Vice President JD Vance acknowledged that he does not know why Thomas Crooks tried to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump, despite vowing to “get to the bottom” of the matter years ago.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Mail, Vance conceded that investigators have failed to determine what drove Crooks to open fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024.
- JD Vance admits he does not know why Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate Donald Trump in July 2024.
- The shooting at a Trump rally marked the most serious security failure involving a U.S. president since JFK’s assassination.
- Investigators found no clear motive for Crooks’ shift from radical pro-Trump to radical anti-Trump beliefs.
The shooting marked the most serious security failure involving a U.S. president since the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
JD Vance said he does not know why Thomas Crooks tried to assassinate Donald Trump
Image credits: Jim Watson – Pool/Getty Images
“I don’t know,” Vance said when asked directly about Crooks’ motive.
After the shooting, and just five days before the presidential election, Vance publicly pledged to “get to the bottom” of the case. He initially blamed former President Joe Biden and his campaign’s political rhetoric for fueling hatred towards Trump.
Vance mentioned Biden’s campaign labeling Trump a fascist, and said “that rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Presently, Vance blamed the shooter for leaving behind very few clues. He called Crooks a “loner who got radicalized on the internet.”
Image credits: Madison Thorn/Anadolu via Getty Images
“He was a Trump guy at some point in his life and then about six months or so before he took a shot at the president of the United States, or maybe it was a little bit beforehand, he went from very radically pro-Trump to very radically anti-Trump,” Vance claimed.
Vance said his conversations with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies produced no clear explanation for the alleged shift in Crook’s political alignment.
“I have not gotten a satisfactory answer to how Thomas Crooks went from radically pro-Trump to so radically anti-Trump,” Vance said.
He added, “Maybe we will never know the answer to that—sometimes motivations go unsolved.”
The uncertainty surrounding the case fueled speculation during the election campaign. Some Trump allies claimed the so-called deep state targeted Trump.
Some in Trump’s inner circle even suggested that a foreign power was behind the attempted assassination. In November, the FBI announced that Crooks had acted alone.
Vance had vowed to get to the bottom of the attempted assassination
FBI Director Kash Patel, and Dan Bongino, the now-former deputy director of the FBI, appeared on Fox News to announce the verdict after an eight-month investigation.
“We have reviewed this case over and over—looked into every nugget. We have spoken to the families, the president—there is no cover-up here,” Bongino said.
“There is no motive for it, there is no reason for it. The case now sits in a ‘pending, inactive’ status, meaning that further investigation would only be pursued on credible new information.”
Vance also spoke about far-right political activist Nick Fuentes during the interview. Fuentes has targeted Vance’s wife and children, including hurling a racist slur at the Indian heritage of Second Lady Usha Vance.
Image credits: Peter Kneffel/Getty Images
When Vance was asked if he condemned Fuentes, he said, “Of course I do.”
Vance continued, “He can eat s**t because anybody who goes after my family, whatever side they’re on, they’re on the opposite side of me.”
He stopped short of condemning Fuentes’s followers, known online as the ‘Groypers,’ by saying he does not know who they are.
JD Vance’s VERY telling response as he’s grilled on Nick Fuentes’ legion of Groypers. pic.twitter.com/KEn0KoPN8W
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) February 5, 2026
“What do you mean by supporters?” Vance said when asked if Fuentes’ Groyper supporters should be accepted into the Republican Party.
Fuentes has vowed to send his racist sycophants after Vance if he ever condemns them.
Vance also condemned Nick Fuentes
Image credits: Dominic Gwinn/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Trump, who was photographed having dinner with Fuentes and Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago in November 2022, has refused to denounce the 27-year-old far-right influencer when asked about him on several occasions.
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