Vice President JD Vance had people rolling their eyes after he attempted to claim that President Donald Trump is a "person of faith" even if he "doesn't wear it on his sleeve."
Vance made the remark while promoting his new book about converting to Catholicism on Fox News on Monday, telling network personality Sean Hannity that his “spiritual side” differs from Trump “in many ways” even as they’ve maintained a “phenomenal” relationship.
In response to Hannity bringing up that Vance had previously "attacked" Trump—Vance most infamously referred to Trump as "America's Hitler" years before joining forces with the far-right—Vance had this to say:
"What is interesting about President Trump is—he doesn’t wear it on his sleeve, but he is a person of faith. And he does, like all of us, think about these very deep questions: where did we come from? Where are we going?”
“And you know, fundamentally, I think the president—he recognizes that some of the people who have been best to him, who have been critical parts of him getting to the presidency now two times and arguably three times, they were Christians.”
You can hear what Vance said in the video below.
Vance's claim is ridiculous given Trump has previously struggled to explain his "personal relationship" with God.
Despite his adultery, dishonesty, criminal behavior, and other moral failings, Trump claims to be a Christian and has actively sought and received the support of the evangelical community. He has delivered on his pledges to appoint conservative Christian judges to senior positions, a move that has been instrumental in restricting women’s reproductive rights and solidifying his base.
During last year's National Prayer Breakfast, he announced he'd established a White House "Faith Office" while pledging to "eradicate anti-Christian bias." He claimed that "the mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government including in the DOJ, the IRS, the FBI, and other agencies."
During his first term, he infamously staged a photo opportunity holding a Bible in front of St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. as police officers used tear gas on peaceful racial justice demonstrators who'd convened following the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis.
According to sources cited by NBC News, Trump's impromptu walk to the church was his own idea, driven by a desire for a specific visual impact.
People are not buying what Vance is selling.
Vance's comments are especially egregious when you consider that his commitment to his own religious faith has raised eyebrows.
Vance's book, published by HarperCollins, is marketed as "a spiritual exploration of what it means to be a Christian in all the seasons of life JD Vance has experienced—as a child, a young man, a husband, a father, and a leader."
However, The Bulwark’s national political reporter Joe Perticone pointed out that the cover image—showing a rural Appalachian-style chapel—actually depicts Mount Zion Church in Elk Creek, Virginia, a United Methodist church rather than a Catholic one.
Vance was also criticized last year after telling attendees at a Turning Point USA conference that he hopes his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, who is the daughter of Telugu-speaking Indian Hindu immigrants who hail from Andhra Pradesh, will convert to Christianity someday and "see things the same way" that he does.
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