Vance: People Who Committed Violence On Jan 6 'obviously' Shouldn’t Be Pardoned

Vice President-elect JD Vance said that people who committed violence on Jan. 6 “obviously” should not be pardoned, in an interview with "Fox News Sunday" that covered a range of issues a week before inauguration.

“I think it’s very simple, look if you protested peacefully on January 6th, and you had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned,” Vance said in an interview with host Shannon Bream. “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned. And there’s a little bit of a gray area there.”

He added, “But we’re very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law, and there are a lot of people we think in the wake of January 6th who were prosecuted unfairly. We need to rectify that.”

Vance, who will be sworn in as vice president on Jan. 20, discussed issues like the economy and immigration, and what to expect from President-elect Donald Trump in the first few days.

Vance said to expect “dozens” of executive orders from Trump on day one in regards to closing the border. He pushed back on the idea that mass deportations would lead to family separation and terrible conditions.

“They're going to say that this is all about compassion for families. It is not compassion to allow the drug cartels to traffic small children. It is not compassionate to allow the worst people in the world to send minor children, some of them victims of sex trafficking, into our country,” Vance said. “That is the real humanitarian crisis at the border. You're not going to exacerbate it through law enforcement.”

He added, “Most Americans want common-sense border enforcement. We can't buy into this lie that law enforcement at the American southern border is somehow not compassionate to families who want to cross illegally.”

In regards to Trump’s recent comments on acquiring Greenland from Denmark, Vance backed up the president-elect, noting that Greenland “has a lot of great natural resources” and “the people of Greenland want to be empowered to develop the resources there.” When asked about whether military force would be used, Vance noted that there are already U.S. troops in Greenland so military force would not be necessary.

“There actually is a real opportunity here for us to take leadership to protect America's security, to ensure that those incredible natural resources are developed,” Vance said. “And that's what Donald Trump is good at. He's good at making deals, and I think there's a deal to be made in Greenland.”

Vance also addressed the current wildfire situation in California, noting that Trump “would love to visit California” when asked about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request for Trump to visit and not be divisive at this moment.

Vance did not say whether Trump might withhold aid from California, something Trump has toyed with in the past, but instead said Trump cares for all Americans and that he wants FEMA to be much more “clued in” on what's happening on the ground. He also added that the federal government needs to do a better job but that doesn’t mean they should not criticize Newsom’s policies.

“There is a serious lack of competent governance in California. And I think it's part of the reason why these fires have gotten so bad,” Vance said. “We need to do a better job at both the state and federal level.”

Shortly after the interview aired Sunday morning, Vance defended his statements on Jan. 6. Users on X had criticized Vance for not fully supporting pardons for everyone who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

“I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up,” Vance said in a post on X, noting he donated to the Jan. 6 political prisoner fund. “Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial.”