Kathleen Culliton
August 16, 2024
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks during a campaign rally at Middletown High School on July 22, 2024 in Middletown, Ohio. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Sen. J.D. Vance's (R-OH) attempts to justify past comments linking rising crime waves to Irish immigrants raised eyebrows from film buffs who said he used the wrong Martin Scorsese movie to defend himself.
Donald Trump's running mate addressed questions about his 2021 comment on immigration and crime during a campaign address to the Milwaukee Police Association in Wisconsin on Friday.
"Has anybody seen the movie 'Gangs of New York?'" Vance said in response. "That is what I'm talking about; we know that when you have these ethnic enclaves in our country, it can lead to higher crime rates."
Vance was attempting to contextualize a recently resurfaced Skype interview in which he made a similar claim.
"You had this massive wave of Italian, Irish and German immigration, and that had its problems, its consequence," Vance said during the interview. "You had higher crime rates, you had these ethnic enclaves, you had inter-ethnic conflict in the country where you really hadn't had that before."
Washington Post analyst Philip Bump took issue with Vance's characterization of the 2002 film starring Daniel Day Lewis as the notorious anti-Irish gang leader William Poole, or Bill the Butcher.
"The irony here being that the most brutal, vicious killer in that movie is the nativist who loathes immigrants," Bump replied.
"Poole was a thug, a thief and a celebrity, leader of a Christopher Street gang which morphed and coalesced with others to become one of the most terrifying group of criminals in New York — the Bowery Boys," according to the New York City history podcast that draws its name from the group. "The Bowery Boys were an instrument of the Know Nothings, a nativist movement which violently rejected the Irish newcomers."
In 1846, as the Irish potato famine blighted the Emerald Isle's primary crop in a catastrophe that would claim up to 1.5 million lives — and send another 1.5 million fleeing the starving nation — the New York Daily Herald reported Poole was gouging out a foe's eye in the street.
This led national security attorney Bradley Moss to question whether Vance had ever seen the film.
"Did you actually watch the movie?" asked Moss. "Did Bill the Butcher strike you as a nonviolent person?"
Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow with the Media Matters watchdog group, added, "'Bill the Butcher was correct' is a very interesting take on that film."
Political analyst Drew Savicki struck a satirical note by mimicking Vance's comment but changing the movie.
"Has anybody seen the movie 'Toy Story?'" Savicki wrote. "This is what I'm talking about, with these dangerous toys, it can lead to higher crime rates."
Moss was quick with a response.
"Has anybody seen the movie 'Despicable Me?'" Moss replied. "This is what I'm talking about, with people speaking languages no one has ever heard of, it can lead to someone trying to steal the moon!"
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