldn't "stomach Trump" and would consider voting for Hillary Clinton, but also, somewhat prophetically, suggested that the Trump phenomenon was buoyed by the support of white working-class voters who "aren't necessarily economically destitute but in some ways feel very culturally isolated and very pessimistic about the future. That's one of the biggest predictors of whether someone will support Donald Trump. It may be the biggest predictor."

Among those heaping praise on the book was PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. The New York Times reported in July that Thiel — a long-standing mentor of Vance's and one of the first high-profile Silicon Valley figures to support Trump in 2016 — brokered an initial meeting between the former president and his future VP in 2021.

Vance would recant his position as "a Never Trump guy" when he successfully ran in the 2022 Republican primary to represent Ohio in the US Senate.

Shortly after his selection as running mate, a 2021 interview resurfaced in which Vance described the United States as a country run by "childless cat ladies" — a comment rebuked by Democrats, as well as Taylor Swift and other celebrities.

Vance later raised the ire of communities in his home state of Ohio after he shared false claims made on social media that Haitian immigrants were eating pet dogs in Springfield. Trump amplified those false claims in his debate against Kamala Harris.

Vance's own debate performance against Tim Walz saw him come away with a narrow win in the eyes of critics. His disciplined effort was summarized by the press as "polished" (Politico), "crisp" and "dominant" (The New York Times) and "slick" (CNN). But the elephant in the room was his inability to concede that Trump had lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, something his opponent made sure to seize on.

While Trump will dominate the headlines as president, a close eye will be kept on Vance's approach to key policy issues such as abortion, immigration and foreign policy — and how his stances could shape the Republican Party's post-Trump era.

Though the vice president's job is seldom in the spotlight, with Trump reentering office at 78, there is a higher than usual chance Vance could end up sitting in the Oval Office at some point in the next four years.

Vance: Trump's MAGA heir apparent and, now, VP-elect – DW – 11/06/2024

With Donald Trump winning the US presidential election, his running mate JD Vance is on his way to the White House as the next vice president of the United States.

www.dw.com

 

[FearlessRoar]

1st Indian-Origin Woman Set To Become Second Lady Of US​

At the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Florida, it was midnight when Donald Trump and his entourage appeared on stage to a resounding applause from a crowd eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of their President-elect. Moments into his victory speech on Tuesday, Trump lauded his running mate JD Vance and his Indian-American wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance.

Trump defeated Democratic rival Kamala Harris by a margin of 53 electoral votes. “I want to be the first to congratulate - now I can say Vice President-elect JD Vance. And his remarkable and beautiful wife, Usha Vance,” Trump said, drawing loud cheers from the audience.

Who is Usha Vance?

Born to Indian parents who emigrated from Andhra Pradesh to the US in 1986, Usha Chilukuri Vance was raised in a suburb of San Diego, California.

She earned a bachelor's degree in History from Yale University and went on to complete a Master of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar.

The would-be Second Lady of the United States also held editorial roles at the Yale Journal of Law & Technology and The Yale Law Journal, where she served as Managing Editor and Executive Development Editor, respectively.

Usha met JD Vance at Yale Law School and got married in 2014 in a ceremony that included a Hindu ritual. Together, they have three children. Throughout JD Vance's political career, Usha has been a supportive partner, often appearing alongside him during his Ohio Senate campaign. Her insights also contributed to JD Vance's well-known memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which sheds light on the struggles of rural America and was later adapted into a movie directed by Ron Howard.

She works as a corporate litigator at a firm in San Francisco. Her legal career also includes clerking for US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Who Is Usha Vance, 1st Indian-Origin Woman Set To Become Second Lady Of US

Moments into his victory speech on Tuesday, Trump lauded his running mate JD Vance and his Indian-American wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance.

www.ndtv.com

 

[BouncerGuy]

Vance attack on Europe ignores Ukraine and defence agenda

This year's Munich Security Conference (MSC) was supposed to be primarily about two things: how to end the war in Ukraine without giving in to Russia, and how Europe needed to boost its spending on defence.

But the most senior American present, US Vice President JD Vance, used his time at the podium to talk about neither.

Instead, he shocked delegates on Friday by roundly attacking Washington's allies, including Britain, in a blistering attack decrying misinformation, disinformation, and the rights of free speech.

It was a very weird 20 minutes - one met largely with silence from delegates in the hall.

Even a joke, "if American democracy can survive 10 years of [climate campaigner] Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk", failed to raise a single laugh.

He accused European governments of retreating from their values, and ignoring voter concerns on migration and free speech.

Vance's speech went down very badly - unequivocally badly. It was extraordinarily poorly judged.

But who was it aimed at?

A US commentator said to me afterwards: "That was all for US domestic consumption."

The vice president did, however, go on to meet the embattled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who did his best to sound positive.

The pair had "a good conversation", according to Zelensky, who said it marked "our first meeting, not last, I'm sure". The Ukrainian leader emphasised the need for Washington and Kyiv to speak more and work together "to prepare the plan [on] how to stop Putin and finish the war".

"We want, really, we want peace very much. But we need real security guarantees," Zelensky added.

According to US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin also wants peace, but that is peace on his terms. Unless those have secretly changed, they involve capitulation to Russia's demands and the permanent ceding of territory to Moscow.

Vance's speech came days after President Trump effectively pulled the rug out from Ukraine's negotiating position by conceding, via his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, that restoring Ukraine's territory to where it was before the first Russian invasion in 2014 is simply "not realistic".

The US also dashed Kyiv's hopes of joining Nato, a key ambition of President Zelensky, and ruled out sending US troops to help protect Ukraine's borders from the next time Russia decides to invade.

Ahead of the Munich conference Europe was stunned by news that Trump had held an apparently cordial 90-minute phone call with Putin, thus abruptly ending the West's three-year freeze in talking to the Russian leader that has been in place since the time of the 2022 invasion.

The delegates in Munich are scheduled to focus on the war in Ukraine in a high-profile debate on Saturday.

The fear in Munich amongst European leaders and their delegations is that in Donald Trump's rush to secure a peace deal in Ukraine, Putin will emerge victorious, stronger and planning to seize more parcels of land in Europe.

BBC

 

[Farhan The Man]

The fear in Munich amongst European leaders...

BBC

And now the elites feel the heat. The ones who enforced lockdowns, untested vaxes, regulated humanity through force.

BBC reporting. Must be true then.

What's not to like.

 

[FearlessRoar]

JD Vance's blast at Europe ignores Ukraine and defence agenda​

This year's Munich Security Conference (MSC) was supposed to be primarily about two things: how to end the war in Ukraine without giving in to Russia, and how Europe needed to boost its spending on defence.

But the most senior American present, US Vice President JD Vance, used his time at the podium to talk about neither.

Instead, he shocked delegates on Friday by roundly attacking Washington's allies, including Britain, in a blistering attack decrying misinformation, disinformation, and the rights of free speech.

It was a very weird 20 minutes - one met largely with silence from delegates in the hall.

Even a joke, "if American democracy can survive 10 years of [climate campaigner] Greta Thunberg scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk", failed to raise a single laugh.

He accused European governments of retreating from their values, and ignoring voter concerns on migration and free speech.

Vance's speech went down very badly - unequivocally badly. It was extraordinarily poorly judged.

But who was it aimed at?

A US commentator said to me afterwards: "That was all for US domestic consumption."

The vice president did, however, go on to meet the embattled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who did his best to sound positive.

The pair had "a good conversation", according to Zelensky, who said it marked "our first meeting, not last, I'm sure". The Ukrainian leader emphasised the need for Washington and Kyiv to speak more and work together "to prepare the plan [on] how to stop Putin and finish the war".

"We want, really, we want peace very much. But we need real security guarantees," Zelensky added.

According to US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin also wants peace, but that is peace on his terms. Unless those have secretly changed, they involve capitulation to Russia's demands and the permanent ceding of territory to Moscow.

Vance's speech came days after President Trump effectively pulled the rug out from Ukraine's negotiating position by conceding, via his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, that restoring Ukraine's territory to where it was before the first Russian invasion in 2014 is simply "not realistic".

The US also dashed Kyiv's hopes of joining Nato, a key ambition of President Zelensky, and ruled out sending US troops to help protect Ukraine's borders from the next time Russia decides to invade.

Ahead of the Munich conference Europe was stunned by news that Trump had held an apparently cordial 90-minute phone call with Putin, thus abruptly ending the West's three-year freeze in talking to the Russian leader that has been in place since the time of the 2022 invasion.

The delegates in Munich are scheduled to focus on the war in Ukraine in a high-profile debate on Saturday.

The fear in Munich amongst European leaders and their delegations is that in Donald Trump's rush to secure a peace deal in Ukraine, Putin will emerge victorious, stronger and planning to seize more parcels of land in Europe.

Munich Security Conference: JD Vance 's blast on Europe ignores Ukraine and defence agenda

Instead, US Vice President JD Vance shocked delegates by roundly attacking Washington's allies, accusing them of censorship.

www.bbc.com

 

[deltexas]

Good on JD Vance. Time to stop these politically corrupt, green climate agenda etc nonsense speeches. But FWIW from the source - " A US commentator said to me afterwards: "That was all for US domestic consumption." Pretty sure JDV will have more policy oriented behind the door convos with Euro leaders..

 

[FearlessRoar]

JD Vance denies insulting British troops over 'random country' jibe​

JD Vance has hit back at criticism after saying a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine would be "20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years".

The US vice president was accused of "disrespecting" British forces who served alongside the US in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a former veterans minister branding him a "clown" who needs to "check his privilege".

Although the UK and France are the only countries to have pledged troops to a potential peacekeeping force, Mr Vance said the suggestion he was referring to those two allies is "absurdly dishonest".

"I don't even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond," he said in a post on X.

"There are many countries who are volunteering (privately or publicly) support who have neither the battlefield experience nor the military equipment to do anything meaningful."

Mr Vance made the initial comments to Fox News on Tuesday, saying the only security guarantee Donald Trump will provide for Ukraine is a minerals deal.

He said: "The president knows that if you want real US security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine.

"That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years."

Several British politicians interpreted this as a dig at the UK and France, who have led the idea of a "coalition of the willing" to provide boots on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, accused Mr Vance of "ignoring the service and sacrifice" of personnel from the two countries that fought in Afghanistan after 9/11.

He said that is the only time NATO's Article 5 has been invoked, which holds that members of the alliance will come to the defence of an ally under attack.

He added: "Britain and France came to their aid deploying 1,000s of personnel to Afghanistan, including numerous parliamentary colleagues, past & present. It's deeply disrespectful to ignore such service & sacrifice."

Former Tory veterans minister Johnny Mercer called Mr Vance a "clown" who "needs to check his privilege".

Helen Maguire, the Lib Dem's defence spokesperson who also served in the army before her career in politics, accused Mr Trump's deputy of "erasing the hundreds of British troops who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan from history".

She said: "Six of my own regiment, the Royal Military Police, didn't return home from Iraq. This is a sinister attempt to deny that reality. Vance has demeaned his office."

Speaking after Mr Vance clarified his remarks, a Downing Street spokesperson said the US vice president was "talking about other countries" when asked if he should apologise.

They added Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer "is full of admiration for British troops who fought alongside the US and others in wars and their courage and bravery".

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told GB News "a lot of people are getting carried away".

"They're saying loads of things and getting quite animated, let's keep cool heads," she said.

"I believe President Trump and JD Vance want peace, they're looking after their national interest, we need to do so as well."

It is not the first time Mr Vance has riled the UK, after previously attacking it over free speech and saying the UK is "Islamist under Labour".

JD Vance denies insulting British troops over 'random country' jibe

Senior politicians interpret JD Vance's dismissal of peacekeeping troops as a dig at the UK and France - but the US vice president insists he was not referring to these two allies.

news.sky.com

 

[BouncerGuy]

JD Vance will join wife on Greenland trip

US Vice-President JD Vance will join his wife Usha in travelling to Greenland on Friday, a visit that follows Donald Trump's threats to take over the island.

The couple will go to the Pituffik Space Base to receive a briefing on Arctic security issues and meet members of US forces stationed there, according to the White House.

Usha Vance had planned to travel to the Danish territory on a cultural visit before her husband announced his plans. Trump's National Security Adviser Mike Waltz is also set to visit this week on a separate trip.

Officials in Greenland have fiercely criticised the planned visits as disrespectful.

Greenland - the world's biggest island, situated between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans - has been controlled by Denmark, nearly 3,000km (1,860 miles) away, for about 300 years.

It governs its own domestic affairs, but decisions on foreign and defence policy are made in Copenhagen. The US has long held a security interest and a military presence there since World War Two.

The Pituffik Space Base, located in the north-west of Greenland, supports missile warning, air defence and space surveillance missions.

In a video posted on social media platform X, Vance said there was a lot of excitement around his wife's trip to Greenland. He is joining her because he "didn't want her to have all that fun by herself".

He said the visit to the military installation was to check on the island's security, as "a lot of other countries have threatened Greenland, have threatened to use its territories and its waterways to threaten the United States, to threaten Canada, and of course, to threaten the people of Greenland".

He added that the Trump administration wants to "reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland", and that the United States and Denmark have ignored it for "far too long".

It is unclear if Mike Waltz is still scheduled to visit. The BBC has reached out to the White House for confirmation.

Dr Dwayne Ryan Menezes, founder and managing director of Polar Research and Policy Initiative think tank, based in London, criticised the visit.

He said it is "highly unusual" that a high-level delegation of US officials are visiting Greenland without being invited, especially after a national election in the country, where the parties are still in talks to form the next government.

The US' interest in Greenland's security, given its strategic importance, makes sense, he said. But he added that it is "inexplicable" for Washington DC to have taken such an aggressive approach, especially in light of Trump's comments about acquiring the territory.

"Disrespecting the people of Greenland by saying the US will acquire it 'one way or the other' is unhelpful and counter-productive as a tactic," he added.

According to recent polls, almost 80% of Greenlanders back independence from Denmark. But an opinion survey in January suggested an even greater number rejected the idea of becoming part of the US.

BBC

 

[rpant_gabba]

Good on JD Vance. Time to stop these politically corrupt, green climate agenda etc nonsense speeches. But FWIW from the source - " A US commentator said to me afterwards: "That was all for US domestic consumption." Pretty sure JDV will have more policy oriented behind the door convos with Euro leaders..

Let me guess, "climate change is a hoax"

 

[deltexas]

Let me guess, "climate change is a hoax"

Not a hoax but no need to go extreme to the other end. Ban oil drilling and go all electric?? Get real. The oil and gas industry has transformed people lives from being poor to having a good life. The electric grid just cant handle the volume. So many examples. The US vehicle emissins is infact almost zero level pollution. China contributes the most to global pollution and marine pollution and marine life dangers- but the Dems dont question on it at all.

US has taken measures no matter what gov to reduce these over time and the results are impressive. Unlike China which is unchecked and the other nations which have no proper implementation. There are so many "green" ridiculous initiatives by Dems which cause more issues.

 

[rpant_gabba]

Not a hoax but no need to go extreme to the other end. Ban oil drilling and go all electric?? Get real. The oil and gas industry has transformed people lives from being poor to having a good life. The electric grid just cant handle the volume. So many examples. The US vehicle emissins is infact almost zero level pollution. China contributes the most to global pollution and marine pollution and marine life dangers- but the Dems dont question on it at all.

US has taken measures no matter what gov to reduce these over time and the results are impressive. Unlike China which is unchecked and the other nations which have no proper implementation. There are so many "green" ridiculous initiatives by Dems which cause more issues.

nonsense. US under conservatives outsourced all industries to China becos of it lax standards.

Most of China produced manufactured for couple decades was for US.

Conservative fuckwits (reagan and senile Bush) stopped all solar development in the 80's which would have allowed to pivot away from fossil fuel. neutralized the Middle east and Russia