There is a difference between reading from a teleprompter and regurgitating carefully scripted, perfectly phrased content that has been reviewed and refined by dozens of writers versus speaking genuinely from the heart.
That difference is human connection.
No one understands this difference better than former President Donald Trump. Trump has a unique ability to talk to his audience directly, without filters, for hours at a time — speaking what’s in his heart as if conversing with a family member or a friend. This unfiltered communication style, despite its imperfections, allows him to connect with his audience on a personal level, which results in packed events, the likes of which very few politicians have ever seen.
But the thing about speaking to your friends is you don’t always use the perfect terms or language. And for media vultures following Trump — that is headline heaven.
When Trump used the phrase “poisoning the blood of our country” while discussing illegal immigration at a rally on Saturday, the establishment media pounced.
Their out-of-context inflammatory reporting on the use of the phrase resulted in even some GOP members voicing criticism of his comments, according to NBC News.
But Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance had a few choice words Tuesday for a reporter who pushed him to denounce Trump’s language.
In an audio recording obtained by the Daily Caller, Vance was asked by an AP reporter what he had to say about the former president’s comments about “poisoning the blood of America.”
LISTEN: Sen. J.D. Vance destroys an AP reporter who asks about Trump’s “poisoning the blood of our country” remarks.
Audio obtained by @DailyCaller: pic.twitter.com/a6WTO0WRb4
— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) December 19, 2023
Vance pointed out that Trump never said “immigrants” were poisoning the blood of this country; he said “illegal immigrants” were poisoning the blood of this country — “which is objectively and obviously true to anybody who looks at the statistics about fentanyl overdose,” he said.
Vance then went on the offensive against the “press as an organization,” saying, “You guys seem far more upset about the guy who criticized the problem, than you do about Joe Biden who’s causing this problem.”
Instead of acknowledging the truth about what Vance was saying, the reporter attempted to steer him back to Trump’s comments, pointing to the “language that we heard.”
“During World War II, I’m sure you are a student of history, you’re well aware of what that kind of language represents in historical context,” she said.
“What organization do you represent?” Vance asked the reporter.
She replied that she was from The Associated Press.
“The idea that I am well aware,” Vance said, “You just framed your question assuming that Donald Trump is talking about Adolf Hitler.”
“It’s absurd. It is absurd,” Vance said.
“Why do you think Donald Trump’s language is targeted at the blood of the immigrants and not at the blood of the American citizens who are being poisoned by the fentanyl problem?” Vance asked.
“I think this is ridiculous,” he continued, cutting off the reporter mid-question. “If you watch the speech in context and you look at what’s going on, it is obvious that he was talking about the very clear fact that the blood of Americans is being poisoned by a drug epidemic.
“To take that comment and then to immediately assume that he’s talking about immigrants as Adolf Hitler talked about the Jews is preposterous. You guys need to wake up and actually do some journalism,” Vance said.
“Here’s the problem with that question and that framing,” Vance continued, refusing to let the reporter interrupt. “You are allegedly a journalist. You’re supposed to, quote, ‘speak truth to power.’ And yet you’re trying to circumscribe and narrow the limits of debate on immigration in this country.
“What you’re doing is not speaking truth to power. You’re trying to police the guy who’s criticizing the problem so that Americans don’t pay attention to the guy who caused the problem.”
“It’s an absurd question. It’s an absurd framing,” Vance said.
Vance’s scathing reproof of the reporter’s assumptions regarding Trump’s language could not have been more on point. It was a master class in how the GOP should deal with the dishonest establishment media.
Donald Trump Jr wrote on the social media platform X: “This Fake News hack from the AP just got absolutely destroyed by @JDVance1!!!!
This Fake News hack from the AP just got absolutely destroyed by @JDVance1!!!! https://t.co/9etBdzYzHA
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 19, 2023
“More public figures need to tackle the mainstream media journalists like this,” another X user wrote. “Make them uncomfortable. They try to put words in people’s mouth and it’s time they be exposed. And it’s very easy to do. Question them back!”
More public figures need to tackle the mainstream media journalists like this. Make them uncomfortable. They try to put words in people’s mouth and it’s time they be exposed. And it’s very easy to do. Question them back!
— Ve vi Saha (@Vevisaha) December 19, 2023
Another X user simply wrote, “Damn, I wish I had those skills. That was bada**.”
Damn, I wish I had those skills. That was badass.
— Dave (@davespace_) December 19, 2023
It’s a shame more Republican leaders do not have the fortitude to fight back against false allegations and an establishment media spin pushing a narrative that paints conservatives, and especially Donald Trump, as racists and bigots. (Meanwhile, actual Democratic racism goes unpunished, if it’s mentioned at all.)
Caring about the fentanyl epidemic caused by our open borders isn’t racism. It’s good governance, and even members of the establishment media know it.
It’s about time someone called out their so-called “journalism” for what it really is — partisan hackery.
