Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) sought to draw attention away from past praise he has given to former President Obama by comparing his abilities to those of Donald Trump.
Appearing on “Meet the Press” Sunday, host Kristen Welker asked the senator whether he still considered Obama “a respected man,” quoting a 2017 opinion piece Vance wrote for The New York Times.
Vance, who was seen as one of the leading contenders in the race to be Trump’s running mate, told Welker that Obama was a “good husband and father,” but said the same thing about Trump.
“I came from a broken home, and Christine, I just wanted to be a good husband and father,” he said. “And certainly Barack Obama, despite his many political disagreements, is a good husband and father. By the way, I would say the same thing about Donald Trump. His kids love him.”
“I think that’s one of the things the media often misses about Trump,” Vance continued. “How deeply committed he is to his family and his grandchildren, and part of his pro-life message, his fundamental pro-life perspective, is that we need to make it easier for more American families to have thriving children and thriving families.”
While Trump’s children have spoken favorably of him in the past, and some have even supported him during his money laundering scandal, his marital history is less flattering.
He is the only U.S. president to have been married three times and divorced twice.
Vance again turned his focus to Obama, telling Welker, “Was Barack Obama a good president? No. Was he a good husband and father? Yes.”
In a 2017 article, Vance called the Republican Party’s “inability to separate legitimate political disagreement from the fact that (Obama) is a revered figure” one of “the greatest failures in recent political history.”
“At a pivotal time in my life, Barack Obama gave me hope that a boy like me could still achieve one of my most important dreams,” he wrote. “For that, I will miss him and the example he set.”
