Vice President J.D. Vance's decision to jump into the fray and attack Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky during an Oval Office appearance on Friday was called out on MSNBC by a former White House official who claimed that was not his forum for speaking.
On Friday, Vance, who has been conspicuously absent when Donald Trump holds court with the press in his office, thrust himself front and center as he lectured Ukraine's president and demanded both an apology and a thank you for the assistance the U.S. has provided to his country since Russia's unprovoked invasion three years ago.
From her perch on MSNBC's "The Weekend," Symone Sanders Townsend, who served as chief spokesperson for former Vice President Kamala Harris, claimed Vance was out of bounds when he spoke up in the president's domain.
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"You invite the president of Ukraine into the Oval Office and you put on this performative, you know, ganging up on him, which was all staged," co-host Michael Steele stated. "I mean, everything was going fine and then J.D. Vance, who normally, as you know, Symone, would not speak ––."
"You will not speak," Sanders Townsend interjected.
She then took over the commentary, "Vice President Kamala Harris would have never after the president answered questions from reporters in the Oval Office. His office!"
"The vice president, I don't care who the heck you are! You do not jump in and say, 'Let me say one thing.' No –– you can shut up, because this is my office," she explained.
"Let's be clear, he wasn't speaking on behalf of Donald Trump. He was speaking on behalf of Vladimir Putin," co-host Alicia Menendez wryly observed.
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