When something is unpopular, Donald Trump has a habit of throwing his vice president in front of the cameras to take the bullet.
A day after Trump’s DOJ announced a slush fund to pay supporters of the president who engaged in or were investigated for criminal activity, Vice President JD Vance stood at the podium in the Brady Briefing Room and answered questions from reporters about Trump’s taxpayer-funded slush fund.
Vance was asked:
Coming back to the price of this DOJ fund, $1.8 billion. There are people who cannot afford to do their shopping. Gas is high. People are making sacrifices in their personal lives to adapt to these rising prices. People tell us they feel they are in a more difficult financial situation. They are very concerned about uncertainty. How can you justify using this amount of taxpayer money when people are struggling? What do you say to Americans who are wondering why this fund is getting all this money, when I can’t afford basic amenities?
To say the least, Vance’s response lacked everything, including humanity and warmth.
The vice president said:
Well, let me say a few things about that. First of all, you talked about $1.8 billion, and it’s important for people to understand that we’re not just writing a check for $1.8 billion. We’re going to take a lot of people who apply and say they’ve been mistreated by their government.
We will handle these situations on a case-by-case basis, and if we determine that they have indeed been mistreated by their government, we believe it is reasonable to provide them with fair compensation.
Vance went on to argue that an administration led by a man who continually falls asleep in public is capable of doing many things at once, especially if one of those things is massive corruption.