JD Vance Breaks Silence on Cousin Who Flamed Him Over Zelensky Meeting

JD Vance has broken his silence after an ex-Marine cousin, Nate Vance, issued a blistering criticism of the vice president’s treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an Oval Office meeting earlier this month.

“I love my cousin Nate, and never spoke publicly about his service in Ukraine because I didn’t want to endanger his life more than it already was,” the vice president said in a statement obtained by the Daily Beast, nodding to his cousin’s three years volunteering in Ukraine on the frontlines of its war against Russia.

“As far as his criticisms, I have no interest in arguing with him in public, but I do feel the need to address one issue in particular: his failed effort to contact me,” JD continued, adding that Nate could have reached out to his mother, father, or sister who he’s “in contact with regularly.”

“I always considered Nate the toughest guy I knew, and no matter what he says about me, my affection for him remains. I’m always happy to talk to him,” the vice president added.

For his part, Nate claimed in a Sunday interview with Le Figaro that he attempted to contact his cousin through his office to express his thoughts on his treatment of Zelensky, which he deemed an “ambush of absolute dishonesty.”

The Texan later clarified to CNN in an interview Monday that he couldn’t say the vice president received the message and ignored it because he wasn’t sure if he got it in the first place.

“But I did reach out,” Nate insisted. “Regardless of whether or not I reached out or not, I mean, he definitely knew I was there and at no point tried to make contact, and there were ways to do that.”

Nate, who told the BBC that he identifies as “pretty Republican,” has slammed his cousin in a number of interviews this week.

“Regardless of the situation, there’s a certain level of decorum that should be reached,” Nate told CNN Monday.

“When you do that and you publicly, you know, kind of ridicule someone in public that they have to almost defend themselves, it was just really disappointing to see it,” he continued, seemingly referring to Vance’s insistence that Zelensky show more gratitude for America’s aid throughout the war. “For me, I disagreed with that tact.”