Democrats, as well as establishment and liberal media, have claimed Vice President JD Vance has kept a low profile since Operation Epic Fury began in Iran earlier this month, despite the vice president engaging in a number of public-facing events.
In the 17 days since the start of the United States’ Operation Epic Fury, which has seen the dismantlement of Iran’s Navy and much of its ballistic missile program, and also repeated casualties in its Islamic regime, Vance has engaged in seven public events.
WATCH – Trump: U.S. Media Companies Putting Out False Info on Iran Is Very Dangerous:
On March 2, just days into the war, he joined Fox News’s Jesse Watters for a prime-time interview. On March 7, he attended the dignified transfer of the first six U.S. servicemembers killed in the war. The next day, he delivered remarks at the International Association of Fire Fighters Conference and attended a dignified transfer. On Friday, he delivered remarks in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and then participated in a subsequent press gaggle. On Monday, he joined President Donald Trump for an anti-fraud executive order in the Oval Office.
Clearly, Vance has maintained a public profile, but outlets, journalists, and pundits have contended that Vance has been “quiet” or “missing in action.”
“But [Vance] has been conspicuously missing in action, raising some eyebrows earlier this week with an announcement he’s going to debate college kids next month,” the Daily Beast’s Harry Thompson wrote in an article published on Friday when Vance visited Rocky Mount.
Forbes published the headline, “JD Vance Disappears Amid War With Iran — After Opposing A Conflict For Years,” on Monday afternoon.
RealClearPolitics ran a March 9 article stating that Vance had kept “a lower profile” than former Vice President Mike Pence since the start of the war, though Vance had been at multiple public events, including the first dignified transfer, in the lead-up to that day, which also included more public-facing events.
Last Wednesday, former Obama administration National Security Council spokesman and current Pod Save America cohost Tommy Vietor claimed Vance had “basically gone dark since the war in Iran started.”
“No long, indignant Twitter essays whining about the media or whatever bullshit. You think you can hide from this disaster, JD?” he added.
Vance notably began posting less on X even before the war started, as CNN pointed out.
Politico published an article on March 2 stating that Vance was “conspicuously quiet, with his only public activity over the weekend coming on social media,” However, he joined Watters on Fox News later that day.
The notion that Vance has gone quiet during the war has received significant pushback. Journalist Jack Posobiec responded to a CNN article headlined “Vance’s distance from the Iran war is getting more conspicuous,” published Friday, with a tweet highlighting Vance’s comments on the operation the same day.
In response to the same article, Kurt Schlichter wrote, “None of that’s true,” adding that the vice president “was out there yesterday making multiple appearances. Throw this in the pile with the crap about how the mullahs have us right where they want us.”
Former White House Principal Communications Director Alex Pfeiffer blasted Democrat strategist Mike Nellis on Friday for asking “where the fuck” Vance was.
“Vance is speaking in NC right now, idiot. Fox is carrying it live. Tune in!” Pfeiffer wrote.
On Monday, CJ Pearson highlighted that Vance had done “like 6/7 events since the start of the Iran war” and that he would be with Trump later in the afternoon while replying to an account claiming Vance had disappeared.
Read the full article here