JD Vance joked that Britain is now a nuclear-armed Islamist state because of its left-wing leaders
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- Sen. JD Vance joked about the UK being the first Islamist country with nuclear weapons.
- UK Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner dismissed the comments, stating that the US is a "key ally."
- Vance of Ohio was announced as Trump's vice presidential running mate on Monday.
Just days before Sen. JD Vance was chosen as Donald Trump's vice presidential nominee, the Ohio native took a dig at one of the US's closest allies.
At the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, DC, last week, the Republican joked that the UK is now the first Islamist country that has a nuclear weapon.
"I was talking with a friend recently and we were talking about, you know, one of the big dangers in the world, of course, is nuclear proliferation, though, of course, the Biden administration doesn't care about it," he said.
"And I was talking about, you know, what is the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon, and we were like, maybe it's Iran, you know, maybe Pakistan already kind of counts, and then we sort of finally decided maybe it's actually the UK since Labour just took over."
It came after the left-leaning Labour Party won the UK general election earlier this month, ending 14 years of Conservative Party rule.
But that wasn't the only dig he took at the UK at the conference, which was also attended by former UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Vance said: "The Brits, UK leaders should look out for citizens of the UK or subjects or whatever you guys call yourselves," referring to the fact that the country is still a constitutional monarchy.
Despite these comments, Vance is known to have an amicable relationship with David Lammy, the UK's current foreign secretary. Lammy has referred to Vance as "my friend Senator Vance" and has praised his book, Hillbilly Elegy.
When the pair were on a panel together earlier this year at a security conference in Germany, Vance referred to Lammy as "my English friend," according to The Guardian.
The UK's Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner reacted to Vance's "fruity" comments on ITV's Good Morning Britain, saying: "I think political leaders across the world all have different opinions but we govern in the interests of our countries."
"And the US is a key ally of ours and if the American people decide who their president and vice president is, we will work with them, of course, we will."
Andrew Bowie, the Conservative shadow veterans minister in the UK, told Times Radio he "absolutely" disagreed that Labour was creating an "Islamist country."
"I do not agree with that view, quite frankly. I think it's actually quite offensive, frankly, to my colleagues in the Labour party," he said.
On Monday, Trump picked 39-year-old Vance to be the GOP nominee for vice president of the US. It came just days after Trump was shot by a gunman in an assassination attempt.
Vance was previously critical of Trump and has compared him to Hitler. He has since backed Trump's views on everything from free trade to immigration.