Two weeks after selecting Sen. JD Vance as his running mate, former president Donald Trump was asked whether or not Vance would be ready to step into the role of president if necessary. By then, the American people had already had a chance to see Vance, and Trump didn’t bother to defend him. Instead, he went right to what he considered important.
“Historically, the vice president does not have any impact,” said Trump. “I mean, virtually no impact. You have two or three days where there’s a lot of commotion … then, that dies down and it’s all about the presidential pick.”
Except that’s not true. A new poll in the swing state of Michigan shows that the unpopular Vance is costing Trump votes. Meanwhile, that same poll shows that Gov. Tim Walz is a boost to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
If the choice of a running mate is the first big decision any candidate must make, Trump screwed up. Bigly.
As the Detroit Free Press reports, in the new poll from EPIC-MRA 28% of voters said that Harris’ selection of Walz made them more likely to vote for her. Additionally, 15% said Walz being on the ticket made them less likely to support Harris, giving Walz a net positive effect of 13%.
Meanwhile, only 14% of voters said that Trump’s selection of Vance made them more likely to support the Republican ticket, while 19% said Vance made them less likely to back Trump. Vance has a negative 5% net effect.
That would seem to make the strategy of sending Vance out to do events on his own, while Trump sits at Mar-a-Lago and fantasizes about President Joe Biden, somewhat … questionable. However, as Axios reports, that’s just what Trump’s campaign is doing. Since Trump is keeping a sparse schedule and isn’t doing another campaign rally until Saturday, someone has to do the work. Even if that someone is Vance.
Meanwhile, the number of clips that continue to resurface showing Vance’s obsession with women who don’t have biological children appears to be endless.
Every day that Vance spends on the campaign trail is another day in which failed 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin feels better about herself. He’s not just bad, he’s epically bad. Bad enough that “Vance” might as well be a synonym for a poorly considered, deeply unwise decision.
Trump really vanced his choice of running mate.
However, Vance is an effective surrogate for Trump in one way. A surprising New York Times fact-check of what Vance is saying as he fills in for his absentee boss shows that the Republican VP candidate is holding up his side when it comes to lying about everything.
Whether it’s immigration, trade, or transportation, if Vance is talking about it, he’s lying.
For example, when talking about electric vehicles, Vance told a Philadelphia crowd that, “Kamala Harris wants to further entrench the E.V. mandate that sends your tax dollars to China instead of buying American-made cars from American workers.”
There is no “E.V. mandate.” Tax rebates on EVs go to vehicles produced by American workers. And Biden/Harris imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese vehicles in 2024 to keep them completely out of the U.S. market. This seems like something Trump and Vance might support, if they stopped lying long enough to notice.
Vance is a surrogate for Trump, right down to his disconnection from ordinary Americans and inability to connect to people outside his bubble.
And Walz is likewise a fitting surrogate for Harris and her effort to reach out to all Americans.
That difference is reflected in the Michigan poll. Trump may be denying that Vance has any effect now, but after November, he’ll be using him as an excuse.
Show Kamala Harris that you support her choice of Tim Walz as a running mate with a $10 donation to the Harris/Walz campaign.