When Donald Trump selected JD Vance As his running mate last week, the Republican convention crowd seemed excited. But now—outside the MAGA bubble, and after a major shift in the presidential race—the luster has worn off for the Ohio senator. “He’s the worst of all the choices,” as one House Republican put it. put it to the Hill. “It was so bad I didn’t even think it could happen.”
Another added: “The general view is that if Trump loses it will be because of this choice.”
Trump’s vice presidential shortlist is filled with shameless sycophants who are committed not only to the radical MAGA agenda but also to the former president personally. Vance— favorite choice belong to Eric Trump And Donald Trump Jr.—is seen as least likely to expand Trump’s current base. That may not have seemed like a big deal last week, when Trump appeared to be on track to defeat an old Joe Biden in the 2020 rematch. But then Biden dropped out, Vice President Kamala Harris quick start narrowing the voting gap with Trump, and what was once thought to be an easy ride for Trump has turned into a competitive one-hundred-day sprint until Election Day.
Where another Republican—saying, Marco Rubio, Tim Scottor even Nikki Haley—maybe an asset on the trail, Vance has so far appeared to be a drag on Trump’s ticket. He is, as CNN Harry Enten notedThe least popular vice presidential candidate in decades, according to polls, also shows he low odds with undecided voters and even those in his own hometown. His recent comments about what he calls “bare-cats” in the Democratic Party—including Harris, who has children of her own—have drawn criticism for their extraordinary cruelty. And then there’s what we might describe as his antipathy, as evidenced by his off-color Diet Mountain Dew jokes and a recent “behind-the-scenes” look at a campaign event he gave supporters in a fundraising video.
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“They have a ton of shit for you to drink and eat,” he said in the video, showing off a table full of Snickers bars and nothing but Diet Mountain Dew. “This is the fuel that fuels the presidential and vice presidential campaigns.”
“Energy” is probably a strong word for Vance, who embodies all the extremism of the Trump movement but lacks the Vaudevillian panache of Trump himself. Now, with Harris in the race, “the road is much harder,” as one House Republican put it. put it Vance “is the only option that is not a safe option,” the representative continued. “And I think people are realizing that now.”
