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JD Vance’s attack on Kamala Harris questioning his loyalty goes viral

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s comments Saturday night regarding Kamala Harris’s questioning of his loyalty went viral on social media following a campaign rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

In a YouTube video posted two weeks ago, Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, said Vance would be “loyal only to Trump, not to our country” and would “approve of Trump’s extreme agenda.”

Vance took aim at those comments during his speech ahead of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in the key swing state on Saturday night. The Ohio native received loud applause from the Minnesota crowd when he referenced his service in the Marine Corps. He also received loud applause when he said Trump “took a bullet for this country,” drawing attention to the recent assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.

Vance and Trump
Republican vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance (left) and Donald Trump on July 27, 2024 in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The Ohio Republican took aim at Kamala Harris after she questioned his loyalty to the United States…


AFP/Getty Images

“Loyalty is an interesting word. There is no greater sign of disloyalty to this country than what Kamala Harris did at our southern border,” Vance told the crowd. “What has she done to call into question my loyalty to this country? I served in the United States Marine Corps. I went to Iraq for this country. I built a business for this country. And my running mate took a bullet for this country.”

“So my question to Kamala Harris is: What the hell have you done to question our loyalty to the United States of America? And the answer, my friends, is ‘Nothing.'”

The video, shared on Vance’s X account (formerly Twitter), had been viewed nearly 5 million times by Sunday morning.

On July 21, President Joe Biden announced that he would not run for re-election and endorsed Harris, who is now considered the likely candidate to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Vance and Trump have stepped up their attacks on Harris since Biden’s resignation, particularly characterizing her as extremely left-wing and out of touch with moderate voters. They also blamed her for the ongoing situation at the border.

“The Border Patrol chief was appointed over a year ago, but border czar Kamala Harris has not spoken a word to him. This administration has issued three million work permits to illegal immigrants, destroying American jobs and wages,” Vance said on Saturday.

Vance’s attack on Harris’ “loyalty” comments was widely praised by conservatives on social media, including Donald Trump Jr., who shared the video and wrote, “JD just absolutely torched Kamala. Watch this now.”

However, critics of Vance and Trump sharply criticized the comments, many pointing to Harris’s work as California Attorney General and as a U.S. Senator.

“For one thing, she put criminal con artists and rapists like your boss in prison. And now she’s running for office, among other things, so that the yam-stained doddering old man you claim to be loyal to will never use the Oval Office to protect himself from the law again,” @JoJoFromJerz, who has nearly a million followers, posted on X.

“You are a fake country boy who supported a coup and pledged allegiance to a wannabe dictator… Kamala Harris has been a Senator, Vice President, and Attorney General of California,” author SA Cosby posted on X.

Newsweek sent an email to the Harris team on Sunday morning asking for comment on Vance’s remarks.

Vance’s appearance with Trump on Saturday comes amid reports that the former president may regret choosing Vance as his vice presidential running mate.

Republican communications director Steven Cheung denied claims that Trump would reconsider his choice of vice presidential candidate.

“President Trump is thrilled with his choice of Senator Vance and they are the perfect team to take back the White House. And any reporting to the contrary is nothing more than ridiculous fake news from either nonexistent sources or from people who have no idea what is going on,” Cheung said. Newsweek on Tuesday.

“Meanwhile, the Democrats are in complete disarray following their coup that violently removed Biden from the campaign trail, proving that they are the real threat to democracy.”