Senator JD Vance of Ohio, chosen as Donald Trump’s running mate on Monday, has stirred a controversy after he said the UK could become the first “truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon” after the Labour Party won the election.
Speaking at a conference for UK Conservatives, Vance said, “I was talking recently, and we were talking about, you know, one of the big dangers in the world, of course, is nuclear proliferation, though, of course Biden administration doesn’t care about it. And I was talking about what is the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon, and we were like, may be Iran, may be Pakistan already kind of counts, and then we sort of finally decided maybe it’s actually the UK, since Labour just took over.”
UK DEPUTY PM REACTS
Responding to Vance’s jibe, UK’s Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told ITV’s Good Morning Britain, “I think he said quite a lot of fruity things in the past as well.” She noted that she “doesn’t recognise” his characterisation of the UK under a Labour government.”
A day after surviving an assassination attempt, the Republican candidate Donald Trump made his appearance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. He announced JD Vance, who was successful in the 2022 senate campaign, as his vice presidential pick.
Labour Minister James Murry asserted that the US and UK’s ties are the strongest as ever before.
“I don’t know what he means by that. I don’t really understand those comments,” Minister Murray told Sky News.
“It’s for America to decide who they elect. Whoever they elect in the US, we have a strong relationship between the UK and the US which is really important for us.”
However, we disagree with this, particularly with the comments he made. But the relationship between the UK and the US is more important than any individual.”
WHO IS JD VANCE?
Vance, who went from being a harsh critic of Trump to a fierce ally, was first elected to public office in 2022.
Vance called Trump “dangerous” and “unfit” for office. Vance, whose wife, lawyer Usha Chilukuri Vance, is Indian American and the mother of their three children, also criticised Trump’s racist rhetoric, saying he could be “America’s Hitler.”
But by the time Vance met Trump in 2021, he had reversed his opinion, citing Trump’s accomplishments as president. Both men downplayed Vance’s past scathing criticism.
Once elected, Vance became a fierce Trump ally on Capitol Hill.
Democrats call him an extremist, citing provocative positions Vance has taken but sometimes later amended, reported the Associated Press.