A Rush Transcript of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” Airing on Sunday, August 11, 2024 on ABC News

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COMMENTS**

This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors.

For previous show transcripts, visit the “This Week” transcript archive.

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BEGIN TRANSCRIPT**

ANNOUNCER: THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN KARL, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR: Campaign sprint.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We’re going to have the greatest election victory.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have the momentum, and I know exactly what we are up against.

KARL: Less than three months to Election Day. Republican Vice Presidential Nominee J.D. Vance ramps up attacks on his new opponents.

J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala Harris has bent the knee to the far left of her party.

KARL: This morning we go one-on-one.

VANCE: The Kamala Harris campaign has – has frankly distorted what I said.

KARL: How’s that distorting what – I just read your words. How’s that distort what you said?

In the tightening battle for the White House.

I mean are you guys still the front-runners here?

Plus, reaction from our powerhouse roundtable.

Battleground blitz.

HARRIS: With Tim Walz by my side, let us fight for the promise of our future.

KARL: Vice President Kamala Harris debuts her running mate, rallying voters in critical swing states.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We aren’t going back. We aren’t going back.

KARL: Will her bet on Minnesota’s progressive governor pay off? We’ll ask the state senator, Amy Klobuchar.

And –

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD. ‘THE BREAKFAST CLUB’ CO-HOST & AUTHOR, ‘GET HONEST OR DIE LYING’: I don’t think it’s a honeymoon phase. I just think people haven’t been energized in the Democratic Party in a long time.

KARL: Charlamagne Tha God on Harris, Trump, and the brand-new presidential race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News it’s THIS WEEK. Here now, Jonathan Karl.

KARL: Good morning. Welcome to THIS WEEK.

What a difference a few weeks makes. Before President Biden dropped out of the presidential race, that was three weeks ago today, Democrats were discouraged, Republicans were on a roll, and it looked like Donald Trump was well on his way to winning back the White House.

Now, a new “New York Times”/Siena poll of the battleground states likely to determine who will win shows that the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket has the momentum, leading Trump-Vance by four points among likely voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. That’s a dramatic change after what “The Times” is calling the worst three weeks of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.

After a rough start as Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance is now leading the Republican effort to define the Harris-Walz ticket and to regain the momentum. I caught up with him this weekend at his home state of Ohio. We started with the state of the race.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL: Thank you for joining us, Senator Vance.

So –

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks for being here.

KARL: I saw Kamala Harris said that she’s the underdog in this race. Is that the way you see it? I mean are you guys still the – the front-runners here?

VANCE: Look, I think that we are going to have a very tight election, Jon, and that we just have to sprint to the finish line. We have about 88 days to actually persuade the American people that President Trump should be their president and be their vice president, and I think you just take nothing for granted. You don’t believe any polls. Whether the ones that are good for you or bad for you. You just try to persuade people as much as you can and the chips are going to fall where they are.

KARL: But Trump seems to think that he’s got a huge lead. I mean he just said it at the press conference. He suggested it could be a landslide looking at polls. Do you tell him that you need to kind of like temper expectations here?

VANCE: Look, I – I think President Trump is extremely confident. Look, I’m extremely confident. I think we’re going to win. I also think that we have to work as hard as possible for the remainder of the election to try to persuade Americans to vote for us. That’s the name of the game.

But yes, look, do I think President Trump is actually as confident as he pretends to be in public? Yes, he actually is.

KARL: Yes.

VANCE: But we still have to work very hard.

KARL: So, there’s been a lot of talk about racism and whatnot. You faced some really nasty stuff. I saw this thing that Nick Fuentes – of course, he’s an avowed white supremacist – he said, “What kind of a man marries somebody named Usha? Clearly, he doesn’t value his racial identity, his heritage.”

I mean this is racist garbage.

VANCE: Yes, it is.

KARL: But this is also a guy that dined with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago during this campaign.

VANCE: Well, and Donald Trump doesn’t know anything about and frankly doesn’t care for. But, yes, look, my – my attitude to these people attacking my wife is, she’s beautiful, she’s smart. What kind of man marries Usha? A very smart man and a very lucky man, importantly.

KARL: Yes. Yes.

VANCE: And – and my view is, look, if these guys want to attack me or attack my views, my policy views, my personality, come after me, but don’t attack my wife. She’s out of your league.

KARL: But what – I mean how – that dinner that Trump had – and, of course, it was Kanye West, the guy that’s praised Hitler, who arranged it all. That – that was back a year and a half ago, and Trump still hasn’t given a full-throated denouncement of this guy who is – he said that terrible stuff, but he said – I mean he’s a white supremacist.

VANCE: Look, I think he’s – he – President Trump has issued plenty of condemnations on this. The one thing that I like –

KARL: But not of Fuentes. Yes.

VANCE: The one – the one thing I like about Donald Trump, Jon, is that he actually will talk to anybody. But just because you talk to somebody doesn’t mean you endorse their views. And look, I mean Donald Trump spent a lot of quality time with my wife. Every time he sees her, he gives her a hug, tells her she’s beautiful, and jokes around with her a little bit.

I’m not at all worried about Donald Trump. I’m worried sometimes about these ridiculous attacks. But again, this is what you sign up for when you come into politics. I wish people would keep it focused on me. But, whatever. They’re going to say what they’re going to stay. My wife’s tough enough to handle it and that’s a good thing.

KARL: All right, let’s focus on something that’s gotten a lot of attention. I mean, you know, this cat ladies comment.

VANCE: Sure.

KARL: You talk