Vice President JD Vance knew the assignment, and he likely knew how that assignment would go. Promoting his new book in an interview on “The View,” whose co-hosts are no fans of Donald Trump, he would have to defend the president’s gaffes and policy mistakes while not looking too thirsty to replace the president come 2028.
Vance performed well, as he usually does in TV interviews. But he also revealed the awkward position in which he finds himself — as does just about every other Republican who will run for president in two years. Succeeding a president from your own party is hard enough; being Trump’s vice president makes it harder.
Vance, like many Republicans, was critical of Trump when the latter first ran for president, which “The View” co-host Sara Haines asked about during the interview. So what Vance can’t say — and what no Republican can say — is that he discovered that Trump is actually a man of virtue for whom anyone would be proud to work. He can’t praise Trump’s honesty, his integrity, his kindness or his moral center.
We all know that Trump is essentially a walking collection of character flaws; those who follow him do so either because they like what he does in spite of his flaws, or because they don’t see those traits as flaws in the first place.
This is a preview of a column by Paul Waldman. Read the full column here.
