Warning issued: Labeling a contender as 'fascist' might provoke aggression, yet Vance fails to mention this term is frequently used for Harris by Trump.
Previously, Vance had condemned a Democratic congressman for stating last year that Trump ought to be "eradicated". (The congressman later acknowledged his "inappropriate choice of words", claiming he was discussing how Trump should be defeated during the election.) Vance then commented, "You see, we may disagree or debate, but we can't advise the American public that one candidate is a fascist, and if elected, it would spell the end of American democracy."
What Vance failed to mention was that Trump has frequently informed the American public that his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is a fascist, whose election would signal the demise of the nation itself.
In fact, Trump labeled Harris a fascist not less than twice in the past week alone.
"She's a Marxist, communist, fascist, socialist," Trump claimed at an Arizona rally on Thursday.
"This is a radical-left, Marxist, communist, fascist," Trump declared while assailing Harris during a news conference on Friday.
This wasn't a new tactic. "We have a fascist individual running who's incompetent," Trump told Virginia residents during a campaign stop in August; at an Arizona rally in August, Trump said the true divide in American politics is between patriots with traditional values and "these far-left fascists led by Harris and her group."
And Trump has gone beyond stating that electing Harris would mean the end of American democracy. He has said this summer that electing Harris would mean "you won't have a country anymore" and that "we won't have a country left."
A Vance representative did not immediately respond to CNN's request on Tuesday to clarify whether Vance is urging Trump to moderate his language, and if not, what Vance perceives as the distinction between Trump's words and the rhetoric from "the left" he was denouncing.
Vance argued in his Monday speech that there isn't a "both-sides problem". He acknowledged that conservatives don't "always get things perfectly right", but argued that the fact that "no one has attempted to murder Kamala Harris in the last couple of months" demonstrates that the issue of inflammatory rhetoric towards presidential candidates is a one-sided issue.
However, Harris has faced violent threats for years, including in recent months. In August alone, a Virginia man and a Tennessee man were separately charged with issuing death threats against her.
Vance's statement about not advising the public that one candidate is a fascist potentially overlooks Trump's repeated labeling of Vice President Kamala Harris as a fascist. In fact, Trump has called Harris a fascist multiple times lately, including declaring her a "Marxist, communist, fascist" and a "radical-left, Marxist, communist, fascist."
Despite Vance's argument that the issue of inflammatory rhetoric towards presidential candidates is one-sided, Vice President Kamala Harris has faced violent threats for years, with incidents occurring as recently as August, when a Virginia man and a Tennessee man were charged with issuing death threats against her.
