Another day, another skeleton dancing from the seemingly bottomless closet of Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance.
As ABC News reported on Friday, Vance proposed in 2021 that Americans who don’t have children should pay higher taxes. According to Vance, this is because the government should "punish the things that we think are bad." Like, you know, people who either can’t have or don’t want kids.
That skeleton will have to step around the pile of bones left by Thursday’s revelation that, also in 2021, Vance insisted people with more children should get more votes. (This is just another aspect of Vance’s deep obsessions with creepy far-right natalism.)
And that skeleton tripped on the remains of the recent revelation that, in 2022, Vance called for a “federal response” in dealing with women who tried to seek out-of-state abortions—which he wrapped up in a disgusting fantasy about Black people and George Soros, a Jewish billionaire and Democratic donor.
Don’t worry. There are surely more skeletons where those came from. I’m telling you, Vance is perfect. And he’s also profoundly weird. Not in a good way.
It’s been under two weeks since Donald Trump picked the guy who “liked me more than anybody liked me” to be his running mate.
The morning after the pick was announced at the Republican National Convention, our own Kos put it clearly: Trump had picked “the worst possible running mate,” a man who underperformed in his Ohio Senate election, didn’t expand Trump’s base, and brought nothing to the ticket that would make Trump’s election more likely. Really, Vance seemed to bring nothing to the table except a history of hating Trump.
Oddly enough, some Republicans seem to agree. Reports that Vance would be a drag on the Republican ticket began almost as soon as he was chosen. And those calls are continuing as the GOP desperately seeks a way to unload the loser that they feted in Milwaukee.
Because Vance is simply a dud:
YouTube Video
“He’s the first vice presidential nominee of either party since 1980 to begin underwater in his approval ratings,” Paul Begala, a former advisor to President Bill Clinton, said Thursday on CNN. “And he’s not good on the stump.” Trump may have a form of charisma but Vance is “just dull,” Begala added.
On Friday, The Hill reports that House Republicans are bashing Vance behind the scenes, worrying about his pro-Russian foreign policy and fretting over his lack of expertise. According to one source, 9 out of 10 congressional Republicans think Vance is the wrong pick.
But really, how can they do without a man who makes politics seem this glamorous?
Does your candidate give you “a ton of crap”? Trump and Vance will! It takes real skill to make a presidential campaign seem less organized and inviting than signing up for the rules committee at your local Little League.
If that doesn’t seem off-putting enough, this little trip into Vance’s recently resurfaced posting history should make things a little … ickier.
That’s Vance, in February of this year, posting an image of a video in which a woman is purportedly “violated by a dolphin.” Maybe it’s not couches that he has the hots for after all. Or maybe it’s not just couches.
Vance’s deep allegiance to the idea that spreading your personal genetic blueprint is all that matters in life has led to a long obsession with calling anyone who isn’t knee-deep in toddlers a “childless cat lad[y].” And that includes applying the term to men. Whether it’s having a cat or being a lady that Vance believes makes this such a great insult isn’t clear … but it’s sure not earning him any fans.
But the biggest problem that Republicans are facing is that awareness of Vance’s radical ideas isn’t restricted to political circles and his billionaire tech-bro friends. This stuff is going mainstream.
Vance’s call to up the taxes on the childless is getting showcased on Good Morning America, while Taylor Swift fans are lit over his cat-lady schtick. That’s a combination that could turn Vance’s “underwater” ratings into “just how deep is the Mariana Trench”?
Sen. JD Vance is perfect. Not in the sense that he helps Donald Trump. He’s perfect in illustrating what a disorganized, radical, shit-fest of a personality cult the Republican Party has become.
He’s also the perfect scapegoat for a Trump campaign that has foundered since Kamala Harris became the apparent Democratic nominee.
The pull of blaming it all on Vance and moving on to Trump Vice President No. 3 is likely to be irresistible. Don’t be surprised if Vance gets to go home soon so he can fantasize about couches and marine mammals while plotting how to punish people who don’t have children. No doubt, though, that he’ll miss getting first dibs at “a ton of crap.”
Supposedly, Donald Trump Jr. was one of those who pushed for Vance and helped in vetting him as Trump’s running mate. So what went wrong?
Oh. Never mind.
If you would rather reward a vice president who is genuinely beyond qualified and ready to lead the next great progressive administration, donate $5 to Kamala Harris’ campaign today.
As ABC News reported on Friday, Vance proposed in 2021 that Americans who don’t have children should pay higher taxes. According to Vance, this is because the government should "punish the things that we think are bad." Like, you know, people who either can’t have or don’t want kids.
That skeleton will have to step around the pile of bones left by Thursday’s revelation that, also in 2021, Vance insisted people with more children should get more votes. (This is just another aspect of Vance’s deep obsessions with creepy far-right natalism.)
And that skeleton tripped on the remains of the recent revelation that, in 2022, Vance called for a “federal response” in dealing with women who tried to seek out-of-state abortions—which he wrapped up in a disgusting fantasy about Black people and George Soros, a Jewish billionaire and Democratic donor.
Don’t worry. There are surely more skeletons where those came from. I’m telling you, Vance is perfect. And he’s also profoundly weird. Not in a good way.
It’s been under two weeks since Donald Trump picked the guy who “liked me more than anybody liked me” to be his running mate.
The morning after the pick was announced at the Republican National Convention, our own Kos put it clearly: Trump had picked “the worst possible running mate,” a man who underperformed in his Ohio Senate election, didn’t expand Trump’s base, and brought nothing to the ticket that would make Trump’s election more likely. Really, Vance seemed to bring nothing to the table except a history of hating Trump.
Oddly enough, some Republicans seem to agree. Reports that Vance would be a drag on the Republican ticket began almost as soon as he was chosen. And those calls are continuing as the GOP desperately seeks a way to unload the loser that they feted in Milwaukee.
Because Vance is simply a dud:
YouTube Video
“He’s the first vice presidential nominee of either party since 1980 to begin underwater in his approval ratings,” Paul Begala, a former advisor to President Bill Clinton, said Thursday on CNN. “And he’s not good on the stump.” Trump may have a form of charisma but Vance is “just dull,” Begala added.
On Friday, The Hill reports that House Republicans are bashing Vance behind the scenes, worrying about his pro-Russian foreign policy and fretting over his lack of expertise. According to one source, 9 out of 10 congressional Republicans think Vance is the wrong pick.
But really, how can they do without a man who makes politics seem this glamorous?
Does your candidate give you “a ton of crap”? Trump and Vance will! It takes real skill to make a presidential campaign seem less organized and inviting than signing up for the rules committee at your local Little League.
If that doesn’t seem off-putting enough, this little trip into Vance’s recently resurfaced posting history should make things a little … ickier.
That’s Vance, in February of this year, posting an image of a video in which a woman is purportedly “violated by a dolphin.” Maybe it’s not couches that he has the hots for after all. Or maybe it’s not just couches.
Vance’s deep allegiance to the idea that spreading your personal genetic blueprint is all that matters in life has led to a long obsession with calling anyone who isn’t knee-deep in toddlers a “childless cat lad[y].” And that includes applying the term to men. Whether it’s having a cat or being a lady that Vance believes makes this such a great insult isn’t clear … but it’s sure not earning him any fans.
But the biggest problem that Republicans are facing is that awareness of Vance’s radical ideas isn’t restricted to political circles and his billionaire tech-bro friends. This stuff is going mainstream.
Vance’s call to up the taxes on the childless is getting showcased on Good Morning America, while Taylor Swift fans are lit over his cat-lady schtick. That’s a combination that could turn Vance’s “underwater” ratings into “just how deep is the Mariana Trench”?
Sen. JD Vance is perfect. Not in the sense that he helps Donald Trump. He’s perfect in illustrating what a disorganized, radical, shit-fest of a personality cult the Republican Party has become.
He’s also the perfect scapegoat for a Trump campaign that has foundered since Kamala Harris became the apparent Democratic nominee.
The pull of blaming it all on Vance and moving on to Trump Vice President No. 3 is likely to be irresistible. Don’t be surprised if Vance gets to go home soon so he can fantasize about couches and marine mammals while plotting how to punish people who don’t have children. No doubt, though, that he’ll miss getting first dibs at “a ton of crap.”
Supposedly, Donald Trump Jr. was one of those who pushed for Vance and helped in vetting him as Trump’s running mate. So what went wrong?
Oh. Never mind.
If you would rather reward a vice president who is genuinely beyond qualified and ready to lead the next great progressive administration, donate $5 to Kamala Harris’ campaign today.