Former President Donald Trump's running mate J.D. Vance was criticized for appearing to make light of the recent assassination attempt on Trump's life during his speech accepting the vice presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention.
At one point, Vance joked about "political violence" between Ohio and Michigan supporters while discussing some of his life experiences before officially starting his political career with a successful 2022 Senate campaign.
He said:
"I left the Marines after four years, I went to The Ohio State University."
[amid lighthearted booing] "I'm sorry, Michigan. I had to get that in there. Come on. Come on. We have had enough political violence."
You can hear what he said in the video below and the crowd's laughter at the cringe-worthy punchline.
Vance's joke is considerably tasteless given that Trump's campaign is currently "undergoing a security assessment and is planning on conducting a 'training class' for staff in the coming weeks," per adviser Chris LaCivita, who spoke to CNN.
In recent weeks, according to a CNN exclusive, U.S. authorities also received intelligence from a human source about an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump, prompting the Secret Service to increase security around the former president. However, the sources noted that there is no indication the shooter was connected to this plot; the White House is also actively monitoring the threat.
The shooting ultimately claimed the life of one man and injured two others and reactions from the right-wing have largely centered on the failure of the Secret Service to adequately secure the perimeter.
Indeed, Vance's words suggest the GOP is not taking political violence seriously—and certainly not when their presidential nominee is a convicted felon who incited his supporters to attack the United States Capitol and has called for military tribunals and the executions of his political opponents.
Vance was harshly criticized as a result.
Political violence is no laughing matter and is very much on the rise within the United States.
A comprehensive examination of this phenomenon published by TIME in 2022 revealed that throughout the United States, there has been a significant increase in harassment, attacks, and violent threats directed at civic and public officials, as well as their families. As such, the country continues to confront a widespread threat of politically motivated violence.
Various news outlets, public documents, and discussions with experts and officials across different government levels show that critical institutions—such as election offices, city councils, municipal health departments, school boards, and public library systems—are being consistently threatened and undermined by ongoing intimidation.
TIME noted that some political violence has "garnered national attention, from the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol aimed at blocking the certification of the presidential election" to the October 2022 "break-in at Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home" that nearly resulted in the death of her husband after a MAGA and QAnon adherent attacked him with a hammer.
The publication also included a sobering statistic, pointing out that just in 2021 alone "there were more than 9,600 recorded threats against members of Congress—a nearly tenfold increase from 2016, as reported by Capitol Police records."
Since the publication of this investigation, the country has continued to experience political violence—such as the aforementioned attempt on Trump's life—as well as explicit threats such as when Kevin Roberts, the Heritage Foundation President, recently made headlines for calling for a "second American revolution" that he said will “remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
