Watch: Vance says "D.C. is a corrupt town" but claims no evidence Trump engaged with it
Channel: CBS News
Transcript
Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:00] I'm glad you brought up fraud because
[0:01] while we hear from people like this and
[0:03] others around the country who are not
[0:05] feeling like they're getting richer
[0:06] themselves, they see others that they
[0:08] feel are getting richer and that
[0:10] includes people inside the Trump
[0:11] administration. There was a Fox News
[0:13] poll that came out.
[0:14] >> You did a great job.
[0:15] >> Yeah. Well done. Bravo. Um just moments
[0:18] ago before we came out uh that found
[0:20] that corruption was the number one issue
[0:23] on voters minds even more than gas
[0:24] prices that Keshan was talking about.
[0:26] Another poll found that even half of
[0:29] Republicans believe that Donald Trump's
[0:33] personal business interests are
[0:34] affecting his decision as president. And
[0:37] what that all comes back to, I think, is
[0:38] the question of have you seen anything
[0:41] inside the White House when it comes to
[0:43] corruption that makes you squeamish?
[0:46] >> You're asking has Donald Trump's
[0:47] decision-m been influenced by his
[0:50] business?
[0:52] I've never seen anything like that from
[0:53] anybody inside the White House.
[0:54] >> I've never seen anything like that from
[0:55] the president. Certainly. I mean, look,
[0:57] in Washington DC, people are constantly
[1:00] trying to get an edge. It's something
[1:01] that I've complained about in Washington
[1:02] DC for a long time. You see K Street
[1:04] lobbyists who have tried to get meetings
[1:06] with me to advocate for a particular
[1:07] issue and I won't take the meeting or
[1:09] the president won't take the meeting.
[1:10] So, yeah, you certainly see evidence of
[1:12] corruption in Washington DC. Do I see
[1:14] evidence of corruption from the
[1:16] president of the United States, from the
[1:18] administration is taking? No, Tony. I I
[1:20] I I just don't. I think that there's a
[1:22] lot of allegation out there and there's
[1:23] a lot of stuff where frankly I've read
[1:25] these articles and I've read the
[1:27] superficial summary and I say, "Oh, that
[1:29] doesn't sound right." And then I go and
[1:30] do the investigation myself and I say,
[1:32] "Wait a second. What they're saying the
[1:34] president did or what they're saying the
[1:36] president's son did, he didn't actually
[1:38] do." So, I think it's important in these
[1:40] things, let's not convict people in a
[1:42] court of law because look, two things
[1:43] I'll say about United States is that
[1:45] one,
[1:46] >> it's not really about the president.
[1:47] >> He hates No, it is.
[1:49] >> It's a broader point. Well, you're
[1:50] you're you're implicitly, I think,
[1:53] saying that there's a corruption problem
[1:55] that if he's not involved in, I think
[1:57] you're accusing him of at least
[1:58] sanctioning the voters.
[2:00] >> Donald Trump hates when people make
[2:02] money off of them.
[2:03] >> He hates the idea that somebody would
[2:06] come in and say, "I'm going to give you
[2:08] a meeting with the president and I'm
[2:09] going to get rich because I gave you
[2:11] access to the president." The president
[2:12] would never tolerate that behavior.
[2:14] Tony, now
[2:15] >> just one more question here, guys. Go
[2:16] ahead,
[2:17] >> Vice President Vance. I I appreciate it.
[2:19] the the issue that voters see and that
[2:22] gets on their mind and that I hear when
[2:24] I'm out there is the president is making
[2:26] a lot of money off of crypto. Uh his own
[2:29] IRS has barred itself from looking into
[2:31] his tax returns. You have this recent
[2:33] issue with the ambassador to Greece
[2:35] seeming to sell access to the White
[2:37] House. That's why people are concerned.
[2:40] And and if there's nothing to hide, you
[2:42] say you've seen nothing. First of all,
[2:45] somebody's selling access to the White
[2:46] House, that's disgusting and despicable
[2:48] and they should suffer consequences.
[2:49] What I'm saying is that's an isolated
[2:50] incident, though.
[2:51] >> I want to make those judgments based on
[2:53] the facts and not based on a random news
[2:55] media report that I read.
[2:56] >> Fair enough. So, when the facts are
[2:58] being investigated, let's say in
[3:01] January, if there's a Democratic uh
[3:03] controlled Congress, will you comply and
[3:05] honor subpoenas?
[3:06] >> Of course. Of course I will. Look, I I
[3:08] mean, we we follow the law. I follow the
[3:11] law. I'm a law-abiding guy outside of
[3:13] speeding, uh, which luckily, thanks to
[3:15] the Secret Service and the generosity of
[3:17] the American people, I don't drive
[3:18] anymore. Probably good for the insurance
[3:20] rates in southwestern Ohio.
[3:22] >> But look, man, I I I think that I've
[3:25] seen these media reports and I have the
[3:27] same reaction I imagine a lot of people
[3:29] in this room have, which it makes me
[3:30] uneasy when I read about my public
[3:32] officials potentially getting wealthy
[3:34] off of my public trust. And I'm telling
[3:36] you that while yes, DC is a corrupt
[3:38] town, Tony, you know this as well as
[3:40] anybody. Donald Trump, I have not seen a
[3:43] single shred of evidence that he
[3:44] participates or sanctions in that
[3:46] corruption. By the way, this guy was a
[3:47] billionaire before he ever got into
[3:49] politics. He made a lot of money before
[3:52] he got into politics. Would anybody look
[3:54] at what happened to him from 2016 to
[3:56] 2021? They tried to throw him in jail
[3:58] for like 900 years and say that Donald
[4:00] Trump has personally enriched himself.
[4:02] You can make all kinds of criticisms of
[4:04] our policies and decisions, but I don't
[4:06] see a single I've not once seen evidence
[4:09] that Donald Trump has enriched himself.