Vice President JD Vance gestures at the ‘America’s Marines 250: From Sea to Shore – A Review of Amphibious Strength’ event to mark the U.S. Marine Corps 250th anniversary at Camp Pendleton in California on Saturday. Photo by Caroline Brehman/EPA
Oct. 19 (UPI) — As protesters marched against the Trump administration on Saturday, Vice President JD Vance took the stage at an event and live artillery demonstration at Camp Pendleton in California, honoring the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.
The spectacle was criticized as a “dangerous” show of force by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.
“Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous. Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength — it’s reckless, it’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office he holds,” Newsom said in a statement. “Law and order? This is chaos and confusion.”
Vance, a former Marine who served in Iraq, delivered a speech in which he attacked Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown and previous diversity initiatives in the military.
He also promised that service members would be paid during the shutdown as hundreds of thousands of other federal workers go without paychecks.
“I know we’re here to talk about the Marine Corps. But I have got to get just a little political,” Vance said during his speech. “Because congressional Democrats seem to want to keep the government shut down even though it would mean that a lot of you would not get your paycheck.”
The demonstration was reported to have been the largest in the United States in a decade and showcased fighter jets, the Naval fleet and live fire from M777 howitzers over a major interstate freeway.
Newsom’s office said in the statement that California officials were recently notified that the White House intended to fire live artillery rounds but were assured on Thursday by Marine Corps officials that they would not be fired over Interstate 5.
“That afternoon, the federal government also directed cancellation of train services, which run parallel to the I-5, on Saturday between Orange County-San Diego County,” Newsom’s office said in the statement.
“Late on Friday, the state then received notice from event organizers asking for CalTrans signage to be posted along the I-5 freeway that would read: ‘Overhead fire in progress.'”
Newsom’s office said California officials then asked the federal government for additional details about the event and were told that the live fire activities would take place.
His office said he closed the freeway to traffic during the demonstration.
“If Gavin Newsom wants to oppose the training exercises that ensure our Armed Forces are the deadliest and most lethal fighting force in the world, then he can go right ahead,” William Martin, Vance’s communications director, told CNN. “It would come as no surprise that he would stoop so low, considering his pathetic track record of failure as governor.”