J.D Vance has been slammed online after he laughed and smiled when discussing the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
“The Biden administration called Putin every name in the book,” Hannity said. “And he still invaded anyway,” Vance responded laughing and smiling.
While Vance was taking aim at Biden with his laughter, X users said it was insensitive given the topic being discussed.
“Tens of thousands of people are dead, multiple cities and towns have been almost completely destroyed, and millions of people are displaced. And JD Vance laughs and smiles with Hannity about the invasion like it’s a game,”Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote.
Vance also discussed the heated conversation on Friday between him, President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
He followed this by speaking on Zelensky’s trip to Europe over the weekend that saw European leaders embrace the Ukrainian leader and pledge their unwavering support in the wake of the Oval Office meeting.
“I think our European friends, frankly, are being really, really — they’re doing a disservice to the Ukrainians, because their own populations are saying, ‘we’re not gonna fund this war indefinitely,” Vance said. “The American people are saying ‘we don’t want to fund this war indefinitely. So the only thing that is in the best interest of American, of Russia, of Ukraine and of Europe is to bring this thing to a close.”
Vance shared his views on Zelensky for going to European leaders for support saying that despite the leaders expressing their support for Ukraine’s struggle against Russia, he questions who will continue to pay for the war effort.
“What happened Sean is you have Zelensky, he goes to Europe, and a lot of European friends puff him up, they say ‘you’re a freedom fighter, you need to keep fighting forever.’ Well fighting forever with what? With whose money, with whose ammunition and with whose lives?” Vance said. “The president is actually taking a much more realistic perspective and saying ‘this can’t go on forever.'”
Vance’s interview comes the same day that the Trump administration announced it would temporality pausing all military aid to Ukraine.
A White House official said Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal to end the more than three-year war sparked by Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, and wants Zelenskyy “committed” to that goal.
The official added that the U.S. was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” The official spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Penn., who is co-chairman of the Congressional EU Caucus, said the decision to pause funding for Ukraine “is reckless, indefensible, and a direct threat to our national security.”
“This aid was approved by Congress on a bipartisan basis—Republicans and Democrats alike recognized that standing with Ukraine is standing for democracy and against Putin’s aggression,” Boyle said in a statement. “Yet, Trump, who has repeatedly praised Putin and undermined our allies, is now playing political games with critical military assistance.”
Speaking with Bloomberg and Fox News a White House official stressed that the pause was temporary.
“This is not permanent termination of aid, it’s a pause,” the official emphasized. “The orders are going out right now.” The pause will end when Trump has determined Zelensky demonstrates a good-faith commitment to peace.
