JD Vance defends 'The View' appearance, explains the need to engage with hostile environments
JD Vance told Mike Rowe on his podcast why he chose to appear on "The View" and face a hostile environment, arguing that it helps bridge the country's division.
Vice President JD Vance defended his appearance on ABC's "The View" during an interview last week with Mike Rowe, as the VP encouraged breaching environments with ideological differences.
Rowe, during his "The Way I Heard It" podcast, applauded Vance for going on the liberal talk show, and said he didn't have to do it.
"No, but I'm glad I did," Vance said. "I think the only way to pierce through this is to actually go and try to do these conversations everywhere, right? And you're the kind of guy where everybody from the left or the right can talk to and that's good. That's an amazing thing. But you also need to be willing to go into more hostile places, and you need to be willing to go into more ideological places."
Vance appeared on "The View" last month to discuss his new book, "Communion," about religion and his conversion to Catholicism. He sparred with the co-hosts of the liberal show on several issues, including immigration and Black history.
Vance said, "Why are you in public life if you don't think you can carry your message? If you don't think there's even a chance of persuading, not 50% of the people who are watching me on 'The View,' but maybe 10% of the people who are watching me on 'The View,' thought, at the very least, maybe this guy isn't such an a------."
Rowe quipped it was a "high bar."
"Look, if you set a low expectation you're going to exceed it, right? That's one of the most important lessons in life, man," Vance said.
The vice president said that one of the only ways to bridge the division in the country is to talk to people.
"I think that the solution to — people talk about the division in our country, I think that the division is a symptom of something much deeper. But fundamentally, one of the ways to bridge the divide is just to go and talk to people. Like, yeah, the ladies of 'The View,' some of them were asking unfair questions or talking over me a little bit, but they were fine. They were nice to me. They allowed me to have a platform to say what I wanted to say, and that's all you can really ask for," Vance said.
Vance clashed with co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Sunny Hostin over Black history, as they both argued that it was being erased by the Trump administration.
"Black history has been erased from public spaces," Hostin said at the time.
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"Black history is not erased from public spaces," Vance replied.
"That is true!" Hostin argued.
"That is not right," Vance said. "I’m telling you, we celebrate Black history, we celebrate all American history in this administration. You guys might be skeptical of this, but I promise you it's true."
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However, despite many disagreements, the interview was relatively cordial. Co-host Joy Behar told Vance he should run for president because he had a good vibe, the show's producer Brian Teta revealed on the "Behind the Table" podcast after the interview.
"I think that, even though, for a Republican. Mind you, I'm not a Republican," Behar said.