Moulton says Vance ‘doesn’t exactly uphold Marine values’

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said that fellow Marine Corps veteran Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who was chosen this week as former President Trump’s running mate, doesn’t uphold “Marine values.”

Moulton joined Crooked Media’s “Pod Save the World” on Friday where he was asked by Tommy Vietor what he thought about Trump’s recent announcement of naming Vance as his vice president at the Republican National Convention, as Moulton and Vance are both veterans.

“He’s a Marine Corps veteran. I mean, a combat correspondent. He didn’t do much fighting and he doesn’t exactly uphold Marine values,” Moulton said. “In fact, not even close to it.”

“I consider him one of the biggest hypocrites in Congress, someone who wrote a book, completely contradicted by his candidacy, someone who assailed Trump, before he became a sycophant,” he continued.

Moulton said Vance is someone who does Trump’s bidding and said he thinks that’s the “sole reason” he was picked as a running mate, “or at least the most important reason.”

The Massachusetts lawmaker argued that Trump doesn’t want “another Mike Pence” who may go against him “when push comes to shove.”

Vance was named as Trump’s running mate earlier this week after long speculation about who the former president would pick to join him on the ticket.

Vance served in the Marine Corps after graduating high school in 2003. He was deployed to Iraq as a combat correspondent before going into the public affairs section of the aircraft wing. He is the first Marine to ever be a vice presidential nominee.

Moulton served as a Marine Corps officer after graduating from college in 2001. He served four tours in Iraq.

Moulton became the third House Democrat to call on President Biden to step aside and allow a new candidate to attempt to beat Trump in this year’s election. Moulton argued that “all viable options” should be considered as next steps.

The Hill has reached out to Vance for comment.