JD Vance, Republican Vice Presidential nominee they wondered with moderators on two networks on Sunday as his running partner shies away more and more FROM facing the questions posed by mainstream journalists and instead tours the relatively friendlier podcast circuit.

On CNNthat Vance fought Jake Tapper of State of the Union over the new statements made by John KellyTrump’s former White House chief of staff. Kelly told news outlets Monday that his former boss praised him Adolf Hitler and he commented that he wanted loyal generals like the Nazi generals who served the Third Reich.

Tapper questioned Vance about Kelly’s account of events, and Vance responded by accusing the former chief of staff of having an agenda—specifically, wanting to expand the U.S. military’s involvement overseas. Vance’s evidence for this claim was Kelly’s choice of publication for his observations: Atlanticled by Jeffrey Goldberg, whose support for the Iraq War Vance saw as a sign of a global anti-Trump conspiracy.

“All these people, including the former vice president (Mike Pence), all these dozens of people who worked for Trump just have this horribly damaged worldview and they’re all going after it. Donald Trump because they want to send people to war?” Tapper asked.

Vance replied, “Absolutely.”

“All these people, Jake, came into office thinking they could control Donald Trump,” Vance said.

“Did Mike Pence Think He Could Control Donald Trump?” Tapper asked.

“Yes, he did,” Vance replied, to Tapper’s shocked laugh.

On NBChis Meet the presswould go on to call Kelly, a distinguished retired Marine Corps general, a “disgruntled former employee.”

“This disagreement is not about personalities. This disagreement is because John Kelly didn’t like Donald Trump’s forceful peace policy,” Vance told Kristen Welker.

He was too on CBS‘ Face the Nation. There, he faced questions about the widening gender gap in the 2024 race and denied that Trump or he had a “problem” with women.

The vice president has been Trump’s chief spin officer in front of the media as the former president himself has withdrawn from reporters, worried about questions about his increasingly outlandish campaign appearances and the conspiracy theories that dominate his rhetoric — as well as criticism of his threats against Democrats, the media and others he called “enemies within.”

Vance on Sunday addressed some of that criticism and deflected questions about whether Trump had promised to put Liz Cheney, a Republican critic of the former president, before a military tribunal for her work investigating the Jan. 6 attack. He also lied about reporting on the aforementioned subjects, falsely calling them “anonymous” sources when nearly a dozen former Trump administration officials who told reporters about Trump’s rhetoric used name on file.

Cheney herself responded on CNN: “It takes a lot of contortion and real desperation to try to convince people that they shouldn’t listen to the people who know Donald Trump best.”

One of Vance’s biggest strengths — his media training and willingness to turn down tough questions — is what drew him to Trump’s ticket, backed by the support of Donald Trump Jr. and Steve Bannon. The first-term senator from Ohio has plenty of experience on the matter, given the gauntlet of questions he’s faced himself over his own past description of Trump as “America’s Hitler.”

Polls indicate that the race is tied nationally and tight in a half-dozen battleground states as the campaign enters its final week.