He spoke in an interview with CBS News, Ukrinform reports
"I think a lot of countries are going to try to manipulate our voters. They're going to try to manipulate our elections. That's what they do," Vance said. "I think the bigger question is, what is in our best interest vis-à-vis Russia, not what price Russia should pay for putting out social media videos."
Asked if Russian manipulation crossed a red line, Vance said he thought it’s "bad." At the same time, he raised doubts that any efforts to ask Russia stop its meddling operations would have any effect.
"I'd call them to knock it off, but this is not a school yard. I call on Moscow to knock it off, are they actually going to do it?" Vance said. "I condemn the Russians for funding fake social media views, but I don't think that my job as a statesman, as a person who wants to be the next vice president of the United States, is to go engage in saber rattling."
According to Vance, his biggest concern is for Russia to "stop supporting the Iranians as the Iranians engage in acts of aggression" in the Middle East.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency said Friday that Russia is circulating across social media a hoax video allegedly showing someone tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania, which is one of the "key" states for presidential elections.
According to an assessment by U.S. intelligence, Russia is trying to undermine the campaign of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, while Iran is working against Republican Donald Trump’s campaign.
Photo: Getty Images
