all A lot can change After 8 years. In the summer of 2016, JD Vance wrote for this magazine and described Donald Trump as a “cultural heroin.” On Sunday morning in Michigan, Vance made a pledge to become Trump's next vice president. Because he showed his loyalty to the former president and spoke as close to him as possible.
Vance was reportedly included in the Trump-VP shortlist that included Florida Senator Marco Rubio, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. But Vance was the only person on this list who spoke at last weekend's People's Convention, a kind of warm-up for the Republican National Convention hosted by the conservative 501(c)(4) Turning Point Action. Vance won the Turning Point vice presidential straw poll with 43% of the vote. Scott came in second with 15.4%.
Vance addressed thousands in his final keynote address, warning voters that Democrats were “trying to turn our house into a shithole.” He urged Trump to pursue military generals who disobeyed him. He borrowed some of the former president's trusted phrases, repeating, for example, the anti-environmentalist line that windmills “kill all the birds.” Vance also enjoyed sampling the lowest of the low hanging fruit. “I mean, I heard inflation is so bad that Hunter Biden can’t afford crack cocaine anymore, ladies and gentlemen!”
To an outsider, Vance's obvious echoes of Trump may seem cringe-inducing, but as long as you're not trying to outdo Trump, that type of flattery certainly seems to work. Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet said Vance is proving to be one of the Trump campaign's most effective and articulate surrogates, especially in his conversations with Rust Belt voters. As someone who grew up poor and attended Yale Law School before becoming an Ohio senator, he is “kind of a class traitor like Trump,” Kolvet said. He continued: “He’s one of those guys who can go on CNN, MSNBC, and he can cut through really hostile interviewers and get the better of a deal.”
He can also “cut” in more theatrical settings. On Sunday morning, like other speakers at the People's Congress, he waltzed to the podium amidst swirling spotlights, booming bass and billowing plumes of smoke. Vance said he looked like a professional wrestler entering the ring and at times even sounded like a professional wrestler. What are your Father’s Day plans? To take down the “giant stake.”
Like other Trump acolytes, Vance declared that many of the former president's indictments were politically motivated. “They can’t win an argument. So they will try to harass and jail their political opponents,” Vance said. “Donald Trump is trying to challenge the election through constitutional means,” he told the crowd. “This is the exact opposite of a constitutional crisis,” he said, echoing comments he recently made to Ross Douthat. new york times. “The constitutional crisis is the refusal of the generals to follow the orders of the commander-in-chief. Let's kick out those generals who refuse to follow those orders! “I am not against Donald Trump and his supporters!”
Vance's stage performance was nationalistic insofar as it contained a message beyond loyalty to Trump. “We are for an American nation built by the American people and employing American workers,” he said early on. But he went much further than that, blaming illegal immigrants for rising housing costs in the United States. The solution, he said, is to “deport every illegal alien who came to this country under a Joe Biden administration.” Yesterday at X he doubled down: “If we didn’t have 20 million illegal aliens who need to be housed (primarily at public expense), housing would be more affordable for American citizens.” At the People's Convention, Vance confusingly referred to his family as immigrants who had moved to Ohio from Appalachia, Kentucky.
Millions learned of Vance's life story through his 2016 memoir. hillbilly rain. Vance, who wrote the book, seemed like a cerebral person with a more nuanced view of the world than Trump and the rest of the MAGA movement. Vance, who turns 40 this August, told the audience that when he was 25, all his political energy was on the left. “All the energy is on the right now,” he said. In a sense, he is right. As he travels around the country, he will notice a lack of enthusiasm for Biden, especially among young people. Many people who plan to vote Democratic this year say they are doing so as a stopgap measure to combat Trump and fascism. for The second term of the Biden administration.
The crowd was most excited when Vance talked about Trump. But it was a far cry from the night before when Trump took the stage and offered his followers the real deal. Speaking to about 8,000 people, Trump was more animated and energetic than I've seen him during this election cycle. He was in stand-up comedian mode, complaining about how his shower's poor water pressure was affecting his 'beautiful hair'. Of course, his joke was a gloss over his larger message, which was more authoritarian and intolerant than ever. Trump pledged to restore “peace through strength.” He repeated the claim that other countries were emptying their prisons, asylums and asylums into America's “garbage dump.” Now, instead of saying “build a wall,” he frequently mentions his promise to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history. He repeated it.history—I'm tired of Saturday nights. “We had the best border in history. “Now we have the worst border in the history of the world,” Trump said. The Green New Deal was a fraud. It was “one of the greatest frauds in history.” He also noted that he was “the only person in history” to see his poll numbers rise after he was indicted.
Extremism transformed into benevolent patriotism was the animating theme of the three-day event. Alex Jones also made a surprise appearance and was welcomed on stage. “We are destroying the New World Order!” Jones shouted with his trademark growl. “If this republic falls, the whole world will fall into the hands of the UN and the globalists. And their hellish plan will literally rob you of everything you have, including your children,” he warned. Virtually all of the speakers embraced some form of conspiracy theory. “If you’re in this room right now, you’re probably on the FBI list,” Donald Trump Jr. said. Several presenters defended the rebels. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she was “proud” that she opposed certifying President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. “Anyone who wants to continue to shame us until January 6th can go to hell,” Green said. (She also scoffed, saying, “There is a country called Ukraine that you can’t even find on a map.”)
Clearly, Trumpism is more carnival-like than ever. Although this meeting wasn't technically a Trump rally, it might as well have been. The former president wasn't just the attraction at the People's Congress Saturday night. He was an all-consuming force all weekend. You can purchase “MAGA Nation Blend” or “Let’s Go Brandon FJB” coffee beans for $45.47. (The “Stand with Israel” bag was relatively inexpensive at $36.) Jet black. I will vote for felons in 2024 Buying a t-shirt will set you back $35. Attendees flocked to Trumpworld's most influential media figure, Steve Bannon, to get selfies and autographs as did Harry Styles. One attendee even had Bannon sign a giant laminated poster with the Constitution written on it. When Trump took the stage, he was adored. When he wasn't around, people wanted to talk about what a great guy he was.
Vance is smart enough to understand the power of this dynamic. When asked by an audience member about his future, including a potential vice president position, Vance couldn't have been clearer. “We need people supporting Trump, not trying to stab him in the back,” he said. “It’s very, very simple.”