US Vice President JD Vance said in a podcast released on Tuesday that had the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump been fatal, he might have suspected a conspiracy and struggled to accept even another Republican as the next president.
Speaking to Christian podcaster Bryce Crawford, Vance also discussed faith, artificial intelligence (AI), the “end times” and President Trump’s controversial social media post featuring an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus, the Associated Press reports.
Vance Says Trump’s Death Could Have Triggered ‘Civil Strife’
The discussion began with faith and attempts to scientifically explain events that could have divine significance. Vance referred to the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a bullet nicked Trump’s ear and a supporter was killed.
Trump has frequently described his survival as divinely guided. Vance said that if the bullet had killed Trump, “we would have had real civil strife in a way that I don't know that the country could have ever come back from.”
He said many Trump supporters would have believed a conspiracy had deprived them of their chosen president, adding that he too would have harboured such thoughts “in the back of my mind.”
“I would have assumed very dark forces had taken out Donald Trump, right as he was about to come back into the White House,” Vance said. “There would have just been an illegitimacy to our entire political system.”
Much of the one-hour-and-10-minute conversation focused on faith, Vance’s spiritual journey, his Easter meeting with Pope Francis a day before the pontiff’s death last year, and human frailty and fallibility.
The discussion also turned to darker themes. Asked whether he had ever been in a room that felt “spiritually dark” as Vice President, Vance said, “I've been in meetings with world leaders where various issues are being discussed, and somebody will say something or somebody will make an observation and I'll feel some darkness about it, it sets off every spiritual alarm bell in my body.”
He said he had also experienced “a very dark spiritual energy” in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, possibly because of the carnage associated with the Civil War battlefield.
AI And Vance’s Interest In The ‘End Times’
Crawford also asked Vance about his interest in the “end times”. Vance said with a laugh that the subject had been more of an obsession during his youth in the late 1990s, when speculation about the approaching millennium was widespread.
He recalled a friend who became convinced that the world would end in late 2007 and consequently accumulated substantial credit card debt.
“There are, like, things about the world that make me feel, like, not shocked if the antichrist was walking among us, but, again I try not to focus too much on it,” Vance said.
He pointed to “IT companies” and the use of artificial intelligence as a substitute for human interaction. When Vance mentioned an acquaintance who had used AI as a marriage counsellor, Crawford responded, “I think that's kind of satanic.”
“Yeah, when you completely divorce the human from the social element that God made us for, OK that's very, that's very bad,” Vance said.
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Vance Defends Trump Over AI-Generated Jesus Image
Crawford also raised Trump’s social media post earlier this year featuring an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus, saying the image had offended him.
Trump initially maintained that he thought the image depicted him as a doctor before removing the post amid widespread criticism, including from some of his supporters.
Vance defended Trump, saying, “He did not mean to, like, mock or mimic God; that's just not who he is.”
He said the President frequently jokes and tries to keep things light.
“He's a bit of a ballbuster, for those of us who work with him, and he just likes to have a good time. And I think that if people appreciated that, they would recognise he's not trying to offend people; he's trying to keep things light.”
