Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance clashed with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday after the host centered the interview on unproven allegations raised by a disaffected staffer of former President Donald Trump.

Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, John Kelly, was the latest former aide to criticize the former president, telling The New York Times and the Atlantic last week that Trump “met the definition of a fascist” and allegedly admires figures like former Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. On “State of the Union,” Vance criticized Tapper’s fixation on the warnings, pointing out that some of the ex-staff members had been “fired” by Trump.

“But this is the thing Jake, we’ve now spent five minutes talking about people in Donald Trump’s staff, who he fired — ” Vance said.

Tapper quickly interjected that former staff members don’t believe Trump is “fit for office,” prompting Vance to question why they weren’t discussing the everyday issues that concern Americans.

“Oh they didn’t think he was unfit for office until they had a falling out with him because he fired them, and we’re not talking about public policy,” Vance said. “Can we talk about how Americans can’t afford groceries today? Can we talk about the fact that Americans can’t afford the cost of housing? Can we talk about the fact that a lot of people out there in Erie, Pennsylvania, they’re the ones who suffer and die when people like Mark Esper and Mark Milley don’t obey the commander in chief’s orders?”

The CNN host continued to highlight how some of the concerns from former staff members stem from Trump’s previous “enemy within” comments. Tapper asserted that the statement indicated Trump’s desire to “use the military to go after” the American people.

“He did not say that Jake! He said that he was going to send the military after the American people? Show me the quote where he said that!” Vance responded. “He said far-left lunatics, he’s talking about people rioting after the election — ”

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Tapper questioned whether Democratic California Reps. Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi had been rioting after the election, asserting that Trump had included them among those the military should target. However, Vance pushed back against Tapper’s claims, stating that the host was conflating “two separate phrases.”

“Here’s the game that you’re playing,” Vance continued. “He said that he wanted to use the military to go after far left lunatics who are rioting and he also called them the enemy within. He separately, in a totally different context and a totally different conversation, said that Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff were threats to this country.”

The two continued to debate the former president’s meaning, each challenging the other’s perspective.

“Fox asked him about this last week and he didn’t take issue with it. He said the enemy within is the biggest threat to this county — ” Tapper said.

“But did he say the enemy within — that he’s going to use the military against Nancy Pelosi? Donald Trump offered Nancy Pelosi the National Guard on January 6 and according to private emails, she rejected it,” Vance concluded.

Following Kelly’s comments to the NYT, Vice President Kamala Harris called Trump a fascist during her CNN town hall event with host Anderson Cooper on Wednesday evening. Harris’s statement echoes previous remarks from Trump’s former staff members, who have compared the ex-president to Hitler, suggesting he would rule like a fascist if he wins in November.

However, the rhetoric against Trump has persisted since his first term in 2016, including calls for his imprisonment beginning as early as 2019. During a gathering with President Joe Biden at New Hampshire’s Democratic National Committee office on Tuesday, Biden stated that the party needs to “lock up” Trump, quickly clarifying that he meant to “politically” lock him up.

Featured Image: Screenshot/CNN/”State of the Union”