The question lands hard, and it comes from a widower. Joey Amor stands in front of Vice President JD Vance at a CBS News town hall and asks about the fundamental failures that led to the death of his wife, Master Sgt. Nicole Amor. She was one of six U.S. soldiers killed by an Iranian drone in Kuwait on March 1, the day after President Trump started the war with Iran.
“This literally is the first time I’ve heard of this,” Vance answered, and said he wanted to talk with Amor afterwards to learn more. Then came the explanation: “This job is an amazing honor, but you live in a bit of a bubble and sometimes information doesn’t filter up.”
Vance seemed taken aback. Pressed further, he acknowledged mistakes. “There were issues with where troops were located that we realized was a huge mistake that we could do better on, and we have changed that,” he said. He did not spell out the failures Amor had raised. Amor had also asked how leaders would be held accountable.
Gas Prices and Iran
The event, hosted by CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil, aired Saturday evening with questions from Michigan voters. One man said he voted for Trump and Vance in 2024 but now plans to back Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. He pressed Vance on gasoline prices.
Vance said it was important to be honest about why they are so high, and pointed to “what’s happening in the Middle East.” In his words: “We’ve never had a situation like this where you have effectively the largest state sponsor of terrorism that’s trying to choke off world energy supply.” He did not acknowledge that the situation arose from a war Trump launched. He also blamed former President Joe Biden for diminishing America’s refining capacity.
When pressed on the administration owning the present situation, Vance said looking backward for blame was not the way. “Fundamentally, we are where we are,” he said, and asked what El-Sayed’s solution would be. “It’s easy to criticize something that happened seven months ago.”
The Economy and 2028
Asked about the cost of living, Vance said the damage was decades in the making. “What broke the United States, as much as I might like to criticize Joe Biden, but it was a bipartisan, multi-generational failure to under-invest in American workers, to under-invest in American manufacturing, to ship all of our good jobs overseas,” he said. If those jobs are overseas, he told an owner of a family business, people in Michigan cannot spend money there.
He pointed to new investment by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis as evidence the administration is “turning the tide” on manufacturing decline.
On a possible run for president in 2028, Vance said there was “of course” a chance he would not. He called himself a procrastinator on big life decisions. He and his wife, Usha Vance, have four young children, and she “has never loved politics,” he said, though “she loves public service.” Vance is widely viewed as an early frontrunner in the Republican primaries and a possible heir to Trump’s political movement.
Sources
- Vance faces tough questions on Iran war, immigration and more in CBS town hall
- JD Vance
- 7 highlights from JD Vance's CBS News town hall: Iran, immigration, corruption and 2028 plans
Photo: Emily J. Higgins (Public domain)
