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(Original title: Vance's words angered Britain, and the British Deputy Prime Minister responded)

► Text by Yan Shanshan of Observer.com

Recently, 39-year-old U.S. Senator from Ohio, James David Vance, was nominated by the Republican presidential candidate Trump as his running mate. This young and outspoken U.S. vice presidential candidate was then exposed to have made a controversial statement against Britain last week.

According to reports from the BBC and the US Capitol Hill website, Vance claimed that Britain led by the Labour Party could become "the first truly nuclear Islamic country". In recent years, a popular saying among right-wing politicians in the United States has claimed that Islamists are taking power in some European countries where Muslims live.

Vance's remarks caused a huge uproar. British Conservative Party members condemned Vance for making "anti-Muslim racist remarks", while the British Labour Party remained restrained in its counterattack. British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said on the 16th that Vance had "said a lot of ridiculous things" in the past.

Vance spoke at an event in Washington on July 10, local time. Video screenshot

Vance made this statement at the National Conservative Conference in Washington on July 10. At that time, he had not yet been officially announced as Trump's running mate. The Republican senator mentioned his recent conversation with his friends in his speech.

"I was talking about, which country would be the first Islamic country to actually have nuclear weapons? We thought, maybe Iran, maybe Pakistan was already a possibility, and then we finally decided, maybe actually Britain - because the Labour Party had just come to power."

Before he finished speaking, laughter and sparse applause broke out at the scene.

After Vance became famous overnight on the 15th and became Trump's running mate, his remarks once again attracted attention, especially in the British political circles, where they caused quite a backlash.

On July 16, local time, British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told ITV that Vance had "said a lot of ridiculous things" in the past. She disagreed with Vance's definition of the Labour Party and said: "I am very proud of the Labour Party's recent victory. We won votes from all different communities across the country. We are interested in governing on behalf of the UK and working with our international allies."

Renner said she was "looking forward" to meeting with them if Vance could help Trump win the US election in November.

British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. Visual China

British Defense Secretary John Healey said: "Politics is controversial. Trump is controversial. It's no surprise that he picked someone equally controversial as his running mate."

Other British politicians were less gracious in their response.

Sayeeda Warsi, Britain's first Muslim cabinet minister, former co-chair of the Conservative Party and former Foreign Office secretary, said Vance's comments were "common Islamophobia or anti-Muslim racism, uttered by some of the most powerful people in our society".

Warsi, who comes from a Pakistani Muslim immigrant family, said Vance had so easily misclassified Britain and made such offensive remarks in public, "his shocking words caused laughter from the audience." She condemned Vance for making a racist joke.

Andrew Bowie, a Conservative MP and shadow minister for veterans' affairs, also expressed his dissatisfaction with Vance more directly. He said he totally disagreed with the claim that the Labour Party was creating an "Islamic state" and called Vance's remarks an offense to his colleagues in the Labour Party.

British Labour MP Clive Lewis said Vance's remarks showed that Britain needed to prepare for the worst-case scenario if Trump and Vance were elected, and that "Vance's remarks are related to the kind of Islamophobia we see online and elsewhere."

Lewis said the Labour Party needed to be prepared to ensure that state institutions were "robust and strong enough to withstand attacks from the far right if it came to power".

Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the U.S. and Americas program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, said Vance was "outspoken," but it should be remembered that most of his remarks were directed to Americans.

She called Deputy Prime Minister Rayner's response "appropriate" and said: "I think this kind of British pragmatism will get the leadership through because it's really the only way to deal with the same old rhetoric from Trump and his circle."

Venjamuri also pointed out that it is "very difficult" for Europeans to deal with someone like Vance who will not restrain his words and often says exaggerated and very divisive things. It is especially difficult for Britain because Britain needs to ally with the United States and the two sides must always be consistent on major geopolitical and economic issues. Therefore, if Trump is elected, the Labour government will have to deal with these problems.

The British Independent analyzed that if Trump returns to the White House, Vance may pose a challenge to the Labour government.

Further reading

Biden said Harris may become the president of the United States, and she will face Vance in August!

According to a report by Reference News citing CNN on July 16, US President Biden said in a speech:

Harris is not only a great Vice President of the United States,

He may become the President of the United States in the future.

On the evening of the 14th local time, Biden delivered a national speech in the Oval Office of the White House

After the Republican Party officially nominated Trump as the presidential candidate and Vance as the vice presidential candidate in Milwaukee, according to the official agenda of the Democratic Party, its national convention will be held from August 19 to 21. At that time, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate will be officially announced.

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At this moment, Biden briefed the media, saying that his deputy, US Vice President Harris may become the US president in the future, and used the word "great" to describe Harris, which obviously revealed the intention of the Democratic Party's vice presidential candidate in advance.

On July 15, at the Republican National Convention held in Milwaukee, the United States, Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, officially announced the nomination of Trump and Vance as the Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates. Photo: Xinhua News Agency

On the one hand, this is an early response to the announcement of the Trump-Vance partnership at the Republican National Convention;

On the other hand, it is also a way to curb anti-Biden forces within the Democratic Party.

After the Republican Party announces its list of presidential and vice presidential candidates, if the Democratic Party follows its agenda, the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates will be launched nearly a month later than the Republican Party.

Looking back at the election situation, before the first round of TV debate between Trump and Biden, the Democratic Party Biden seemed to have a slight advantage. For example, in the case of Trump's "hush money", the relevant US departments went on a killing spree, eager to bring Trump to justice as soon as possible. Indeed, the jury announced something soon and claimed that Trump's sentence would be announced in July.

But with Biden's visibly defeated in the first round of televised debates and Trump's popularity soaring due to the shooting, the Democratic Party felt tremendous pressure.

At the Republican National Convention, Trump announced his running mate - in fact, this candidate was originally scheduled to be announced in Pennsylvania on July 13 local time. However, there was a burst of gunfire at the scene. Trump covered his ears and said he wanted to find his shoes, then squatted under the podium. He was in a state of embarrassment for a while and had to postpone the announcement of his running mate.

Anyway, when Trump announced Vance as his running mate, many people were surprised. The author of "Hillbilly Elegy" was once a pioneer in opposing Trump. Now, for some reason, Trump chose him?

Biden and Harris

If the Democratic Party follows the agenda step by step, it is unknown how many votes the Trump-Vance combination will get in the United States in a month. That is why Biden's praise of Harris is actually an early announcement to confirm Harris as his running mate.

Looking back four years ago, when Trump was in office, Pence was the US Vice President. But during the "loyalist army" occupation of Capitol Hill, it was clear that Pence chose to maintain the establishment and abandoned Trump. Trump's replacement now fits his style.

Biden's continued cooperation with Harris shows that he wants to proceed steadily.

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Both Biden and Trump are old men. Especially Biden, who is over 80 years old. Therefore, after the first round of TV debates, the voices of "changing Biden" within the Democratic Party have not stopped. There are even many eye-catching combinations listed.

Among them, the most eye-catching is the "female combination" of former President Obama's wife Michelle as the president and Harris as the vice president.

Faced with such a situation, Biden made some comments.

Reference News quoted a report from US media as saying that Biden also said that if he decided to retire, Harris would be the most qualified candidate to succeed him.

This means that, according to Biden, Harris has become his successor.

In fact, even if Biden did not make such an announcement, Harris would not be idle.

According to the plan, another televised debate between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party will be held on August 13th local time. The two sides in the debate will be Harris and Vance.

It is not difficult to see from this that Harris is almost the vice presidential candidate planned by the Democratic Party.

Uncle Hai wants to say that if the Democratic Party really nominates Harris, there will be nothing they can do.

Vance says he said bad things about Trump

As the saying goes, "a fist fears a young man, a stick fears an old wolf." The Donkey and the Elephant parties each have their own "old wolf" Trump and Biden, but what about the vice presidential candidate?

It seems that Trump carefully selected Vance, a Republican federal senator from Ohio who was born in the 1980s and once rebelled against him. He was undoubtedly attracted by his background as a "redneck hardcore supporter" and with a little training, those who opposed Trump became his supporters.

Vance's "punch" seems to be quite strong.

How will the Democratic Party respond, especially Biden?

It is difficult to find a suitable young person, such as California Governor Newsom, who is actually almost 60 years old. Besides, how could he be willing to live under Biden's protection?

Biden has no choice but to play by his own rules and continue to choose to cooperate with Harris, a female Indian-American.

Whether it is the "women's card" or the "minority card", the Democratic Party is good at it. However, in this case, Trump can clearly seize the attack and continue to make a fuss about it. Will the Democratic Party's move be as effective as before? Let's wait and see.

In addition to the fierce debate between Harris and Vance on August 13, we should also look forward to the second televised debate of this year's US presidential election in September.

If nothing unexpected happens, it will still be a debate between Biden and Trump. Even if there is talk of replacing Biden within the Democratic Party, Biden will not give in. After all, he is still the current president of the United States. What can the Democratic Party do to him for a while?

In fact, whether Biden or Trump is elected as the US president, it symbolizes that an era is about to pass.

They are too old!

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To some extent:

If Biden wins the election, Harris must be especially prepared to take office.

If Trump wins the election, Vance must be especially prepared to win.

Although according to relevant US laws, the vice president is supposed to be prepared to take over in case something happens to the president, this situation has become more realistic because Biden and Trump are too old.

For the world, at least at this stage, Harris and Vance cannot be underestimated. Vance, in particular, is not a particularly mature politician, wavering between opposing and supporting Trump, and this is also true on international issues, including those regarding China.

So, in the future, will he judge the situation or make all kinds of unexpected choices?

Compared to Harris, Vance is a relatively newcomer. We should study him in depth...