Ohio Senator J.D. Vance shortlisted A potential vice presidential candidate for Donald Trump. MediaiteBut Vance recalled that during a 2016 appearance on MSNBC, he mocked the idea that Trump should be believed over a woman who had accused a convicted felon of sexual assault.
“This is kind of a he said, she said, so to speak,” Vance asked. “And at the end of the day, do you believe Donald Trump, who always tells the truth? Just kidding. Or do you believe the woman who was on tape?”
The woman on the tape was Jessica Leeds. Recently testified at E. Jean Carroll Leeds accused Trump of sexually abusing her on the plane, telling jurors he groped her breasts and put his hands up her skirt on the flight. She sat next to him in first class. On a plane to New York in the 1970s.
But Vance’s case is unlikely to affect his approval ratings or his chances of joining Trump — a challenge few Republican charlatans have faced. Ironic change Useful as a vans.
There are plenty of Republicans willing to stand up to Trump, right up until the moment they cave in. Senator Lindsey Graham “There’s only one way to make America great again: tell Donald Trump to go to hell,” New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu He called Trump “crazy as hell” and Senator Ted Cruz He called Trump a “whining coward” after just days earlier giving in to a man who called his wife “ugly.”
But Vance is… special.
In 2016, Vance was one of Trump’s harshest critics and one of the most insightful analysts identifying the threat he posed. On Facebook, Vance called Trump “a scourge to the Democratic Party.”Hitler in America” it said in an editorial. Atlantic In the book, titled “Opioids for the Masses,” Vance likens Trump to fentanyl and heroin, which appear in his book “Hillbilly Elegy.”
This election season, many Americans seem to be seeking a new painkiller. This one, too, promises a quick escape from life’s troubles, an easy solution to the growing social problems of American communities and culture. It makes no demands, needs no more than an unassuming presence and maybe a few supporters. It gets into people’s hearts, not through their lungs and veins, but through their eyes and ears. Its name is Donald Trump.
But by 2018, Vance was beginning to timely change course. Rather than fighting the deadly impulses generated by Trump’s message of hate, VanceSoon he was taking large amounts of what he previously called “cultural heroin.”
in the end, Rolling Stone Vance “kept himself close to Trump enough to get into the Senate,” according to a 2022 report. From there, he became one of the right-wing media’s favorite Trump surrogates, defending every move Trump makes with the same rhetorical talent he used to become a best-selling author.
But perhaps that wasn’t what made Vance a finalist: What was noteworthy wasn’t how Vance changed his tune about Trump, but how close he was to becoming a KGB wannabe, best exemplified by one particular incident in 2023.
Historian Robert Kagan The Washington Post Vance responded to the dangers of the Trump administration’s dictatorship. But he didn’t try to argue with Kagan. Instead, Vance told the Justice Department: Investigating Kagan For treason.
The letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland remains emphatic. Vance’s election siteVance asked, “Would the Department of Justice investigate Robert Kagan for alleged violations of 18 U.S.C. 241, 18 U.S.C. 2383, or any other federal criminal statute? If not, what factors argue against such an investigation? Why did those factors not apply in President Trump’s case?”
It was that loyalty to Trump above all else that helped Vance rise to the top of the vice presidential field.
Vance is deep in the final stages of his Trump addiction, but he continues to make statements that may not be beneficial to Trump. For example, Thanks to the authors of Project 2025 In recent speeches, Trump has tried to deny the existence of the plan. Vance paid tribute to Kevin Roberts, head of the Heritage Foundation, who recently wrote: Threatened to “kill leftists”“If they don’t follow his plan.”
But that’s unlikely to hurt Vance’s chances. Trump loves people who have humiliated themselves to prove their loyalty. And nearly all potential running mates are I was never a Trump supporter At some point.
Overall, it’s hard to find anyone more aggressively destroying personal credibility than Vance, which is why he’s a favorite of Trump.
Related article: Trump isn’t looking for a successor in a vice president
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