Won't They Ever Learn? Kristen Welker Tries to Set JD Vance Against Trump on 'Enemies Within'

Two weeks ago, Donald Trump made a statement in an interview with Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo. Bartiromo asked Trump if he was expecting violence on election day.

BARTIROMO: What are you expecting? Joe Biden said he doesn't think it's going to be a peaceful election day?
TRUMP: Well, he doesn't have any idea what's happening, in all fairness. He spends most of his day sleeping. I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in and destroying our country. By the way, totally destroying our country. The towns, the villages, they're being inundated. But I don't think they're the problem in terms of Election Day. I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they're the -- and it should be very easily handled by -- if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can't let that happen.

The "enemy within" part of the interview has become a mainstay of Democrat politics and the Harris campaign. I'm not sure why, because it echoes a Biblical warning: Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. The Antifa and BLM demonstrators in the streets of Portland and Los Angeles attacking government buildings and committing arson and mayhem are a very real threat to the country, and Trump was right; they should've been handled by the National Guard or by federal troops after the invocation of the Insurrection Act.

In today's edition of Meet the Press, Kristen Welker tried to use this phraseology to put Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, in a difficult position. It didn't work out terribly well for her.

NBC's Kristen Welker tied her "enemies within" question to China, and got WRECKED by @JDVance1 as well, especially when she tried to throw her "inflation is down" cheap shot rebuttal at the end, per her custom. pic.twitter.com/yPVZW6nqzZ
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 27, 2024

KRISTEN WELKER: This week, we learned that China was behind a broad hacking campaign –
SEN. JD VANCE: Sure.
KRISTEN WELKER: – targeting the phones of both presidential campaigns, highlighting the threat that China poses to this country. And yet, Donald Trump recently called his domestic political opponents, quote, “the enemy from within,” and said they are more dangerous than Russia and China. Do you believe that people like Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi are more dangerous than Russia and China?
SEN. JD VANCE: Well, I think what Donald Trump said is that those folks pose a greater threat to the United States’ peace and security because America is strong enough to stand up to any foreign adversary.
KRISTEN WELKER: Do you agree with him? They pose a larger threat to the United States than Russia and China?
SEN. JD VANCE: What he said, and I do agree with this – what he said is that the biggest threat we have in our country, it's not a foreign adversary, because we can handle these guys. We can handle foreign conflicts. We can’t handle – look, under Nancy Pelosi’s long life in public leadership, the United States has gone from the preeminent industrial power of the world to second, next to China. That fundamentally belongs on Nancy Pelosi's shoulders, and if we're going to have a more prosperous country, we've got to recognize our own leadership is why we lost our industrial base to China. Our own leadership is failing to lead this country into peace and prosperity. And, of course, Kamala Harris – look, when I look at the biggest threats to America, Kristen, I think the fact that people can't afford groceries, the fact that our – we can't meet our recruitment goals in the military, the fact that Americans have a wide-open southern border, that's a way bigger threat than any foreign threat. And, yes, it's caused by broken leadership.

What JD Vance did here was not only turn Trump's attack into a positive thing, but he also framed the issue as a populist "people against the powerful" theme that puts much of the political establishment of both parties in the "enemy forces" column. Yes, Pelosi is vile, but she had a lot of help from both party establishments in opening our borders for the sake of cheap labor, sending our industry to an enemy country for cheap imports, and fighting all attempts to strengthen the American working class.

I have my issues with Vance in a number of policy areas, but this election is not about my policy preferences; it is about the actual fate of the nation. If Trump wins the election, it will be in large part due to him having had the good sense to pick JD Vance as a running mate.