Kaitlan Collins Presses J.D. Vance on a President Ordering Military to Stage a Coup: ‘That’s an Official Act in Your View Too?’

EXCERPT:

COLLINS: "But let me stop you right there, because I listened to this. It's John Sauer, Trump‘s attorney, and when he was asked by one of the justices if the president could order the military to stage a coup and would it count as an official act, meaning he couldn‘t be prosecuted for it, he said that it would depend on the circumstances. I mean, what circumstances warrant a president ordering the military to stage a coup?"

VANCE: "Well, first of all, he did say it depends on the circumstances. That opens up a whole lot of avenue for context there. But more importantly, Kaitlan, he‘s just saying that would count as an official act. But there are a number of — "

COLLINS: "That's an official act in your view too?"

VANCE: "Can I finish that the answer to the question, Kaitlan? An official act, there are a number of checks and balances in our system. There‘s the impeachment process. There‘s the budgeting authority that Congress has. There are a number of ways where Congress has a check-and-balance control over the president of United States. All he‘s saying is that the criminal liability procedures that exist in this country don‘t cover the president‘s official acts. And by the way, how could anybody disagree with that, Kaitlan? Should Barack Obama be prosecuted for killing an American citizen via a drone strike? There are a number of examples in American history where if you apply the standard, the lawfare standard of the Biden administration against Donald Trump, it would make the presidency impossible to actually execute the law. So in the name of taking down their political opponent, Kaitlan, these guys are really pushing a legal theory that I think would destroy the presidency whether a Democrat or Republican was in charge."