Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), the Republican vice presidential candidate, said on Wednesday that Democrats should “pump the brakes” on rhetoric surrounding former President Trump for safety reasons.
Vance spoke with reporters about his thoughts in North Carolina, pointing to speeches from top Democrats at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
“So, I hope that they remember when you tell the American people that this guy must be stopped at all costs, most people are going to respond to that reasonably. Some people are going to take crazy actions and take matters into their own hands,” Vance said, The Hill reported. “I encourage my Democratic friends to maybe pump the brakes a little bit on the apocalyptic rhetoric around Donald Trump.”
Vance thinks that Democrats “recognize that when you say that the guy is an existential threat to American democracy, sometimes that means crazy people are going to take actions into their own hands.”
He added that they “toned it down” after the assassination attempt on Trump last month but that he felt they were getting ready to “ramp up the rhetoric.”
Several speakers have shared their thoughts on Trump at the convention, with President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama both taking aim at the Republican nominee.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) spoke more directly to Vance in his speech on Monday night, saying GOP voters “tried to kill your predecessor,” referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
The Trump campaign criticized Raskin for his comments, saying he was “willing to politicize talking about assassinations just one month” after a gunman fired at Trump during his rally.
Vance suggested that Democrats follow “Donald Trump’s leadership” and do what he did after the attempt on his life.
“I mean, he had every right to stand up after he was shot in the ear and get really pissed off and blame the Democrats, and what he instead did, was call for national calm and national unity,” Vance said. “I think to the extent the temperature’s been dropped at all, it’s because of Donald Trump, and again, people [accused] him of being a cowboy, but he responded to that moment with a remarkable amount of clarity and calm.”