JD Vance has had a difficult week, and some Republicans aren’t hiding their frustration.
Despite momentum after former President Donald Trump named him as his running mate, the Ohio senator started receiving unwanted attention after old clips resurfaced of him calling some Democrats “childless cat ladies” and suggesting parents should have more political power than non-parents.
Vance’s change of fortune also collided with the rise of Vice President Kamala Harris, who has broken fundraising records and is on a glide path to receiving the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden bowed out of the race. And Harris — who would be the first Black and South Asian woman president and is running a campaign with the unofficial slogan “we’re not going back” — has made the contrast with the Trump-Vance ticket even more stark.
It’s all starting to get some Republicans worried — and frustrated. Some, like Arizona Republican operative Chuck Coughlin, conceded that Vance has had a “tough week.”
“Nothing like a baptism by fire,” Coughlin said.
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro bluntly questioned whether Trump should have picked Vance, saying on his show: “If you had a time machine, if you go back two weeks, would [Trump] have picked JD Vance again? I doubt it.”
Other Republicans also wondered aloud if the Trump campaign had truly anticipated the tidal wave of resurfaced comments, book writings and remarks that would come with picking a 39-year-old, recently elected senator who had grown up online and was firmly seated on the right of the Republican Party.
“Of the people that were mentioned as finalists, he had the most risk, because he had never been vetted nationally,” said Bill McCoshen, a Republican strategist in Wisconsin. “Doug Burgum ran for president, he had been vetted, mostly. Marco Rubio has run for president, he had been vetted. JD Vance hadn’t. So there was risk in the pick. And we’re going to see over the next 102 days how he stands up to the bright lights of a national campaign.”
One House Republican lawmaker suggested those vetting concerns weren’t just coming from the pundit class.
“Find me one publicly elected official in the Senate who is pushing JD Vance other than Mike Lee,” said the Republican lawmaker, who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. “I’ll wait.”
Since Harris began her presidential campaign, Democrats have begun to go on offense against Vance, and polls suggest these attacks are beginning to take a hit. Vance averages a net favorability rating of negative 5 percent across all polls, lower than any vice presidential nominee in history, CNN analyst Harry Enten said this week — a lower figure than former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, perhaps the most infamous GOP running mate pick.
Vance’s favorability was underwater by 3 percentage points in two polls of a Harris-Trump race released this week by the New York Times/Siena College and NPR/PBS News/Marist College — the latter of which found that 28 percent of registered voters hold a favorable view of Vance, while 31 percent viewed him unfavorably. Forty-one percent were unsure or have not heard of him, the Marist poll found.
The lawmaker accused Donald Trump Jr. of pushing Vance as a means of securing a legacy for the former president. Instead, Republicans have mounting worries after a week of resurfaced clips of Vance calling Harris and other Democrats “childless cat ladies” and suggesting parents should have more political power than non-parents.
Vance was picked during an entirely different phase of the presidential race — the Biden-Trump matchup of just a week ago — as a way to energize a base that was already strongly unified behind Trump rather than pick up any new constituencies, experts said. | Julia Nikhinson/AP
The Harris campaign, in response to Vance’s comments, issued a statement titled “Happy World IVF Day To Everyone Except JD Vance.” Even actress Jennifer Aniston, who does not have children, weighed in: “Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too.”
Critics also highlighted Vance’s authoring of the foreword to an upcoming book by Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation who has advocated for a “second American revolution” he hopes will remain “bloodless.” Roberts is the head of Project 2025 — a far-right policy blueprint from which Trump has fought to distance himself.
In a review of the book, Vance wrote: “We are now all realizing that it’s time to circle the wagons and load the muskets. In the fights that lie ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon.”
“I’m a little surprised they didn’t vet him as thoroughly as they should have, or if they did, did they not know he was writing the forward to Kevin Roberts’ book,” said a Republican strategist and veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, granted anonymity to speak freely. “So, you’ve got Trump trashing this Project 2025, and Vance writing the forward.”
And that’s not to mention the countless memes suggesting Vance had intimate relations with a couch in his youth following a disinformation post on social media, made worse by the fact that the Associated Press published an article with the headline “No, JD Vance did not have sex with a couch,” then retracting it because the story “didn’t go through our standard editing process,” according to AP spokesperson Nicole Meir.
Vance spokesperson Luke Schroeder referred POLITICO to reports that Vance rallies this week had reached capacity and news reports on the seven-figure fundraising events he held.
Vance was picked during an entirely different phase of the presidential race — the Biden-Trump matchup of just a week ago — as a way to energize a base that was already strongly unified behind Trump rather than pick up any new constituencies, experts said.
“Vance was not a political pick,” said Joshua Novotney, a Republican political strategist in Pennsylvania. “He was not chosen to get a leg-up in some area, he was chosen as someone who Trump trusted and wanted to serve with.”
Contenders for the Democratic veepstakes have gone on the offensive against Vance, too. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear slammed the “Hillbilly Elegy” author as a “phony,” saying “he ain’t from here” and accusing him of writing his memoir to “profit off our people.” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said “people like JD Vance know nothing about small town America,” adding: “none of my hillbilly cousins went to Yale.” And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he’d met a lot of people like Vance at Harvard “who would say whatever they needed to to get ahead.”
Despite Vance’s arguably awful week, Trump has insisted he has no regrets picking the Ohio senator, telling Fox News on Thursday that he wouldn’t have picked differently had he known Harris would take the top of the ticket.
“He is essentially for the worker. He has seen the worker be horribly abused and taken advantage of and he is for the worker,” Trump said, describing the message of Vance’s book as one of the main reasons he picked the Ohio senator.
Yet strategists said the fringes of that “Hillbilly Elegy” message is making it even harder for Vance to benefit Trump on the electoral map.
“He’s Tucker Carlson’s boy right now, and that represents a certain segment of the base of the Republican Party,” Coughlin said. “I just don’t see how that projects to somebody who can grow the base, particularly if he’s stumbling over his own words.”
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Looking old and haggard and scared, like he seen a ghost. Maybe he aughta step back, retire, enjoy golf?
Watch the video with Dechambeau. He looks awful.
At the gym today, I glanced up at one of the TVs that had FOX News on, and the chyron said something along the lines of "Trump Sinks Final Putt with DeChambeau." I tell you, they're really focused on the important issues. I guess this proves that Biden has gotten the situation at the border under control if this is all they can come up with as newsworthy for their viewers.
"Christians get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore in four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m not Christian. I love you. Get out. You gotta get out and vote. In four years you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote."
"Christians get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore in four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m not Christian. I love you. Get out. You gotta get out and vote. In four years you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote."
- Guess Who (hint: it wasn’t the VP)
Wait? POOTWH’s not Christian? I thought he held up a bible in a show of “toughness?” And had favorite bible passages? I’m confused. But I’m going to write a check AND put a recurring charge on my credit card. Whattya think, is $100 a week enough or should it be more?
"Christians get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore in four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m not Christian. I love you. Get out. You gotta get out and vote. In four years you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote."
- Guess Who (hint: it wasn’t the VP)
Wait? POOTWH’s not Christian? I thought he held up a bible in a show of “toughness?” And had favorite bible passages? I’m confused. But I’m going to write a check AND put a recurring charge on my credit card. Whattya think, is $100 a week enough or should it be more?
Suckers.
He actually said, "I am a Christian." I doubt he could identify a single thing Jesus ever said-- especially about divorce-- but he's claimed to be a lot of things he's not.
"Christians get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore in four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m not Christian. I love you. Get out. You gotta get out and vote. In four years you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote."
- Guess Who (hint: it wasn’t the VP)
Wait? POOTWH’s not Christian? I thought he held up a bible in a show of “toughness?” And had favorite bible passages? I’m confused. But I’m going to write a check AND put a recurring charge on my credit card. Whattya think, is $100 a week enough or should it be more?
Suckers.
He actually said, "I am a Christian." I doubt he could identify a single thing Jesus ever said-- especially about divorce-- but he's claimed to be a lot of things he's not.
I've never understood how 45 has the nerve to identify himself as Christian. Maybe he means, Antichrist?
I know people of faith who are disgusted with him claiming to be a "Christian".
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
"Christians get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore in four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m not Christian. I love you. Get out. You gotta get out and vote. In four years you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote."
- Guess Who (hint: it wasn’t the VP)
Wait? POOTWH’s not Christian? I thought he held up a bible in a show of “toughness?” And had favorite bible passages? I’m confused. But I’m going to write a check AND put a recurring charge on my credit card. Whattya think, is $100 a week enough or should it be more?
Suckers.
He actually said, "I am a Christian." I doubt he could identify a single thing Jesus ever said-- especially about divorce-- but he's claimed to be a lot of things he's not.
I've never understood how 45 has the nerve to identify himself as Christian. Maybe he means, Antichrist?
I know people of faith who are disgusted with him claiming to be a "Christian".
because his whole life his strategy has been to lie his ass off enough that people/media will stop trying to prove him wrong.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
Why Is Donald Trump So Fixated on Hannibal Lecter?
The fictional character — famous from 'Silence of the Lambs' — was referenced again by the former president during his Republican National Convention speech
For a moment, Donald Trump seemed — despite everything — to be a whole new man.
We’d been told by speakers throughout the final night of the Republican National Convention that the attempt on his life had changed the 45th president’s outlook and his approach to politics. The experience had made him a unifier.
“He turned down the most obvious opportunity in politics to inflame the nation after being shot,” Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News anchor, said in his speech Thursday night, hours before Trump took the stage. “In the moment, he did his best to bring the country together.”
And then, somewhat deep into Trump’s stem-winder of a speech, he started talking about Hannibal Lecter.
Popular on Variety
00:11
13:10
“The press is always on me, because I say this,” he began, in an aside. He knew it was not the first time he’d brought up Hannibal, but he couldn’t resist. “Has anyone seen ‘Silence of the Lambs’? The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’d love to have you for dinner.”
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Great movies have the power to bring people together, certainly. And Trump’s fascination with popular culture had taken over the final night of the Republican convention, with a shirt-rending performance by the wrestler known as Hulk Hogan and a musical performance by Kid Rock preceding Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White introducing Trump. But this was, once again, a random insertion of Trump’s fascination with the character Anthony Hopkins played across three films. The 45th President, and current Republican nominee, referred to Lecter as a “wonderful man” in May, while once again quoting his aphorism about having a friend “for dinner.”
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In both cases, Trump’s evocation of Lecter was to make the case that crime in America is out of control — that potential Lecters, including immigrants whom Trump would forcibly deport, live among us. There would be something movingly childlike about this imaginative capacity, under another set of circumstances: Trump has always struggled to differentiate what’s onscreen from what is real. After all, his entire professional life has been building towards a star turn, given his fascination with the media and culture industries. Why shouldn’t Hannibal Lecter be just another one of the characters who could, potentially, stride across the border and start devouring?
Trump’s appetite for popular films is one of his most relatable qualities, perhaps — he’s a lover of big, broad entertainment. In a 1997 New Yorker profile, a writer accompanied Trump on board a plane and watched as he watched only the highlights (which is to say, the most violent fights) of the Jean-Claude Van Damme film “Bloodsport.”
So it’s no wonder, maybe, that the parts of “The Silence of the Lambs” Trump remembers are Hannibal’s antics, and his one big, funny quote. And it’s unsurprising, too, that he thinks of the character as a relatable avatar for the way crime works in the real world. Hannibal Lecter is a supervillain — cunning beyond belief, with appetites beyond what we’d consider human and a unique way with words. He’s the perfect imagined adversary for a presidential candidate who sees himself as unusually clever (rather than, after everything seemed to break his way toward the end of the 2016 cycle, lucky) and unusually well-spoken (rather than just finding a good phrase now and then in an incredibly long-winded nomination acceptance speech). In Lecter, Trump has found a villain whose outsized monstrosity matches Trump’s own perceived heroism, his own ability to fight back against any villain — whether real or part of our collective imagination.
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If Trump’s debate against President Biden were unsatisfying — if, in the end, it felt a little too easy — there’s always the imagined challenge of hunting down Hannibal Lecter crossing the border. And perhaps those who fear a Trump restoration should be glad that at least some of his focus is on Hannibal, and that the lambs have not yet stopped screaming.
"Christians get out and vote. You won’t have to do it anymore in four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m not Christian. I love you. Get out. You gotta get out and vote. In four years you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote."
- Guess Who (hint: it wasn’t the VP)
Wait? POOTWH’s not Christian? I thought he held up a bible in a show of “toughness?” And had favorite bible passages? I’m confused. But I’m going to write a check AND put a recurring charge on my credit card. Whattya think, is $100 a week enough or should it be more?
Suckers.
He actually said, "I am a Christian." I doubt he could identify a single thing Jesus ever said-- especially about divorce-- but he's claimed to be a lot of things he's not.
I've never understood how 45 has the nerve to identify himself as Christian. Maybe he means, Antichrist?
I know people of faith who are disgusted with him claiming to be a "Christian".
because his whole life his strategy has been to lie his ass off enough that people/media will stop trying to prove him wrong.
He has certainly proven what an ass he is.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Half these people probably won't even vote. They just like the reality show. Anyway-- and again-- you'd think that after 2020, people would be a bit more hesitant to put a lot of stock in the size of crowds.
A FOX News poll out yesterday has Harris up in Minnesota 52-46 (and 47-41 with third-party candidates included), and a KSTP/Survey USA poll has here up 50-40 in MN. We'll see what happens in November.
We sure will. Definitely, Harris is a more challenging opponent than senile Joey. But, Harris and the lame stream media are still enjoying the "honeymoon" phase. Very soon, as more and more incriminating videos of Harris's radical leftist speeches and interviews will reach the public domain and people will see who she really is. She's way too radical for most Americans, whether they're women or men, white or of color. And most woman pay the household bills and do the shopping - whether married or single - and know how Biden and Harris screwed up our economy, causing us all to pay way too much for daily essentials. Polls show that this is what people care the most about and President Trump is much stronger and experienced on this important subject. It is a winning issue for him.
We sure will. Definitely, Harris is a more challenging opponent than senile Joey. But, Harris and the lame stream media are still enjoying the "honeymoon" phase. Very soon, as more and more incriminating videos of Harris's radical leftist speeches and interviews will reach the public domain and people will see who she really is. She's way too radical for most Americans, whether they're women or men, white or of color. And most woman pay the household bills and do the shopping - whether married or single - and know how Biden and Harris screwed up our economy, causing us all to pay way too much for daily essentials. Polls show that this is what people care the most about and President Trump is much stronger and experienced on this important subject. It is a winning issue for him.
So, when will that old, senile, demented POOTWH debate Kamala and point out all of the flaws of the “border czar?” When will POOTWH debate Kamala and articulate the future of border security and inflation? When will POOTWH debate Kamala and articulate what healthcare policy, addressing of climate change and affordable housing might look like? I’d watch ten of those debates but I don’t think that old, old man has it in him. In fact, and this would be horrible, horrible because it’s evident its happened previously, POOTWH would stroke out.
We sure will. Definitely, Harris is a more challenging opponent than senile Joey. But, Harris and the lame stream media are still enjoying the "honeymoon" phase. Very soon, as more and more incriminating videos of Harris's radical leftist speeches and interviews will reach the public domain and people will see who she really is. She's way too radical for most Americans, whether they're women or men, white or of color. And most woman pay the household bills and do the shopping - whether married or single - and know how Biden and Harris screwed up our economy, causing us all to pay way too much for daily essentials. Polls show that this is what people care the most about and President Trump is much stronger and experienced on this important subject. It is a winning issue for him.
Trump’s plans will increase inflation. You should look into it.
We sure will. Definitely, Harris is a more challenging opponent than senile Joey. But, Harris and the lame stream media are still enjoying the "honeymoon" phase. Very soon, as more and more incriminating videos of Harris's radical leftist speeches and interviews will reach the public domain and people will see who she really is. She's way too radical for most Americans, whether they're women or men, white or of color. And most woman pay the household bills and do the shopping - whether married or single - and know how Biden and Harris screwed up our economy, causing us all to pay way too much for daily essentials. Polls show that this is what people care the most about and President Trump is much stronger and experienced on this important subject. It is a winning issue for him.
Trump’s plans will increase inflation. You should look into it.
We sure will. Definitely, Harris is a more challenging opponent than senile Joey. But, Harris and the lame stream media are still enjoying the "honeymoon" phase. Very soon, as more and more incriminating videos of Harris's radical leftist speeches and interviews will reach the public domain and people will see who she really is. She's way too radical for most Americans, whether they're women or men, white or of color. And most woman pay the household bills and do the shopping - whether married or single - and know how Biden and Harris screwed up our economy, causing us all to pay way too much for daily essentials. Polls show that this is what people care the most about and President Trump is much stronger and experienced on this important subject. It is a winning issue for him.
Your candidate tried to steal the election. He still hasn't conceded. He wants to pardon a bunch of criminals who attacked the Capitol. He wants to withdraw or step back from vital alliances. He appointed judges who eliminated a right that women had enjoyed in this country for 50 years. His party wants to eliminate entire departments of the federal government. Who's the radical?
You need to get out of your bubble, where anyone who is not a "conservative" (whatever that even means) is a "radical leftist." She was a frigging prosecutor, for Christ's sake. She was attacked by the "left" for being too friendly to law enforcement. She's so "radically left" that when the elimination of the death penalty was on the ballot in California, she didn't say a word in support of the proposition.
What does this even mean? He's running to become president for life? Power to the people-- from the guy who twice has failed to get even a plurality of the votes cast by people?
Comments
looks like he already got to this one. thrice.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Republicans are already souring on JD Vance
“I’m a little surprised they didn’t vet him as thoroughly as they should have,” said one GOP strategist.
JD Vance’s favorability was underwater by 3 percentage points in two polls of a Harris-Trump race released this week. | Paul Vernon/AP
By IRIE SENTNER and JARED MITOVICH
07/26/2024 05:19 PM EDT
JD Vance has had a difficult week, and some Republicans aren’t hiding their frustration.
Despite momentum after former President Donald Trump named him as his running mate, the Ohio senator started receiving unwanted attention after old clips resurfaced of him calling some Democrats “childless cat ladies” and suggesting parents should have more political power than non-parents.
Vance’s change of fortune also collided with the rise of Vice President Kamala Harris, who has broken fundraising records and is on a glide path to receiving the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden bowed out of the race. And Harris — who would be the first Black and South Asian woman president and is running a campaign with the unofficial slogan “we’re not going back” — has made the contrast with the Trump-Vance ticket even more stark.
It’s all starting to get some Republicans worried — and frustrated. Some, like Arizona Republican operative Chuck Coughlin, conceded that Vance has had a “tough week.”
“Nothing like a baptism by fire,” Coughlin said.
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro bluntly questioned whether Trump should have picked Vance, saying on his show: “If you had a time machine, if you go back two weeks, would [Trump] have picked JD Vance again? I doubt it.”
Other Republicans also wondered aloud if the Trump campaign had truly anticipated the tidal wave of resurfaced comments, book writings and remarks that would come with picking a 39-year-old, recently elected senator who had grown up online and was firmly seated on the right of the Republican Party.
“Of the people that were mentioned as finalists, he had the most risk, because he had never been vetted nationally,” said Bill McCoshen, a Republican strategist in Wisconsin. “Doug Burgum ran for president, he had been vetted, mostly. Marco Rubio has run for president, he had been vetted. JD Vance hadn’t. So there was risk in the pick. And we’re going to see over the next 102 days how he stands up to the bright lights of a national campaign.”
One House Republican lawmaker suggested those vetting concerns weren’t just coming from the pundit class.
“Find me one publicly elected official in the Senate who is pushing JD Vance other than Mike Lee,” said the Republican lawmaker, who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. “I’ll wait.”
Since Harris began her presidential campaign, Democrats have begun to go on offense against Vance, and polls suggest these attacks are beginning to take a hit. Vance averages a net favorability rating of negative 5 percent across all polls, lower than any vice presidential nominee in history, CNN analyst Harry Enten said this week — a lower figure than former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, perhaps the most infamous GOP running mate pick.
Vance’s favorability was underwater by 3 percentage points in two polls of a Harris-Trump race released this week by the New York Times/Siena College and NPR/PBS News/Marist College — the latter of which found that 28 percent of registered voters hold a favorable view of Vance, while 31 percent viewed him unfavorably. Forty-one percent were unsure or have not heard of him, the Marist poll found.
The lawmaker accused Donald Trump Jr. of pushing Vance as a means of securing a legacy for the former president. Instead, Republicans have mounting worries after a week of resurfaced clips of Vance calling Harris and other Democrats “childless cat ladies” and suggesting parents should have more political power than non-parents.
Vance was picked during an entirely different phase of the presidential race — the Biden-Trump matchup of just a week ago — as a way to energize a base that was already strongly unified behind Trump rather than pick up any new constituencies, experts said. | Julia Nikhinson/AP
The Harris campaign, in response to Vance’s comments, issued a statement titled “Happy World IVF Day To Everyone Except JD Vance.” Even actress Jennifer Aniston, who does not have children, weighed in: “Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too.”
Critics also highlighted Vance’s authoring of the foreword to an upcoming book by Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation who has advocated for a “second American revolution” he hopes will remain “bloodless.” Roberts is the head of Project 2025 — a far-right policy blueprint from which Trump has fought to distance himself.
In a review of the book, Vance wrote: “We are now all realizing that it’s time to circle the wagons and load the muskets. In the fights that lie ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon.”
“I’m a little surprised they didn’t vet him as thoroughly as they should have, or if they did, did they not know he was writing the forward to Kevin Roberts’ book,” said a Republican strategist and veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, granted anonymity to speak freely. “So, you’ve got Trump trashing this Project 2025, and Vance writing the forward.”
And that’s not to mention the countless memes suggesting Vance had intimate relations with a couch in his youth following a disinformation post on social media, made worse by the fact that the Associated Press published an article with the headline “No, JD Vance did not have sex with a couch,” then retracting it because the story “didn’t go through our standard editing process,” according to AP spokesperson Nicole Meir.
Vance spokesperson Luke Schroeder referred POLITICO to reports that Vance rallies this week had reached capacity and news reports on the seven-figure fundraising events he held.
Vance was picked during an entirely different phase of the presidential race — the Biden-Trump matchup of just a week ago — as a way to energize a base that was already strongly unified behind Trump rather than pick up any new constituencies, experts said.
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“Vance was not a political pick,” said Joshua Novotney, a Republican political strategist in Pennsylvania. “He was not chosen to get a leg-up in some area, he was chosen as someone who Trump trusted and wanted to serve with.”
Contenders for the Democratic veepstakes have gone on the offensive against Vance, too. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear slammed the “Hillbilly Elegy” author as a “phony,” saying “he ain’t from here” and accusing him of writing his memoir to “profit off our people.” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said “people like JD Vance know nothing about small town America,” adding: “none of my hillbilly cousins went to Yale.” And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he’d met a lot of people like Vance at Harvard “who would say whatever they needed to to get ahead.”
Despite Vance’s arguably awful week, Trump has insisted he has no regrets picking the Ohio senator, telling Fox News on Thursday that he wouldn’t have picked differently had he known Harris would take the top of the ticket.
“He is essentially for the worker. He has seen the worker be horribly abused and taken advantage of and he is for the worker,” Trump said, describing the message of Vance’s book as one of the main reasons he picked the Ohio senator.
Yet strategists said the fringes of that “Hillbilly Elegy” message is making it even harder for Vance to benefit Trump on the electoral map.
“He’s Tucker Carlson’s boy right now, and that represents a certain segment of the base of the Republican Party,” Coughlin said. “I just don’t see how that projects to somebody who can grow the base, particularly if he’s stumbling over his own words.”
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
(hint: it wasn’t the VP)
Suckers.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/donald-trump-hannibal-lecter-fascination-1236077926/
Why Is Donald Trump So Fixated on Hannibal Lecter?
The fictional character — famous from 'Silence of the Lambs' — was referenced again by the former president during his Republican National Convention speech
By Daniel D'Addario
For a moment, Donald Trump seemed — despite everything — to be a whole new man.
We’d been told by speakers throughout the final night of the Republican National Convention that the attempt on his life had changed the 45th president’s outlook and his approach to politics. The experience had made him a unifier.
“He turned down the most obvious opportunity in politics to inflame the nation after being shot,” Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News anchor, said in his speech Thursday night, hours before Trump took the stage. “In the moment, he did his best to bring the country together.”
And then, somewhat deep into Trump’s stem-winder of a speech, he started talking about Hannibal Lecter.
Popular on Variety
“The press is always on me, because I say this,” he began, in an aside. He knew it was not the first time he’d brought up Hannibal, but he couldn’t resist. “Has anyone seen ‘Silence of the Lambs’? The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’d love to have you for dinner.”
Great movies have the power to bring people together, certainly. And Trump’s fascination with popular culture had taken over the final night of the Republican convention, with a shirt-rending performance by the wrestler known as Hulk Hogan and a musical performance by Kid Rock preceding Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White introducing Trump. But this was, once again, a random insertion of Trump’s fascination with the character Anthony Hopkins played across three films. The 45th President, and current Republican nominee, referred to Lecter as a “wonderful man” in May, while once again quoting his aphorism about having a friend “for dinner.”
In both cases, Trump’s evocation of Lecter was to make the case that crime in America is out of control — that potential Lecters, including immigrants whom Trump would forcibly deport, live among us. There would be something movingly childlike about this imaginative capacity, under another set of circumstances: Trump has always struggled to differentiate what’s onscreen from what is real. After all, his entire professional life has been building towards a star turn, given his fascination with the media and culture industries. Why shouldn’t Hannibal Lecter be just another one of the characters who could, potentially, stride across the border and start devouring?
Trump’s appetite for popular films is one of his most relatable qualities, perhaps — he’s a lover of big, broad entertainment. In a 1997 New Yorker profile, a writer accompanied Trump on board a plane and watched as he watched only the highlights (which is to say, the most violent fights) of the Jean-Claude Van Damme film “Bloodsport.”
So it’s no wonder, maybe, that the parts of “The Silence of the Lambs” Trump remembers are Hannibal’s antics, and his one big, funny quote. And it’s unsurprising, too, that he thinks of the character as a relatable avatar for the way crime works in the real world. Hannibal Lecter is a supervillain — cunning beyond belief, with appetites beyond what we’d consider human and a unique way with words. He’s the perfect imagined adversary for a presidential candidate who sees himself as unusually clever (rather than, after everything seemed to break his way toward the end of the 2016 cycle, lucky) and unusually well-spoken (rather than just finding a good phrase now and then in an incredibly long-winded nomination acceptance speech). In Lecter, Trump has found a villain whose outsized monstrosity matches Trump’s own perceived heroism, his own ability to fight back against any villain — whether real or part of our collective imagination.
If Trump’s debate against President Biden were unsatisfying — if, in the end, it felt a little too easy — there’s always the imagined challenge of hunting down Hannibal Lecter crossing the border. And perhaps those who fear a Trump restoration should be glad that at least some of his focus is on Hannibal, and that the lambs have not yet stopped screaming.
He has certainly proven what an ass he is.
A FOX News poll out yesterday has Harris up in Minnesota 52-46 (and 47-41 with third-party candidates included), and a KSTP/Survey USA poll has here up 50-40 in MN. We'll see what happens in November.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
We don't do that IN THIS COUNTRY.
End of story. Maga ends in November.
You need to get out of your bubble, where anyone who is not a "conservative" (whatever that even means) is a "radical leftist." She was a frigging prosecutor, for Christ's sake. She was attacked by the "left" for being too friendly to law enforcement. She's so "radically left" that when the elimination of the death penalty was on the ballot in California, she didn't say a word in support of the proposition.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Is that the bankrupt Trump Shuttle behind him?