Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance is on the short list of potential running mates for Donald Trump. Mediaite, however, has resurrected a 2016 appearance on MSNBC in which Vance scoffs at the idea of believing Trump over a woman who accused the convicted felon of sexual assault.
“This is sort of he said/she said, right?” 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 that woman on the tape?”
The woman on the tape was Jessica Leeds, who recently testified in the E. Jean Carroll case that Trump molested her on an airline flight. Leeds told jurors that Trump groped her breasts and put his hand under her skirt after she sat next to him in first class on a flight heading for New York City in the 1970s.
But it’s unlikely that Vance will let this incident impact his support, or that it will affect his chances of joining Trump on the ticket. Of all the charlatans in the Republican Party, few have gone through such a cynical transformation of convenience as Vance.
Republicans who were willing to stand up to Trump—right up until the moment they bent the knee—are a dime a dozen. Sen. Lindsay Graham said, “There’s only one way to make America great again: Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu called Trump “fucking crazy.” And Sen. Ted Cruz said Trump was a “sniveling coward,” just days before bowing to the guy who called his wife ugly.
But Vance … is something special.
In 2016, Vance was one of the harshest critics of Trump as well as one of the most insightful analysts in identifying the threat that he posed. On Facebook, Vance referred to Trump as “America’s Hitler.” In an op-ed for The Atlantic titled “The Opioid of the Masses,” Vance likened Trump to the fentanyl and heroin that featured in his book, “Hillbilly Elegy.”
During this election season, it appears that many Americans have reached for a new pain reliever. It too, promises a quick escape from life’s cares, an easy solution to the mounting social problems of U.S. communities and culture. It demands nothing and requires little more than a modest presence and maybe a few enablers. It enters minds, not through lungs or veins, but through eyes and ears, and its name is Donald Trump.
But by 2018, Vance began a well-timed pivot. Rather than fighting against the deadly rush generated by Trump’s message of hate, Vance began to indulge. And soon enough he was mainlining what he had previously called “cultural heroin.”
Eventually, as Rolling Stone reported in 2022, Vance “kissed Trump’s ass just enough to make it to the Senate.” From there, he has gone on to be one of right-wing media’s favorite Trump surrogates, putting the gift of words he used to become a bestselling author to use in defending Trump’s every action.
However, that’s probably not what put Vance on the shortlist. What got him noticed was not how Vance flip-flopped on Trump, but just how far toward wanna-be KGB he was willing to go. That was best showcased in a specific incident in 2023.
When historian Robert Kagan wrote an essay in The Washington Post on the dangers of a dictatorship under Trump, Vance responded. Only he didn’t respond by trying to counter Kagan in print. Instead, Vance called on the Department of Justice to investigate Kagan for treason.
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland that is still highlighted at Vance’s campaign site, Vance asked: “Will the Department of Justice open an investigation into Robert Kagan for potential violations of 18 U.S.C. § 241, 18 U.S.C. § 2383, or any other federal criminal statute? If not, what factors counsel against such an investigation? Why were those factors inapplicable in President Trump’s case?”
That’s the kind of loyalty to Trump-over-everything move that helped Vance rocket to the top of the VP list.
Now that Vance is deep into the final stages of his Trump addiction, he’s still saying things that Trump might not find helpful. Like thanking the authors of Project 2025 in a recent speech at the same time Trump is trying to deny knowledge of the plan. Vance included a hat tip to Heritage Foundation leader Kevin Roberts, who recently threatened to kill “the left” if they didn't go along with his plan.
But it’s not likely that will hurt Vance’s chances. Trump loves people who have humiliated themselves to show their loyalty to him. Besides, pretty much every potential running mate was a never Trumper at some point.
Overall, it’s hard to find anyone who has aggressively shredded more of their personal credibility than Vance. That’s what makes him such a Trump favorite.
RELATED STORY: What Trump is looking for in a VP is not a replacement
Campaign Action
