Vice President JD Vance joined ABC News’ “The View” on Tuesday for a tense interview on the Trump administration and his new book, “Communion.”

The Vice President’s book, “Communion,” on his journey from protestant to atheist to Catholic, was released on Tuesday. Vance joined the left-leaning show “The View” to discuss his book, though the hosts used the opportunity to press the vice president on other political topics like the economy, the Epstein Files, and immigration.

The vice president remained calm, refuting their points while the hosts interjected, interrupted, and got increasingly hostile with him for nearly an hour. (RELATED: JD Vance Offers Two Words For Americans Facing High Gas Prices As Iran Peace Deal Looms)

“When I talk to my friends and family who supported you and still support you, one issue comes up: the economy. Wages are down, gas prices are starting to drop at news of the Iran deal. What can you say to voters who trusted you to lower costs? Will they be satisfied by November?” one host asked. 

“That’s ultimately up to the voters. Voters have every right to expect as much as possible out of their representatives. We were elected on a number of mandates: One, to close the border, which we have done successfully. Exceeded expectations. Lower prices; there’s work to do because of what’s happened over the last few months in the Middle East. As you said, oil, which got up to $120 a barrel, now is at $80 a barrel. That will be reflected in lower fuel, food, energy prices. There’s a lot more work to do,” the vice president said.

“The thing I’m proudest – I grew up in a town that was forgotten about by the leaders in Washington of both parties. That’s Middletown, Ohio. That’s in southwestern Ohio. It was a steel town. I was raised by a grandfather who was a union steel worker. Those factories closed down. The thing that I’m most excited about is you do see a large amount of capital investment coming into our country. Factories being built. Construction jobs are up. Manufacturing jobs are starting to catch up. There’s more work. I think we’re making progress,” he said, concluding again that it will be up to the voters in November. 

The hosts proceeded to ask Vance about comments made by President Donald Trump calling Democrats’ affordability discussion a hoax. The vice president explained that the president wasn’t calling affordability a hoax, but that he was calling Democrats’ argument that Republicans are to blame for high prices, rather than the previous administration, a “hoax.”

“He said he loved inflation,” Ana Navarro pressed.

“What he said is he loves inflation is going to come down when this war is over. That’s what he said,” the VP said.

“That’s not what he said. Are you his interpreter or his vice president? Come on,” Joy Behar interjected. 

“Look, what the president said – people were asking about inflation. They were asking about the affordability problem, which is very real. He said I love the inflation because it’s going to come down when the war is over. Now again we see gas prices today, $4.06 a gallon. Too high. Way down from where they were a couple weeks ago,” Vance calmly explained. He added that the administration is continuing to work on the issue and knows there is more to be done. 

“The View” hosts also used the interview, meant to be about Vance’s book, to press him on recent reporting from two New York Times journalists on how the administration handled the Epstein Files. The report states that Vance convened members of the president’s cabinet into the Situation Room to discuss how to handle the PR disaster around the rollout of the files.

“According to a new report from the New York Times, you were a leading voice to release the Epstein Files. We applaud you for that. You warned top officials, including top [Department of Justice] officials at strategy meetings taking place inside the Situation Room. We understand there are tapes of the meetings. This was a huge problem for the base. The report says you floated having Tucker Carlson interview Ghislaine Maxwell to clear the president’s name. You were rebuffed by your people. Why?” Sunny Hostin asked. 

“I would say first of all, don’t believe everything that you read in any newspaper, whether it’s a right leaning people or paper or left-leaning. There are things true, false, and missing context. Number one, I am frankly a conspiracy theorist on the Epstein stuff. That’s one thing that’s true,” Vance started.

“I wanted to have full transparency. What I disagree with is the idea the White House wasn’t committed to full transparency. You have to remember, I was in the room when these decisions were made. The Epstein Files Transparency Act, the one the president signed, all these files that we are seeing… I have to defend my boss. Sorry Joy, I know you don’t appreciate this. One of the things you see in the Epstein emails is that Epstein hated Donald Trump. Donald Trump literally reported Jeffrey Epstein to the police. That’s one of the things that came out of the files,” Vance continued. 

The hosts continued to grill Vance on Trump’s relationship with Epstein as they each interjected as he began to respond.

“It was allegedly over a real estate deal they got into a fight over,” Navarro refuted. “Let’s be truthful and transparent. They didn’t just know each other. They were close friends.”

“He reported him to the police. That’s true,” Vance said before asking for more time to respond to their questions on the Epstein Files. 

“This question about did Donald Trump release these files only under duress from Republicans… the idea that Donald Trump runs around afraid of Republican congressmen as opposed to the other way around is kind of crazy,” Vance said, explaining that the president was upset that Democrats were making the Epstein Files about the president. 

The hosts also asked Vance to square the administration’s immigration policy with his Catholic faith and explain how the White House is still putting an emphasis on diversity. In the middle of the interview, Vance interjected to push the conversation to his book and note that a majority of his book isn’t about politics at all.

Hostin used her time to ask about why “black history” is being “erased” after Whoopi Goldberg asked Vance how black Americans offended the administration.

“What did black people do to this administration that has allowed it to really stigmatize folks of color? You know how hard it is. You have folks of color in your family,” Goldberg said, going on to speak about the murder of Emmett Till in 1955 and other “removal of information” without citing more specifics. 

“You asked the question, and maybe you don’t believe this coming from me,” the VP began to answer after being interrupted previously. “I think everybody is welcome in our political coalition. Frankly, even if you didn’t vote for us, everybody is welcome in our country so long as you are an American citizen with the duties and obligations and rights to be here.”