Democrats, along with mainstream and liberal media, argue that Vice President J.D. Vance has maintained a low profile despite being active in several public events since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury in Iran earlier this month.
In the 17 days since the launch of U.S. Operation Epic Fury, which has severely impacted Iran’s navy and ballistic missile capabilities while resulting in casualties among the Islamic regime, Vance has taken part in seven public engagements.
On March 2, just days after the conflict started, he had a prime-time interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters. Following that, on March 7, he was present for the dignified transfer of the first six American servicemen who lost their lives in the conflict. The next day, he addressed the International Association of Firefighters conference and attended another dignified transfer. Most recently, he made remarks in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and followed up with a press conference. On Monday, he joined President Donald Trump to execute an anti-fraud executive order in the Oval Office.
Despite this involvement, various news sources, analysts, and commentators suggest that Vance is either absent or “silent.”
“But [Vance] has been relatively inactive, and it raised questions when he announced a debate for college students next month,” commented Harry Thompson from the Daily Beast. An article he penned discussed Vance’s recent appearance in Rocky Mount.
A Forbes article published on Monday afternoon stated, “J.D. Vance, who has long opposed conflict, has seemingly vanished during the Iran war.”
Real Clear Politics said in a March 9 article that Vance had kept a “lower profile” than former Vice President Mike Pence since the onset of the war. However, by that point, Vance had attended several public events, including his first dignified transfer.
Tommy Vieter, a former spokesperson for the Obama administration and current co-host of Pod Save America, remarked last Wednesday that Vance has “basically gone dark since the Iran conflict started.”
“No lengthy, angry Twitter rants about the media and all that nonsense. Do you think you can evade this disaster, JD?” he added.
As reported by CNN, Vance had already begun reducing his social media activity, particularly before the war began.
Politico noted on March 2 that Vance was “noticeably quiet” over the past weekend, with his only public activities occurring online.
The perception of Vance’s silence during the war has sparked considerable backlash. Journalist Jack Posobiec responded to a CNN article asserting that “Vance’s distance from the Iran conflict is increasingly noticeable,” by tweeting about Vance’s comments regarding the military operation that same day.
In response to the same article, Kurt Schlichter countered, “None of that is true,” asserting that Vance had been “in court multiple times yesterday.” He dismissed the narrative surrounding the mullahs getting the upper hand.
Former White House chief communications director Alex Pfeiffer criticized Democratic strategist Mike Nellis for questioning “where the hell is” Vance.
“Vance is speaking in North Carolina right now, idiot. Fox has it live. Listen!” Pfeiffer wrote.
On Monday, CJ Pearson pointed out that Vance had been busy with “6/7-like events since the start of the Iran war” and mentioned he would be with Trump later that day in response to remarks suggesting that Vance had vanished.
