Overview
- Vice President JD Vance kept a scheduled appearance on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday as renewed U.S. strikes and Iranian responses unfolded and used the platform to speak for the administration.
- Before the taping Vance posted on X that disputes about how the MOU is applied should be handled by phone and warned, “violence will be met with violence.”
- Maher pressed Vance to disavow false 2020 election claims, but Vance instead focused on his concern that large technology companies censored content in 2020 and said that is his main criticism of that election.
- On the show Vance argued the U.S. has materially set back Iran’s ability to enrich uranium and said the country’s nuclear program is effectively destroyed whether or not a final deal is reached.
- The appearance extends Vance’s California media tour and White House rebrand, produced mixed online reaction and divergent press coverage, and leaves questions about how his rhetoric will affect swing voters and intra-party dynamics ahead of 2028.