About Trump's Malleable V.P. Pick

In picking novice Sen. J. D. Vance (Insurrection-OH) to be his running mate, MAGA candidate Trump is betting that a fresh (white, bearded) face will further energize his cult, despite Vance's considerable record of slamming him in the past, which to be sure, will be featured in Dem ads. Since Trump announced his candidacy for President to stay out of prison, Vance has done a complete 180 on the cult leader, something that seems utterly cynical and calculated for the ambitious Senator. Dems feel confident that they can paint Vance as an extremist on a number of issues, as Politico notes:

"Vance will do what Mike Pence wouldn’t on January 6; bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, who chairs President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, said in a statement. The campaign coupled its missive with a press call immediately after Trump announced his pick to detail Vance’s vulnerabilities.

But it was on abortion where the Biden campaign and its aides and allies have focused much of their immediate attention — an issue that Democrats believe is a key vulnerability for Trump and that would be a critical element in a potential debate between Vance and Harris.

“A Trump-Vance administration will jeopardize reproductive freedom in all 50 states,” Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All, said on the Biden campaign call Monday afternoon. “We know they have no plans to stop at overturning Roe.” [snip]

Vance has recently moderated his views on the procedure to more closely align with Trump’s — including saying he supports leaving the issue to states.

But Vance’s past remarks on abortion and women — and his subsequent attempts to modify them — are providing Democrats running against Trump with rocket fuel for their strategy on abortion rights. Vance indicated in a 2021 interview that he did not support abortions even in cases of rape or incest. But in his 2022 Senate race, while voicing support for Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) bill that would ban the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy, Vance said he believes in certain exceptions. He has also equated the procedure to 'murder.'”  (our emphasis)

The key to understanding Vance is that he's a quintessential political opportunist, who will trade whatever temporary convictions he held for a higher position in a nanosecond. He'll be in on the con with his cult leader, doing and saying whatever it takes to gather votes.

(photo: Drew Angerer / Getty Images)