GOP veep picks JD Vance on Sunday he went head-to-head with CNN host Jake Tapper of former President Donald Trump rhetoric and the fact that some former top advisers called him a “fascist”.

The “State of the Union’s” tapper came out of the gate asking Vance about Trump’s remarks about an “enemy within” and pushed back on Gen. John Kelly’s suggestion that his one-time boss “fits the definition of fascist general”.

Vance, 40, has in turn castigated Trump insiders like Kelly and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as warmongers, prompting Tapper, 55, to detail the 45th president’s rhetoric about targeting election officials who cheat.

“You’re taking words out of context,” an exasperated Vance said at one point. “If you wanted to put a clip and put it in context, I think the American people would realize that Donald Trump is a lot more reasonable than people like Liz Cheney who would like to lie to us. war.”

“Now, Jake, we should remember too, I mean step back a little. Ask yourself a basic question about network integrity. You guys have been talking non-stop about the Russia hoax.”

Tapper defended CNN, claiming that “the FBI was investigating, so we covered for them.”

Republicans have long been angered by the coverage of allegations about Trump’s alleged ties to Russia and have accused the media of exaggerating the issue and fueling public misconceptions.

“You took the words of nameless FBI agents and put them on your network as if they were gospel truth. You did it over and over again,” Vance replied.

“A viewer of your network would have thought that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin conspired in 2016. Now that was totally and absurdly false,” he said hopefully.

Tapper insisted that Vance’s characterization of the network’s coverage was “false” and reiterated his claim that the cable news company was only covering an FBI investigation.

But Vance said, “You covered it up in a way that gave credibility to anonymous sources (and) allegations. You did it yourself. Your network did it, Jake.

The two then returned to their testy exchange about Trump’s rhetoric and the handful of former officials in his administration who have warned the public about him.

Kelly, who served as Trump’s White House chief of staff from 2017 to 2019, said The New York Times that Trump “definitely prefers the dictator approach to government.”

Trump’s former adviser also claimed at Atlantic that Trump conveyed admiration for the loyalty shown to Adolf Hitler’s generals. trump card he denied this.

Kelly’s remarks also come after former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff nominee Mark Milley described him as a “fascist to the core,” according to Watergate detective Bob Woodward’s recent book, War .

Vance blasted Kelly, accusing him of harboring a “worldview that is so opposed to peace.”

Tapper responded, “So all these 10 people, including former Vice President Mike Pence, all these people have this horribly damaged worldview, and they’re all following Donald Trump because they want to send people to war?”

“Is that really your argument?” Tapper added indignantly.

“Absolutely,” Vance insisted. “Everybody, Jake, got into office thinking they could control Donald Trump when he said he wanted world peace.”

Trump, 78, has expressed regrets about some of his staff selections, telling podcast king Joe Rogan that the biggest mistake I’ve made” was “I picked some people that I shouldn’t have chosen them.”

The 45th president described some of his picks as “neocons, or bad people, or disloyal people.” During the same interview, he praised several in-demand Republicans in his orbit, such as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who have shown loyalty to him.

After Vance’s combative interview with CNN, the network had Cheney disavow him. CBS’ “Face the Nation” similarly aired an interview with Vance on Sunday, followed by one with Cheney.

“What we just watched is what it looks like when someone has to go through incredible lengths to try to find a way to defend the person that JD Vance himself called America’s Hitler,” Cheney said, referring to Vance’s description of Trump as “America’s Hitler.” ” during the 2016 campaign cycle.

Vance has since attributed that past attack on his running mate to a warped understanding of Trump at the time that was misrepresented by the media.

The GOP vice presidential nominee also emphasized during the interview with Tapper that he intends to be a veep for all Americans, not just conservatives.

“Of course, I’m running to be the vice president of all Americans. I’m running because I want people to be able to afford a good life in this country,” he said.