Republican Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, who is also the 2024 running mate of former President Donald Trump, confronted CNN’s Dana Bash during an interview on Sunday, directly inquiring whether she recognized that she was participating in “basic propaganda.”

In the aftermath of the initial presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, media attention on Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio intensified, prompted by Trump’s claims regarding local residents’ pets allegedly being harmed. During the broadcast of CNN’s “State of the Union,” Vance expressed his discontent with Bash and the media for concentrating on “every possible distraction” rather than addressing the concerns of local residents. He further accused Bash of insinuating that his comments on the matter were linked to a recent bomb threat in the community.

“You’ve heard a lot of the media focusing on every possible distraction from the story in Springfield. You’ve heard them focus on these Proud Boys marches — just in this interview, Dana, the suggestion that because some psychopath is calling in a bomb threat, somehow we have to then ignore 40,000 Springfieldians who are having their lives worsened by Kamala Harris’ policies?” Vance questioned.

“I’d actually love to have this conversation right now live on-air. What is the implication when you say you calling out these problems has caused a bomb threat,” Vance continued. “You accused me of causing a bomb threat — doesn’t that mean you should shut up about the residents of Springfield? Don’t you realize you’re engaged in basic propaganda to silence the concerns of American citizens?”

Bash pushed back against Vance, stating she had been “quoting” Springfield’s Mayor Rob Rue, who she claimed was “begging federal officials to please stop putting negative attention on his city.” However, Vance denied Bash’s statement as he called her out for “applying a double standard.”

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