The presidential race is clearly now entering a new, more volatile phase now that the presumptive Republican nominee is a convicted felon 34 times. Joining us now, Republican senator from Ohio, J.D. Vance. His name has come up as a potential Trump running mate. Senator Vance, thanks so much for joining us. Are you interested in being the running mate of a convicted felon? Well, Wolf, the entire purpose of this trial was to allow the media and the Democrats to say exactly that. This is never about justice. This is about plastering convicted felon all over the airwaves, when in reality, the only thing that Donald Trump is guilty of is being in the courtroom of a political sham trial that was approved by the Trump from the acknowledged that right. Look, Wolf, the Trump lawyers approved of the 12 men and women, the six alternates in the jury. My complaint is not with a jury, Wolf. My complaint is with the judge, with the jury instructions that were clearly reversible with the fact that the judge had donated to a to the Biden campaign, which which should force a recusal under the New York rules for the judge, the fact that his daughter has gotten wealthy off this dollars in 2020, and of the campaign to stop Donald Trump was to explicitly stop Donald Trump. Please let me answer the question. This judge committed multiple elements of reversible error, and he did it. While his daughter has made a ton of money off of Democratic candidates, and while he himself donated to the Biden campaign. Let me repeat the question. You cannot say that this trial was anything more than politics masquerading as justice. And yes, I will help Donald Trump and I will help Donald Trump. However, I think that I can, Wolf, because if we allow this to happen, it's so much bigger and so much more troubling to Donald Trump. If we allow the standard that you can throw your political opponents in jail because they're doing better than you in an election, it will be the end of this country as we know it. So you don't think this was a fair trial at all? No, Wolf, I do not think it was a fair trial at all. And more importantly, again, everybody's focusing on Donald Trump. Understandably. He's convicted, understandably. But but the principle that we're establishing applies across our politics. We're basically saying that if you don't like the outcome of an election or you don't like how an election is about to transpire, you can try to throw your opponent in jail. Wolf. The entire predicate here, this person is trying to work right by Biden. This was a trial organized by New York City, the district attorney in Manhattan, after the number three person in the Biden Department of Justice joined that prosecutor's office, and then goes after Biden's political opponent. This absolutely is connected, Joe Biden, Wolf. Beyond that, you had Robert De Niro showing up at a Biden campaign rally on the day of jury instructions. This is politics. Do you agree Trump with what he just said? Because this jumped out at me. I thought it was obnoxious. He said, we're living in a fascist state. Is the United States a fascist state? Wolf, I served in Iraq in the United States Marine Corps, multiple family. Were you outraged when he said that? When Trump said, I am outraged that this entire proceeding are, you know, Trump's criticism of it. Trump is calling the United States of America the greatest country in the world, a fascist state. Are you okay with that? After the president of the United States used his power of the courts and his his power, every president that we live in, a fascist with his opponents in jail, I think this is disgraceful. I don't care what you call it, what you're saying. I think this proceeding, this legal proceeding is disgraceful. But what about tried doling out a country, a fascist? They're trying to throw him in prison for a paperwork violation, Wolf, by his peers. After the judge or after the judge gave those jury biased instructions. After that judge donated to Donald Trump's political opponent. Of course, he's going to be frustrated, and he has every right to be. I don't care what you call this, but this is not the America that I know and love. Why aren't we talking about inflation, Wolf? Why are we talking about Biden's wide-open southern border? Talking about the entire trial was cooked up to distract from Joe Biden's failure. With all due respect, we're talking about this because this is the first president or former president in American history to be convicted of felonies. So let's talk about precedents. He's convicted of a literal paperwork violation that is the priority for in all of them, paperwork violations rule a single, single paperwork violation, and they drew 34 felonies out. That should really bother you. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican. Now, let's talk about precedents. Six years ago, Hillary Clinton paid $113,000. That was misclassified as a legal expense. That's the exact same thing that Donald Trump is accused of. Hillary Clinton got a slap on the wrist and a fine from the FEC. Donald Trump has had 34 felony indictments. It's so obvious that this is about politics, Wolf. And I understand the questions here. But if we allow this to continue, we are going to wake up in a banana republic where we try to throw people in jail instead of winning an argument. Let me read to you what I want. I don't think it's what you want either. Let me read to you it. Former Maryland governor and currently Republican Senator Kennedy Larry Hogan said. Going into all of this, he said he appealed to the public for calm, asked Americans, and I'm quoting him now to respect the verdict and legal process and to not pour fuel on the fire with more toxic partizanship. This was met by a response from a senior Trump campaign official who just said to Larry Hogan, you just ended your campaign. Are you okay with that? I'm okay with the fact that we need to criticize and call this ridiculous legal proceeding out. Larry Hogan is trying to win a Senate race in a blue seat. Obviously, I disagree with Larry Hogan. The problem is not criticizing the sham prosecution. The problem is the sham prosecution itself, and we need leadership to call it out. It sounds to me like you're totally, totally in supporting a Trump right now and everything that he's done, all of the accusations that have been leveled against the Wolf. I am absolutely supporting Trump because I think he will make American the American people's lives better. But again, this is so much bigger to me than Donald Trump. I woke up heartbroken for our country, because the precedent set is that if you don't like somebody's politics, you should use the American system of law and order to try and destroy them. That's 250 years of legal tradition. The Biden folks are tearing it up to win an election, Wolf. That is what really bothers me. Happened to the Republican Party being the party of law and order. We are the party of law and order. But you can't have this order. This is you have a president who has been convicted 34 times. Law and order violating law. Law and order is not having a judge who donates to the political opposition to Donald Trump and then tries to throw Donald Trump in jail. That's the opposite of law. $15 donation, a $15 donation combined with he said that he wanted to fight Donald Trump. His daughter has made almost $100 million fundraising for Democrats. Wolf, every single thing about this points to the fact that this was a political sham prosecution. Now, it's not just the judge's financial interests. His commitment to Democrats multiple reversal errors. Why didn't they change the venue? Why didn't the judge give accurate jury instructions? Why didn't they charge him with something more than a paperwork violation? The entire argument, this case is that Donald Trump should go to prison because an employee of his filled out paperwork the wrong way. Wolf, this is disgraceful. Believe that his employees, with his knowledge, were trying to cover up an affair with Stormy Daniels in order. This is just a few weeks before the election. I believe that Donald Trump did nothing wrong. But if you take Alvin Bragg's argument, if you take every single thing in that indictment at face value, what it suggests is Donald Trump committed a paperwork violation is that 34 felony counts, not in the country that I want to live in, not in the United States of America. I know you don't want to live in the United States. I don't want to live in a New York sham prosecution. I would not live in New York State right now. Absolutely. I wouldn't, Wolf, because what New York has showed and what, frankly, the Biden administration has showed, is that if you don't do exactly what they want you to do in politics, they will try to use our system, bipartisan system of law and order to throw you in prison. It's so disgraceful. I think every American, whatever their party, should be worried about this. How worried are you that there could be violence emerging from all of this by Trump supporters? Not at all. Donald Trump supporters are not violent people. You live in a country of 3330 million people. Of course, some people are going to do some bad things. But if we want to get back at the New York sham prosecution, my message to every Trump supporter is go to Donald J. trump.com volunteer, support them and vote in November. The only language that these people speak is power. We've got to win the presidency, Wolf, and save this country. We're not Trump supporters involved in the January 6th violence at the U.S. Capitol. If a few people were violent, certainly. But I don't think the majority of Donald Trump's supporters are violent because you had a few people get violent on January 6th. So your message to Trump supporters in the aftermath of these convictions is what my message is don't get angry. Don't get depressed, get even, get involved, and let's win this election. Because that's the only way to actually fix this country and to save it for the American people. And you want to be as running mate, Wolf. I want to help Donald Trump however I can. He's got a lot of people we can choose from, and he's going to make that decision. But I want to be helpful because I want to save this country. This president is going to destroy the country that I love if we let it stand. And really, our only way to push back against it is to vote for Trump in November. But you don't believe we live in a fascist state, do you, Wolf? I think that what happened in Africa is disgraceful, Wolf. I think that what happened in New York, if you applied it across all 50 states, would be the definition of fascism, throwing your political opponents in jail, thank God it only happened in New York and not the rest of the country. Senator, nice of you to come in. Thanks. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Appreciate it.
