Surprise, surprise. J.D. Vance’s smooth journey from a self-described “never-Trump” conservative who potentially called the former president “American Hitler” in 2016 to a fervent supporter of the man in 2020 may not be the complete story.
According to Friday’s report: washington postIn February 2020, Vance criticized Trump’s choices during his first term in a private message to X. “Trump has so thoroughly failed to deliver on his economic populism (aside from his unseparated China policy),” the VP pick wrote. Sources remain anonymous due to concerns about vitriolic response.
In another direct message sent in June 2020, Vance predicted that his future running mate would lose the presidential election to Joe Biden. When Trump actually lost, Vance claimed that the Democrats had stolen the election.
William Martin, Vance’s spokesman, said: mail Vance’s comments about Trump’s failure to deliver on his promises on the economy were not aimed at the former president, but rather at “establishment Republicans who have largely thwarted Trump’s populist economic agenda to raise tariffs and stimulate domestic manufacturing in Congress.” It was aimed.
“Trump has so thoroughly failed to deliver on his economic populism (apart from his divisive China policy),” the vice president-elect reportedly wrote.
“Fortunately, Senator Vance believes that Republicans in Congress are much more aligned with President Trump’s agenda today than they were back then, so he is confident we will not face the same problems within the party,” Martin added.
In other messages, Vance appeared to embrace government-led health care, saying Medicare for All is “a net positive, but maybe not (the details matter).”
This raises the question of when and why Vance had a change of heart about Trump. When asked about this, Martin did not respond. mother jones‘Request for comment.
We previously mentioned how there could be truth to Vance’s transformation into a defender of the former president. He clearly studied the influence of the newly established right, with references to Nazi Germany and its own takeover of the administrative state. But even if Vance makes his reasoning clear, he serves as an example of how elites can justify in their own minds that they could vote for Trump. Because when they do that they are working class (or actually white working class), despite all evidence to the contrary.
As Vance said at the Republican National Convention in July: “America is not just an idea. “It is a group of people with a shared history and a shared future.”
In other words, we have a common history and a common future. a specific kind Of people.
