JD Vance says Trump clashed with former officials for refusing to engage in 'ridiculous war'

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio argued that his running mate, former President Trump, has clashed with former Pentagon officials for refusing to enter "ridiculous wars," arguing that this was the reason why former officials like ex-White House chief of staff John Kelly have spoken out against him.

In a sit-down interview that aired on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday morning, Vance sparred with host Jake Tapper over recent allegations brought by Kelly, who said Trump is the "definition of a fascist." 

Vance charged that Kelly and other critics like former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney disagree with Trump on policy and are "conservative in the sense that they want America to get involved in a ton of ridiculous military conflicts - they wanted America to police the world, and Donald Trump wasn't." 

Tapper pushed back on this, noting that Kelly's son died in the war in Afghanistan. Vance, a Marine veteran, defended his position, saying, "I know John Kelly's worldview," and stating that while he honors Kelly's son and his family's sacrifice, "that doesn't mean he wasn't wrong about policy." 

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"Donald Trump wouldn't listen to the leadership of the military when they wanted him to start ridiculous conflicts," Vance said. "A lot of former members of the Pentagon bureaucracy, a lot of neoconservatives, they have a fundamental difference with Donald Trump on the question of peace and war." 

"I believe Donald Trump is the candidate of peace. I think the record supports that. The reason these guys go after him so vociferously, I don't think it's about his personality, Jake," Vance said. "I think that it's about they don't like that Donald Trump said no when a lot of them want to start a ridiculous war."