Sen. J.D. Vance blasted an Associate Press reporter who asked whether Donald Trump is borrowing rhetoric from Adolf Hitler.
Vance said: "He didn’t say immigrants were poisoning the blood of this country. He said illegal immigrants were poisoning the blood of this country, which is objectively and obviously true to anybody who looks at the statistics about fentanyl overdoses."
"If you watch the speech in context and look at what’s going on, it’s obvious that he was talking about the very clear fact that the blood of Americans is being poisoned by a drug epidemic," Vance said. "To take that comment and then to immediately assume that he’s talking about immigrants as Adolf Hitler was talking about Jews is preposterous."
"You're supposed to speak truth to power, and yet you're trying to circumscribe and narrow the limits of debate on immigration in this country. What you're doing is not speaking truth to power. You're trying to police the guy who is criticizing the problem so Americans don't pay attention to the guy who caused the problem," he told the AP reporter.
REPORTER: What do you have to say to the former president's comments over the weekend about immigrants and saying that they're "poisoning the blood of America"?
SEN. J.D. VANCE: Look, I've been asked this question a number of times, and here's my view on these comments. First of all, he didn’t say immigrants were poisoning the blood of this country. He said illegal immigrants were poisoning the blood of this country, which is objectively and obviously true to anybody who looks at the statistics about fentanyl overdoses. I think one observation about the press as an organization is you guys seem far moe upset about the guy who criticized the problem than you did about Joe Biden, who is causing this problem.
REPORTER: Can we just go back to his comments and using the language that we heard. You know, during World War Two -- you're a student of history and I'm sure you are well aware of what that kind of language represents in historical context.
VANCE: What organization do you represent?
REPORTER: I work at the Associated Press.
VANCE: The idea that I am "well aware," you just framed your question implicitly assuming that Donald Trump is talking about Adolf Hitler. It's absurd. It is absurd.
Why do you think that Donald Trump's language is targeted at the blood of the immigrants and not at the blood of the American citizens who are being poisoned by the fentanyl problem. This is ridiculous. If you watch the speech in context and look at what’s going on, it’s obvious that he was talking about the very clear fact that the blood of Americans is being poisoned by a drug epidemic.
To take that comment and then to immediately assume that he’s talking about immigrants as Adolf Hitler was talking about Jews is preposterous. You guys need to wake up and actually do some journalism. Here's the problem with that question and that framing. You are allegedly a journalist. You're supposed to speak truth to power, and yet you're trying to circumscribe and narrow the limits of debate on immigration in this country. What you're doing is not speaking truth to power. You're trying to police the guy who is criticizing the problem so Americans don't pay attention to the guy who caused the problem.
It's an absurd question. It’s an absurd framing.
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