Although unable to sit through all of the third night of the Democratic National Convention, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) told Blaze Media co-founder and nationally syndicated radio host Glenn Beck he saw enough to draw conclusions about the Democratic Party's "collective amnesia" and the revisionist campaign under way to sever Kamala Harris from her part in the current administration's various failings.
Extra to discussing this revisionism on Thursday's episode of "The Glenn Beck Program," Vance also highlighted a possible role for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a future Trump administration as well as his expectation for Harris in the wake of the attempted July 13 assassination attempt.
A federal champion for pandemic exiles
Glenn Beck pressed Vance on whether there has been any serious discussion about Elon Musk and RFK Jr. working in a future Trump administration.
When speaking with President Donald Trump on X Spaces last week, Musk raised the possibility of running a novel committee tasked with eliminating government inefficiencies and waste. Although the two billionaires commiserated about the extent of government waste, the conversation concluded without any concrete commitments.
'I think RFK really could do a lot for us.'
However, when Reuters asked whether he would consider Musk for an advisory role or Cabinet-level position, Trump replied, "He's a very smart guy. I certainly would, if he would do it, I certainly would. He's a brilliant guy."
Vance told Beck it was prudent "not to put the cart too much before the horse with Elon."
"I think he's a genius and I think he could help us a great deal, but we have to win the election first, of course, before we give Elon any positions or any titles."
The Ohio senator was alternatively willing to hint at a possible role for Kennedy, whom Trump previously appointed in 2017 to run a commission on vaccine safety and integrity.
"I think RFK really could do a lot for us on questions of — you know, we have 8,000 veterans, I believe, maybe more, that we kicked out of the military because they refused to take the vaccine," said Vance.
The Pentagon under the Biden-Harris administration mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for all service members in 2021.
Roughly 17,000 service members in the U.S. military refused the vaccines. According to the Military Times, at least 8,339 service members were unceremoniously thrown out. Approximately 70% of those ousted for their refusal to take the novel mRNA vaccine reportedly received general discharges.
"I'd love for RFK to take a look at that, but I haven't talked to him," continued Vance. "I don't know what he's interested in."
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Trump allies such as Stephen Bannon have long advocated for a collaboration of some kind between Trump and Kennedy. Blaze News previously reported that the possibility finally began to firm up last week when RFK Jr.'s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, indicated that the Kennedy campaign was contemplating "join[ing] forces" with Trump.
Shanahan explained that "Big Pharma" was Trump's "Achilles' heel" during his first presidential term. After all, it was the Trump administration that kicked off Operation Warp Speed in May 2020, enabling quicker approval and production of vaccines during the pandemic — vaccines that ultimately proved to be neither as safe nor as effective as initially promised.
"I don't think he understood that it would cripple his entire reputation and legacy as much as it did," added Shanahan.
Following the podcast, Kennedy released a statement, stressing, "I am willing to talk with leaders of any political party to further the goals I have served for 40 years in my career and in this campaign."
Trump told CNN's Kristen Holmes at a campaign stop in Michigan Tuesday he "probably would" consider Kennedy for a role in his administration.
Others in the Trump camp appear keen on bringing Kennedy aboard in some capacity.
Donald Trump Jr. told Beck earlier this week that he loves the idea of giving RFK Jr. "some sort of role in some sort of major, you know, three-letter entity or whatever it may be and letting him blow it up."
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Investigating the shooting of Harris' opponent
On Thursday, Beck also raised the matter of the investigation into the July 13 assassination attempt that left Trump bloodied and killed retired volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore.
'Maybe the mistakes were not intentional. You never know, of course, until you do the actual investigation.'
Vance said he was dissatisfied with the information produced so far by investigators.
"There clearly needs to be some better understanding of what broke about the leadership in the wake of President Trump's assassination attempt," said Vance. "This is, frankly, on Congress, it's on Chuck Schumer's United States Senate, and it's on the Biden administration to get to the bottom of what mistakes were made."
"Maybe the mistakes were not intentional. You never know, of course, until you do the actual investigation, but you have to have a real investigation," continued the senator. "I'm looking at this from the perspective of America's citizens: I'd be demanding that Kamala Harris, who's the vice president of the United States, actually gets to the bottom of this and empowers your government to do a real investigation. That just has not happened yet."
Vance suggested that it remains unclear whether the security failures on July 13 came down to the incompetence of a few individuals, the breakdown of certain processes or procures, or perhaps "something more systematic."
"These are the sorts of things where, you know, we always believe in democratic government that sunshine is the best disinfectant, and so we really do have to have, I think, a more honest account of what went on," added Vance.
Trump's running mate pressed the point, telling Beck that whereas he and other minority senators are limited in what they can do, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the vice president could quickly ascertain the facts about the shooting and security breakdown, if only they "made this a priority."
In the meantime, there are signs that critical facts related to the shooting are being withheld from the public.
Blaze News recently noted, for instance, that Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Biden-Harris FBI for records pertaining to the bureau's coordination with the Secret Service in preparation for Trump's July 13 rally in Pennsylvania.
The FBI reportedly rejected the request, citing FOIA exemption 7A, which allows withholding of information that "would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication."
Judicial Watch characterized the rejection as a "major-league cover-up on the near-assassination of former President Trump."
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Democratic 'amnesia'
Although Vance would like Harris to help clarify details about the recent past, he suggested earlier in the interview that historical accuracy may not be her strong suit.
The senator told Beck that Harris' campaign is running on a "kind of collective amnesia, where they say that Kamala Harris will do this thing on day one, or Kamala Harris has a vision to accomplish that thing, and then you realize that Kamala Harris has been the vice president for three and a half years."
"She has affirmatively made all of these problems worse, not better, during her time in office," continued Vance. "So you can't say Kamala Harris is going to secure the border because she opened it up. You can't say Kamala Harris is going to lower inflation because she cast the deciding vote on programs that increased inflation."
Beck marveled at how quickly the narrative was adapted to suit Democrats' interests, noting that the same political operatives who were just over a month ago denigrating critics for saying the economy was bad are now claiming Harris is going to fix the economy.
"Glenn, you raise a really important point here, which is that if you're an American citizen and you paid attention to this election, you'd be forgiven for having a headache from the ricocheting message of the Democratic Party," said Vance.
"A month ago, it was, 'The Biden economy was great. Don't believe your lying eyes. Just vote for Joe Biden.' And now it's, 'Yes, the economy is terrible, but Kamala Harris, who's been vice president for three and a half years, is going to come in and fix all these things."
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