It’s been one hell of a week for J.D. Vance. Sorry, that should read “hellish” week. Let’s rewind.
Last Thursday, Vance joyously accepted the nomination for Donald Trump’s running mate at the Republican National Convention. By Monday morning, everything had changed.
Vance awoke to discover that he’d become the target of Democratic vice presidential hopeful Andy Beshear, who slammed him for being a “phony” before he’d even held his first campaign event. When the Ohio senator finally hit the campaign trail, he started things off with an awkward, low-energy speech in his hometown, during which he suggested that he’d be considered “racist” for his love of Diet Mountain Dew, a strange gaffe that made him a laughingstock for a day and added fuel to the flames of Beshear’s attacks. Almost immediately, Trump allies began to suspect that the conservative calculus on Vance’s selection was fraught with errors.
All of this happened in one day. Every day since has been worse.
Over the next few days, it would be revealed that Vance had more than a few skeletons in his closet, ones that maybe hadn’t bothered anyone when he was supposed to be a mini-Trump but now seemed demonstrably damaging.
Vance drew ire for a slew of past comments, including calling Democrats “childless cat ladies,” suggesting that Trump had committed serial sexual assault, promoting a right-wing conspiracy theorist’s book that called progressives “unhumans,” and writing a favorable foreword for a book linked to Project 2025.
All of this was really bad, and none of it even held a candle to something said about Vance that wasn’t even true: A nasty rumor that he’d gotten sexual with a sectional overwhelmed social media on Thursday.
In terms of headlines, Vance has taken a serious beating.
And it seems to be translating into early approval polls.
By Friday, things still weren’t looking good. While it was previously reported that some Republican lawmakers had severe buyer’s remorse about Vance, one House Republican told The Hill that there was “major dissension” over Trump’s pick.
“The prevailing sentiment is if Trump loses, [it’s] because of this pick,” the lawmaker explained.
A few House Republicans spoke anonymously with The Hill about their take on the GOP nominee for vice president.
Vance “was the worst choice of all the options. It was so bad I didn’t even think it was possible,” one Republican representative told the outlet. “Anti-Ukraine, more of a populist. He adds nothing to the Trump ticket. He energizes the same people that love Trump.”
Another House Republican told The Hill that despite public support for Vance, lawmakers were relatively united in their hatred of him. “I think if you were to ask many people around this building, nine out of 10 on our side would say he’s the wrong pick,” the lawmaker said. “He’s the only person who can do serious damage.”
One week after his coronation, Kamala Harris’s approval rating is skyrocketing, and Vance is starting to look like the worst vice presidential candidate in history.
