Vice President JD Vance's words are coming back to bite him as "exactly what Vance warned against" in 2023 has resurfaced online as the Trump administration is reportedly seeking to hunt down left-wing groups through the IRS, according to reports Thursday.
Vance, who was an Ohio senator at the time, appeared on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle warning of the “weaponization of the IRS" during the Biden administration and how it was targeting conservatives, The Daily Beast reports. But now, a similar move is reportedly underway by the Trump administration.
“The IRS is basically trying to send a signal that if you are doing effective work on behalf of the conservative movement, you gotta have your head on a swivel, you gotta be looking over your shoulder to make sure the IRS isn’t going to come after you," Vance said in the interview.
Vance called the move “fundamentally an assault on people’s First Amendment rights."
“It’s another example of using the government to target political opponents as opposed to effectively administering the laws of the country," he added.
He also warned that “No Democrat is willing to stand up and say, ‘enough is enough.’”
People online were quick to point out the past statements.
"The comments are being framed online as an example of political hypocrisy, as Vance has not publicly criticized the current administration’s IRS actions, instead, he has boasted of them," according to The Beast.
Vance's own words have come back to haunt him, as the Trump administration is planning massive changes that will allow the IRS to go after left-wing groups, according to a new Wall Street Journal report.
The change would allow the administration to stack the IRS's criminal investigation unit with Trump allies "to exert firmer control over the unit and weaken the involvement of IRS lawyers in criminal investigations," the report said, citing anonymous officials.
