Vance celebrates US Marines anniversary in California with live artillery demonstration

Vice President J.D. Vance celebrated the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps with an event that included a live artillery demonstration.

The demonstration, held at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, drew the ire of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, in part because the exercise closed part of a popular interstate.

“Firing live rounds on a busy highway is not only wrong, it is dangerous,” Newsom, a Democrat who has frequently disagreed with the Trump administration, said in a statement.

During his speech, Vance recalled his time in the Marine Corps, railed against what he called a Democrat-induced government shutdown and criticized previous military diversity initiatives.

The Marine Corps said the demonstration was the largest in the continental United States in a decade and included live fire from fighter jets, Navy ships, helicopters and towed howitzers.

In response to the exercise, Newsom said he closed a section of Interstate 5 in Southern California “due to the extreme risk to life safety and driver distraction, including sudden, unexpected, and loud explosions.”

But officials in the vice president’s office disputed Newsom’s remarks that the demonstration was dangerous and accused the California governor of trying to stoke fears.

“If Gavin Newsom wants to oppose training exercises that will enable our Armed Forces to be the deadliest, deadliest fighting force in the world, then he can go ahead,” William Martin, Vance’s communications director, told CNN. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if he would stoop this low, given his pathetic history of failure as governor.”

Speaking in front of hundreds of sailors, Vance praised his time in the military.

“Without those four years in the Marine Corps, I wouldn’t be here today, I wouldn’t be the vice president of the United States, I wouldn’t be the man I am today,” he said.

Vance spent four years in the Marine Corps and served a tour in Iraq in 2005.

But his remarks largely focused on politics and partly attacked “woke” aspects of the military.

“This is our common purpose, our common mission, and it’s a fact that everyone here pours green into the Marine Corps,” the vice president said.

One of the focuses of the Trump administration was to dismantle diversity initiatives, especially within the Pentagon.

Vance also used his stage time to rail against the nearly three-week government shutdown and place blame on Democrats, particularly Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“Today I bring greetings from our commander in chief, Donald J Trump, and he wanted me to tell each and every one of you that he is proud of you, loves you, and will do everything he can to make sure you get paid exactly what you deserve, despite the Schumer shutdown,” he said.

While thousands of federal workers work without pay, the Department of Defense pays soldiers.