Washington DC - Vice presidential candidate JD Vance recently explained what Donald Trump meant when he suggested using the military on the American people and how the media is playing a "game" to make him look bad.

On Sunday, Vance sat down for an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper, which grew contentious as Tapper pressed him on how Trump recently "said publicly that he wants to use the military to go after the enemy within, which is the American people."

Vance argued that Trump "did not say that," and demanded proof that he did.

"He said that he wanted to use the military to go after far-left lunatics who are rioting, and... he also called them 'the enemy within,'" Vance explained.

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"He separately, in a totally different context, in a totally different conversation, said that Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff were threats to this country," Vance added.

The two argued, with Tapper insisting that Vance was intentionally twisting Trump's words. Meanwhile, Vance claimed Tapper and the media were playing a "game" by "putting words in [Trump's] mouth."

Vance's evasion comes after Trump suggested the military should be used to deal with "radical left lunatics" on election day, and pointed specifically at Pelosi and Schiff.

When asked about the comments in a follow-up interview, Trump doubled down, arguing that "the enemy within" posed a greater threat than foreign dictators such as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Trump's Republican allies have been trying to downplay the candidate's comments in recent days. House Speaker Mike Johnson argued that what Trump was "talking about is marauding gangs," and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin claimed Trump was talking about "the people that are coming over the border."

In a final pitch to voters ahead of election day, Vance vowed that Trump is the candidate who will lower the cost of groceries, secure the southern border, open up energy, and make America safer.