JD Vance sat down with CBS News’s Margaret Brennan for his first on-air interview as vice president, and the “Face the Nation” host reminded her guest of a contentious issue. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last week condemned some of Donald Trump’s executive orders, most notably the administration’s new policy on allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to enter houses of worship, and Brennan pressed the Ohio Republican for his reaction.
“Do you personally support the idea of conducting a raid or enforcement action in a church service, at a school?” the host asked.
At this point, Vance had a few options. He could’ve said he respectfully disagreed with Catholic leaders’ concerns. He also could’ve tried defending the administration’s approach on the merits.
But the vice president — the first Republican Catholic ever to serve in this office — instead went after the administration’s detractors in a surprisingly pointed way. “I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?” Vance replied.
As The Washington Post reported, the comments did not go unnoticed.
With his criticism of U.S. Catholic bishops for supporting immigrants, Vice President JD Vance has reignited years of GOP attacks on the Catholic Church as both sides navigate an issue that has divided the nation and the faithful. Catholic leaders expressed dismay after Vance, who is Catholic, questioned whether the church’s substantial, decades-long work with migrants is driven by a desire for money.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York hosts his own program on SiriusXM and told listeners, in reference to Vance, “I was really disappointed with what he said. … I don’t mind telling you, somewhat hurt. This was not only harmful, this was inaccurate.”
Dolan — whom the public might’ve seen delivering prayers at both of Trump’s inaugurations — went on to say, again referring to the vice president’s on-air comments, “That’s just scurrilous. It’s very nasty. And it’s not true. You want to come look at our audits, which are scrupulously done? You think we make money caring for the immigrants? We’re losing it hand over fist.”
The Post’s report also noted that John Carr, the former head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ office on social justice efforts, said Vance’s criticisms “showed an unprecedented lack of respect for the work of the Catholic community, lack of restraint in promoting false and outrageous claims that the Church does this for the money and promotes human trafficking, and a lack of knowledge of Catholic teaching and ministry with refugees.” Carr added, “It seemed like an effort to intimidate instead of a call to seek the best way forward.” To date, the vice president has not made any public effort to walk back what he said to CBS. Watch this space. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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