A newly resurfaced video shows Republican Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance praising Jacob Chansley, also known as the QAnon Shaman, as someone who would be fun to have a beer with.
Not too long after the January 6th, 2021, insurrection in the United States Capitol, the GOP moved to start painting the people involved as something other than insurrectionists. The video where Vance praises Chansley as someone who's just fun to be around is an example of this.
In the video, posted by the Washington Post's Will Sommer, Vance remarked, "This guy who was sentenced to four years in prison for literally walking around in the Capitol. We were taught it was a crazy guy with, like, the bullhorns, you know what I'm talking about? He looked like he’d be a fun guy to have a beer with, right? The Q shaman, that's what they called this guy."
Vance continues to defend Chansley by saying that the sentence he received for his role in the January 6th insurrection was over the top:
"Look, this guy may have broken the law, I don't know, but he sure as heck should not be spending four years in prison. Nothing they showed on video would make me think that this guy should be going to prison for four years."