Trump Brutally Downplays Vance When Fox Anchor Asks if Running Mate is ‘Ready on Day One’: VP Pick ‘Never Mattered’

Donald Trump downplayed the significance of his running mate when he was asked a question about JD Vance at Wednesday’s National Associate of Black Journalists convention.

Trump appeared at the convention for a Q&A session in front of an audience of NABJ members. The event was moderated by ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott , Fox News host Harris Faulkner , and Semafor reporter Kadia Goba .

Around half an hour into the session, Faulkner asked Trump about his confidence in Vance’s readiness “on day one.” According to Trump, it was insignificant because the VP pick “never” mattered.

“I’ve always had great respect for him,” Trump said, “and for the other candidates, too; but I will say this and I think this is well-documented: historically, the vice president, in terms of the election, does not have any impact — I mean, virtually no impact.

“You have two or three days where there’s a lot of commotion as to who — like you’re having it on the Democrats’ side — who it’s gonna be; and then that dies down and it’s all about the presidential pick. Virtually, never has it mattered. Maybe Lyndon Johnson mattered for different reasons than what we’re talking about. Not for vote reasons, but for political reasons, other political reasons. But historically, the choice of a vice president makes no difference. You’re voting for the president.”

Watch above via CNN