In an incident from the winter of 2024 showing the sort of pre-existing hostility between members of the second Trump Administration and the media that helps explain blow-ups between the media apparatchiks and Trump Administration members in the early months of his presidency, ABC News essentially threw then- potential VP candidate Vance off of an interview, cutting him off and ending his feed, as he tried answering a question about the Supreme Court and potential defiance of it, something that became a matter of importance for the Trump Administration within months of the president’s inauguration.

As background, the incident involved ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos and JD Vance, with Vance getting shut off as he tried to answer the host’s question in a startling incident. The immense hostility shown in the incident has remained intact since Trump’s electoral victory, as shown by incidents such as Trump White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt obliterating the media over its lies about Pete Hegseth and media stations like ABC showing overt bias against Trump in their coverage of his pardons. Further, ABC has since had to settle with Trump over false claims made against him.

Additionally, the incident was an early indication that the Trump Administration would consider disobeying the Supreme Court of the United States if it disagreed with the court’s ruling, something that has become a major matter as judges use their position to constrain President Trump as he tries to cut waste in the federal budget and deport illegal immigrants. The Trump Administration has labeled them “Democrat activists” and indicated it might disobey their rulings, something that could eventually lead to a disobeyal of the

In the incident, which captured both the hostility between Team Trump and the media and friction between Team Trump and the judiciary, occurred on Sunday, February 4, 2024. It began when Vance noted that there are situations in which the president would be right to disobey SCOTUS, such as when it tried blocking him from exercising his constitutional prerogative as the Commander-in-Chief, the same general situation that has come up with Judge Boasberg.

Speaking on the matter, JD Vance pointed to what could happen if SCOTUS tried blocking Trump from firing a general, saying, “The Constitution says that the Supreme Court can make rulings, but if the Supreme Court ― and look, I hope that they would not do this ― but if the Supreme Court said the president of the United States can’t fire a general, that would be an illegitimate ruling and the president has to have Article 2 prerogative under the Constitution to actually run the military as he sees fit.”

Further, the Vice President noted that doing so wouldn’t necessarily be an aberration in American history, and that the president would be in the right if he did so. He said, “This is just basic constitutional legitimacy. You’re talking about a hypothetical where the Supreme Court tries to run the military. I don’t think that’s going to happen, George. But of course, if it did, the president would have to respond to it. There are multiple examples throughout American history of the president doing just that.”

The two then started bickering when Stephanopoulos asked Vance if Trump would have to abide by a legitimate SCOTUS ruling, and eventually, the ABC News host furiously snapped, “You’ve made it very clear you believe the president can defy the Supreme Court.” Vance tried responding, saying, “No, no, George …” but Stephanopoulos wouldn’t let him respond, and instead cut off his mic and cut his feed, going to commercial break.