Ohio senator on vice president potential, tariffs, universities, China and abortion policies

WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) sat down with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation on Sunday, speaking about the possibility of becoming Donald Trump's vice presidential pick.

"I'll let him make that decision. Ultimately, I think he knows how to best run his presidential campaign. And what I've said is I'm happy to be an advocate for the agenda in the United States Senate. I think that's the best way for me to help the people of Ohio. I'm certainly interested in helping him in other ways if that's what matters."

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio)

During the interview with Brennan, Vance also spoke about his views on tariffs.

"I think there are two things here. First of all, many of the tariffs that Joe Biden has endorsed in the last couple of weeks are tariffs that he ran against in 2020. But now that he sees that Donald Trump is leading him in polls, he's adopting the Donald Trump agenda. That's not actually being a good policy president. That's shifting on politics because you know you're about to lose...There's a second thing...that's really important here is Biden's entire agenda...has been about protecting green energy jobs at the expense of the industrial heartland. If you are in Wisconsin, Michigan, or Pennsylvania, you are not being empowered or enriched by Joe Biden's green energy agenda. So him applying tariffs on the green agenda stuff, does it help steel makers? Does it help natural gas workers? Does it help the heart of the American economy? The answer is no."

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio)

Universities and China

Later in the interview, Vance spoke about his stance on American universities saying in part:

"What you're seeing in the United States actually is that universities are controlled by left wing foundations, they're not controlled by the American taxpayer and yet the American taxpayer is sending hundreds of billions of dollars to these universities every single year...There's still good things about American universities, but it's going in the wrong direction."

Brennan and Vance discussed Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, with Brennan asking Vance why he would want to mimic him in terms of Orban's approach to dealing with universities, with Vance saying:

"I'm not endorsing every single thing that Viktor Orban has ever done. I don't know everything he's ever done. What I do think is...on the university principle; the idea that taxpayers should have some influence in how their money is spent on these universities. It's a totally reasonable thing, and I do think that he's made some smart decisions there that we could learn from the United States."

Talks then came to China, with Brennan talking about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's comments to the Senate Floor, saying "it should be a red flag for anyone seriously concerned about competition with China" following Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the country. When asked "why take any policy cues from a man and a country and a strategy cozying up to America's adversaries," Vance said:

"Hungary is a nation of 10 million people. America is a nation of 330 million people and the most important economy in the world. I don't think that we should take every cue. But I actually have to reject the premise here because why is Viktor Orban getting closer to China? In part because American leadership is not making smart decisions. We are pushing other nations into the arms of Chinese- the Chinese, because we don't make enough stuff, because we pursue a ridiculous foreign policy very often. We have to be more self-reliant. I don't like China. I don't like that China has stolen a lot of American jobs. The reason they've done it is because American leadership has made bad decisions. But that's our fault and that's something we can fix as Americans."

Abortion policies

Before the interview concluded, Brennan and Vance talked about the latter's policy on abortion.

"What I've said consistently is the gross majority of policy here is gonna be set by the states. I am pro-life. I wanna save as many babies as possible. And sure, I think it's totally reasonable to say that late term abortions should not happen with reasonable exceptions. But I think Trump's approach...is trying to settle a very tough issue and actually empower the American people to decide it for themselves."

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio)

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Vance, click here.