What is going on with Donald Trump and JD Vance?
I do not make predictions easily. Nor do I tend to worry about any one particular political candidate. However, during the midterms, I was, in fact, worried about a certain candidate. His name is JD Vance, and he was running to be Ohio’s newest Senator.
He won. I did not want him to win. You see, Vance is actually that rare Republican thing — he is a GOOD liar.
How else to explain the love flowed toward him from so many democrats during his “Hillbilly Elegy” years?
How else to explain Ron Howard’s decision to make a film of his life? Some may scoff but believe me, JD Vance, back in the day, captured the hearts of many Democrats. Including this one.
Many of us saw him as a sort of standard bearer for old-school Republicans. If you’ve read his book — and I have — he comes across as nuanced and sincere.
In those days, Vance hated Trump. Who knows? Perhaps he still does.
But you see, what so many of us could not see was that Vance was just a smoother, a more articulate wolf in sheep’s clothing.
And wolf he was. Vance, in his frantic efforts to win Ohio’s votes, became smarmier than even Lindsey Graham in his courtship of Trump. Nothing was off the table, including letting Trump openly make fun of him while audiences laughed.
Vance was looking at the long game.
And now here he sits in the Senate doing — doing something, I suppose. I am not sure what. He’s certainly not doing anything for Ohio.
But he IS prepared to do something for Trump.
Iowa conservatives are having a prominent event coming up, and most Presidential contenders on the GOP side will be there.
It’s called the Family Leadership Summit; how quaint.
But there is one presidential “candidate” who will not be there. That is Donald Trump. He will be absent due to ‘scheduling conflicts.”
Now that’s fine. But what happened next was a bit on the bizarre side.
The CEO of this group, Bob Vander Plaats, confirmed Trump’s absence but said Trump had offered up a replacement.
JD Vance.
According to Vander Plaats, Trump offered Vance up as his “surrogate.”
The invitation was politely rejected as the group always declines these types of requests.
What this tells me is that Trump MIGHT be grooming Vance. It would make sense. Trump would be happy to take someone under his wing, particularly someone who would be in essence, a Trump blowup doll.
And Vance has proven there isn’t ANYTHING he won’t do for power. So keep your eyes on this Ohio Senator. He’s playing the long game, and he’s not to be trusted. Not at all.
