As the race for the White House heats up with less than three months until Election Day, one prominent Republican from Mississippi has weighed in on GOP nominee Donald Trump’s decision to choose JD Vance as his running mate.
Trent Lott, who served as majority leader (1996-2001) and minority leader (2001-2003) of the U.S. Senate, took to The Gallo Show recently to discuss Vance’s rapid rise from junior senator to Trump running mate. Lott said he overall approves of the pick but vouched that Vance is going to have to “take a serious look” at his checkered past when it comes to foreign policy and defense.
“He is smart. He is articulate. But some of his positions have been questionable,” Lott said. “He’s going to have to take a serious look at what his support is for President Trump with regard to foreign policy and defense issues where he’s been a little shaky. I think he will be fine, but like all of us, you have to grow and learn.”
The focal point of Lott’s criticism of Vance is the Ohio senator’s outspoken position on the war between Russia and Ukraine. Vance, an avid critic of giving additional aid to Ukraine, is on record saying he is not concerned with what happens if Russia overtakes its westward neighbor and would rather utilize U.S. taxpayer dollars to curb illegal immigration through the southern border.
“I’ve got to be honest with you. I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,” Vance said during an appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room before he was tabbed as Trump’s running mate. “I do care about the fact that in my community right now, the leading cause of death among 18 to 45-year-olds is Mexican fentanyl that’s coming across the southern border. I’m sick of Joe Biden focusing on the border of a country I don’t care about while he lets the border of his own country become a total war zone.”
Lott disagrees with the VP hopeful’s rhetoric and said stopping Russian President Vladimir Putin in his imperialist campaign into other countries after Ukraine, particularly those in NATO, should be first and foremost among Republicans’ foreign agendas.
“I personally think he’s wrong on Ukraine. If Putin and Russia just take over Ukraine, they won’t stop there,” Lott asserted. “Then, the situation will be even more difficult. What do we do if Putin decides to go into Poland or one of the Baltic states?”
Lott did take a minute to give Vance the benefit of the doubt, though, and sympathize with his calls for accountability when it comes to foreign aid. Vance continues to raise questions over how much more money is necessary to ensure a Ukrainian victory over Russia. Since the war began in February 2022, the U.S. has allocated $113.4 billion in emergency funding to support Ukraine.
“I understand what he’s saying. We’ve put a lot of money into that defense of Ukraine. Are we sure where all of it is going? How much is enough? What is the strategy to win? Is there a strategy to get some sort of solution or settlement to stop the killing? None of this has been explained,” Lott said.
Lott ended the interview by expressing his full confidence in Trump and said if elected to a second term, the former president would “work out” the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
At the state level, there has been little to no criticism from Mississippi statewide elected officials over Vance. Gov. Tate Reeves even took some time during his annual Neshoba County Fair speech last week to tout Vance’s story – one the senator cataloged in his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy – resonates with a large number of Mississippians.
“JD Vance is going to be a valuable asset in this campaign and helping President Trump govern,” Reeves said. “His story of growing up in poverty in rural Ohio, the son of a single parent, raised by his mamaw, and rising to be a U.S. senator and now a vice-presidential nominee is inspiring and familiar to those of us in Mississippi. It is the American dream in action.”
On Tuesday, Vance found out who the No. 2 on the other side would be when Democratic nominee Kamala Harris named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz her running mate. The 2024 presidential election takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
