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JD Vance destroys CNN propagandist Dana Bash and her anti-Trump ‘whataboutism’

August 11, 2024 | | Print Article

An attempt at defending Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over bailing on deployment saw CNN’s Dana Bash schooled by Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.

“Dana, I’m not interested in the ad hominem.”

Like inflatable sky dancers at a used car lot, corporate media has been flailing to cover allegations of “stolen valor” against Walz since he was named as running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris. During a sit down interview for “State of the Union,” Vance gave a preview of how ready he was to debate his presumptive rival as he deftly burst Bash’s take at every turn.

The running mate to former President Donald Trump was presented with the argument, “And on the question of when [Walz] left the National Guard, he filed his election paperwork Feb. 10, 2005. That was a month before the National Guard even announced that it was possible that they would deploy to Iraq. And it ended up being two months — he retired two months before they actually got the paperwork.”

Prefacing the senator’s response with the caption, “CNN’s Dana Bash, frustrated after getting her Stolen Valor questions and whataboutist followups wrapped around her head by @JDVance, desperately moves to abortion,” NewsBusters Jorge Bonilla shared a clip of the interview with the lawmaker reminding the anchor what her own network had reported.

“But on CNN last night, Dana, one of the people who was actually in charge of him said they knew they were gonna deploy to Iraq in…fall of 2004,” Vance reminded. “So he knew he was going to Iraq.”

“He decided to quit, to retire, whatever word you want to use, because he wanted to run for Congress. He lied about that,” the senator continued. “So again, I’m not criticizing the service. I’m criticizing the dishonesty; dishonesty spoken in favor and for the purpose of political benefit.”

As had been reported, during an interview with CNN’s Laura Coates, former Command Sgt. Maj. Doug Julin lamented the “backdoor process” that Walz had taken to go over his head after assuring he was “going forward with the battalion.”

His timeline suggested Walz had committed to be deployed to Iraq even after filing to run for Congress and that the retirement had him bailing on his fellow guardsman to seek a gig in public office wherein he was repeatedly framed as someone who served “in war.”

“Why did Kamala Harris choose a person who has lied about their military service?” asked Vance, wrangling control of the topic. “I think that is a serious lapse in judgment. And I don’t want to hear from a campaign spokesperson of Kamala Harris. I want to hear Kamala Harris herself address what I just said.”

A follow up attempt from Bash saw her press, “I’ve seen a lot of statements from veterans, including those you served with, saying it’s just untoward to be criticizing somebody who served for 24 years.”

That premise was readily smacked away by the congressman who said, “Dana, I’m not interested in the ad hominem. I’ve heard from a lot of veterans groups who criticized Tim Walz.”

“I care about what the truth is. The truth is that Tim Walz didn’t tell the truth. And importantly, Dana, this is about Kamala Harris’ judgment,” he reiterated. “And I think that when you ask: why has Kamala Harris allowed the border to be wide open? Why has Kamala Harris supported policies that have promoted the increase in inflation? I think it goes to the heart of her judgment. And I think that that’s what we should be talking about.”

In a last ditch effort, the anchor brought up Trump’s medical draft deferment for bones spurs and asked, “Do you find that shameful too?”

While she interjected to challenge whether or not Vance believed Trump ever had bone spurs, the senator responded, “I think that Donald Trump didn’t serve in the military, but he didn’t lie about it.”

“I don’t criticize anybody whether they served our country or not. I think it’s honorable to serve. But obviously a lot of people have reasons for not serving. I criticized somebody for embellishing their record; for lying saying, ‘I went to war,'” he explained. “Do you think that it’s a problem that he said ‘I went to war,’ but he didn’t actually? That seems to be a problem to me.”

Before pivoting to the next subject, Bash alluded to an official statement that contended the governor “misspoke,” when she offered, “Well, they’ve, they’ve corrected that.”

Kevin Haggerty
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