The protesters that confronted Vice President Vance disputed his version of what happened, claiming that “no one was chasing him.”
Video shared with WCPO in Cincinnati from one of the protesters, Ann Henry, showed the incident with Vance. Henry disputed Vance’s retelling of the story, saying they were not looking for the vice president, but rather bumped into him, she said.
“No one was chasing him,” she told the outlet.
In a post on X, Vance said he was confronted by pro-Ukraine protestors while he was with his 3-year-old daughter on Saturday.
“I decided to speak with the protesters in the hopes that I could trade a few minutes of conversation for them leaving my toddler alone. (Nearly all of them agreed.),” Vance said on X.
He said it was a mostly respectful conversation but said “if you’re chasing a 3-year-old as part of a political protest, you’re a s— person.”
The video shared with the outlet showed the protesters asking questions regarding the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We think it’s in the best interest of our (own people) and frankly in the best interest of the Ukrainians for the war to stop,” Vance said.
He said Russia “certainly” invaded Ukraine, which contradicts President Trump’s refusal to admit it.
The protesters said the U.S. is selling out Ukrainians as the rare mineral deal fell apart after a fiery meeting with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Trump administration holds meetings with Russian officials not Ukrainian ones.
Vance disagreed and said the U.S. is not selling out Ukrainians.
“I think that what we’re doing is we’re actually forcing a diplomatic settlement,” Vance said.
Henry told the outlet that she was happy Vance took the time to speak with them, but wished he didn’t have to post about it online.
“We all wanted it to be respectful and calm,” she said. “We just really wanted to know what was really bothering us.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
