US Vice President JD Vance prays during the Good Friday Passion of the Lord liturgy in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, April 18, 2025. Vance’s book Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith was released on June 16, 2026. Photo: OSV News/Yara Nardi, Reuters. Vice President JD Vance, appearing on ABC’s ‘The View’ to promote his newly released memoir on faith, was put on the spot from the first question, peppered for nearly an hour on Jeffrey Epstein, the economy, immigration and other issues facing the Trump administration.
The appearance was notable because it marked a rare foray for a Trump administration official into what they would consider hostile media territory, and it raised eyebrows since the Federal Communications Commission under the Trump administration has launched an investigation into the show over possible violations of the requirement that broadcast stations give equal time to political candidates when they appear on-air.
The long-running morning show, led by veterans Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar, is generally dominated by its liberal hosts. It combines entertainment and political interviews and often features commentary critical of President Donald Trump.
Vance did get a few questions about his new book Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, which he described as “actually way less political than you might think.” The tentative deal he has worked on to try to bring about an end to the Iran war did not, however, come up.
The conversation shifted to Trump’s signature issue as Vance explained the evolution of his relationship to the president, whom he once criticised and about whom he now says he — and others, chronicling Trump’s political rise — got some things wrong.
After several hosts queried how Vance as both a Christian and father would explain Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and urged him to visit detention centers, Vance acknowledged the need to “strike a balance, of course,” between enforcing laws and treating people appropriately.
“Law enforcement is always inherently not a very pretty process, especially when you’re dealing sometimes with violent people, with people who are resisting arrest,” he allowed.
As the show began to wrap up, Goldberg aimed to try to tie in the book, asking Vance about rationalising his Catholic faith with a hard-line stance on immigration.
“I think it strikes the right balance here,” Vance said of Catholicism, that “you can have borders, you’re allowed to enforce your borders … but you also have to take certain precautions and certain care.”