Maria Ramirez Uribe, PolitiFact
During the Republican National Convention’s opening night time, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) spoke to Fox News for his first interview as former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee.
Sitting within the Fiserv Forum, the conference’s Milwaukee venue, Vance took questions from host Sean Hannity and addressed criticism about his earlier feedback on home violence, abortion, and his 2016 disapproval of Trump.
A few occasions, Vance accused the media of twisting controversial feedback about violent marriages and abortion exemptions. We took a more in-depth have a look at 4 of his claims.
Vance Mischaracterizes Biden’s Stance on Abortion
Vance addressed his personal and Trump’s place on abortion. He described Trump’s place “to let voters in states” resolve abortion legal guidelines as “reasonable,” contrasting it with Biden’s.
“Donald Trump is running against a Joe Biden president who wants taxpayer-funded abortions up until the moment of birth,” Vance mentioned.
This is False and misleads about how hardly ever abortions are carried out late in being pregnant.
The vast majority of abortions within the U.S. — about 91% — happen within the first trimester. About 1% happen after 21 weeks, and much fewer than 1% happen within the third trimester and sometimes contain emergencies corresponding to deadly fetal anomalies or life-threatening medical emergencies affecting the pregnant girl.
Biden has mentioned he supported Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion and was overturned in June 2022, and desires federally protected abortion entry.
Roe didn’t present unrestricted entry to abortion. It legalized abortion federally but in addition enabled the states to limit or ban abortions as soon as a fetus is viable, sometimes round 24 weeks into being pregnant. Exceptions to that timeframe sometimes have been allowed when the pregnant girl’s life or well being was in danger.
The Democratic-led Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021, which did not move the Senate, would have successfully codified a proper to abortion whereas permitting for post-viability restrictions just like Roe‘s.
During the 2020 presidential marketing campaign, Biden promised to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which says federal funds can’t be used to pay for abortions, besides in instances of rape or incest or to save lots of the lady’s life. However, the modification has continued to be included in congressional spending payments.
Vance’s Comments About Women in Violent Marriages
Hannity requested Vance to clarify controversial 2021 feedback about ladies staying in violent marriages.
“Both me and my mom actually were victims of domestic violence,” Vance instructed Hannity. “So, to say ‘Vance has supported women staying in violent marriages,’ I think it’s shameful for them to take a guy with my history and my background and say that that’s what I believe. It’s not what I believe. It’s not what I said.”
The feedback in query got here from a 2021 occasion Vance participated in at Pacifica Christian High School in California. In a dialog about his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” the event moderator asked Vance about his expertise being raised by his grandparents, following his mom’s divorces and struggles with drug habit.
“What is causing one generation to give up on fatherhood when the other one was so doggedly determined to stick it out even in tough times?” the moderator requested.
Vance talked in regards to the financial impact of males dropping manufacturing jobs then mentioned his grandparents’ marriage.
In his memoirs, Vance detailed his grandparents’ relationship and instructed a narrative about Vance’s grandmother pouring lighter fluid on his grandfather and placing a match after he got here residence drunk. She had beforehand threatened to kill her husband if he got here residence drunk once more, in line with a 2016 book review printed by The Washington Post.
Vance counseled his grandparents for staying collectively, evaluating it with youthful generations.
“This is among the nice tips that I feel the sexual revolution pulled on the American populace, which is the concept that, like, ‘Well, OK, these marriages were fundamentally, you know, they were maybe even violent, but certainly they were unhappy. And so getting rid of them and making it easier for people to shift spouses like they change their underwear, that’s going to make individuals happier in the long run.’
“And maybe it worked out for the moms and dads, though I’m skeptical. But it really didn’t work out for the kids of those marriages.”
In response to a 2022 Vice News story highlighting the feedback, Jai Chabria, a strategist for Vance, mentioned the media missed Vance’s point.
“This is a comment that he made where he’s talking about how it’s important that couples stay together for the kids, that we actually have good kids first,” he mentioned. “All he is saying is that it is far too often the case where couples get divorced, they split up, and they don’t take the kids’ needs into consideration.”
Vance’s Comments About Rape, Abortion, and ‘Inconvenience’
Hannity requested Vance to debate his place on abortion, permitting the senator to handle his previous feedback which have been criticized.
“Let me go back to the issue of abortion,” Hannity mentioned. “And there was this article that said, ‘Oh, J.D. Vance said it’s inconvenient.’”
Vance instructed Hannity, “The Democrats have completely twisted my words. What I did say is that we sometimes in this society see babies as inconveniences, and I absolutely want us to change that.”
We regarded into comments Vance made on abortion whereas he was working for Senate in 2022. His opponent claimed Vance had mentioned that rape was inconvenient, however we discovered that’s in a roundabout way what Vance mentioned.
In a 2021 interview, Vance was requested whether or not legal guidelines ought to permit ladies to get abortions in the event that they have been victims of rape or incest. He mentioned society shouldn’t view a being pregnant or delivery ensuing from rape or incest as “inconvenient.”
“My view on this has been very clear, and I think the question betrays a certain presumption that is wrong,” Vance mentioned in 2021. “It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society. The question really, to me, is about the baby.”
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