WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance indicated in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that President Donald Trump was not opposed to invoking the Insurrection Act.
Asked by moderator Kristen Welker whether the White House was seriously considering invoking the 1807 statute, Vance said, “The president is looking at all his options.”
“Right now he hasn’t felt he needed to,” he added.
The Insurrection Act would allow the president to deploy the U.S. military domestically for law enforcement purposes. The military is typically not allowed to be deployed on U.S. soil for domestic law enforcement purposes without congressional authorization.
NBC News previously reported that White House officials have had increasingly serious talks about whether Trump should invoke the Insurrection Act. If Trump were to invoke the law, it would be the first time since former President George H.W. Bush invoked the law during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Vance’s comments come as the White House has federalized National Guard troops in an attempt to deploy them in Oregon and Illinois, aiming to target Portland and Chicago. Both moves have been temporarily blocked in court. The White House’s push to deploy troops to Democrat-run cities has alarmed critics, who argue the move is overreach and being done for political purposes.
Responding to the question about the Insurrection Act, Vance pointed to attacks on law enforcement officers who are enforcing immigration laws.
“The problem here is not the Insurrection Act or whether we actually invoke it or not. The problem is the fact that the entire media in this country, cheered on by a few far-left lunatics, have made it okay to tee off on American law enforcement,” Vance told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “We cannot accept that in the United States of America.”
Crime has dropped in both Chicago and Portland, according to statistics from the Chicago Police Department and the city of Portland.
Pressed as to whether there was a “rebellion” in the cities to trigger the Insurrection Act, Vance accused the cities of not “keeping the statistics properly,” without offering proof.
“The president just wants people to be kept safe, and we’re exploring everything that we can do to make sure that the American people are safe in their own country,” Vance said.
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