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Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance was forced to correct NBC News anchor Kristen Welker on Sunday after she made a false claim about Donald Trump.

Instead of asking Vance about the Trump-Vance vision for America, Welker chose to begin her interview with Vance — which aired just days before Election Day — by asking him if he views Russian President Vladimir Putin as an “ally” or “enemy.”

‘I think that that’s a misunderstanding of the history, Kristen.’

Vance, in response, called Putin an “adversary” and “competitor,” explaining America needs “to be smart about diplomacy.” Vance then tried to shift the conversation to topics Americans care about, but Welker refused to ask about those issues. Instead, she asked Vance why he’s “not willing to go so far as to call [Putin] an enemy.”

“Well, we’re not in a war with him, and I don’t want to be in a war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” Vance shot back.

And that’s when the interview took a turn.

Vance told Welker that America needs “smart diplomacy” to restore peace in the world and to turn the page from the foreign policy disasters of the Biden-Harris administration. Oddly, Welker responded by asserting that Russia invaded Ukraine when Trump was president, forcing Vance to give her a history lesson.

“Of course, Donald Trump was president for four years while Russia was essentially invading Crimea,” Welker said. “Why didn’t he kick him out when he had the chance? He had four years.”

“Oh, I think that that’s a misunderstanding of the history, Kristen,” Vance responded.

“Well, there was fighting going on,” Welker insisted

“First of all, we had Russia invade another country, a sovereign nation, during Obama,” Vance corrected. “We had Russia invade a sovereign nation during Bush’s term. We had Russia invade a sovereign nation during the leadership of Kamala Harris.”

“The one four-year term where Russia did not launch a full-scale invasion against a neighbor was under the leadership of Donald Trump,” he explained. “We also have to remember, just on that point, if Donald Trump had not given Ukraine javelins, the country would not exist as an independent sovereign nation anymore. So, the idea that Donald Trump wasn’t sufficiently strong on Russia, I think, is belied by the actual history of the period.”

Vance is right.

When George W. Bush was president, Russia invaded the country of Georgia in 2008. When Barack Obama was president, Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. And, of course, under Biden and Harris, Russia expanded its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and launched a full-scale war.

It is, moreover, not correct to assert there was ongoing conflict in Crimea under Trump.

Crimea was annexed and incorporated into Russia in March 2014. It has remained under Russian occupation since then. Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine 2.5 years ago, Crimea remained relatively peaceful. There was, however, ongoing fighting in Donbas, a region in eastern Ukraine, which also began in 2014.



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