Donald Trump, who has been nominated as the Republican candidate, announced Monday that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate, and not all were impressed with the former president’s choice.
Obvious Error: Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, who recently predicted a Donald Trump victory after the Pennsylvania shooting incident, sees the development as a misstep on the part of the former president. “First obvious error by Donald Trump and team since he won nomination,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Scaramucci, an entrepreneur and founder of SkyBridge Capital, also zeroed in on a rationale for Trump’s VP pick. “Trump didn't want anyone who could take any credit for his electoral success. Or failure,” he said in sarcasm, potentially implying Vance’s lack of credentials. “I look forward to the coming national debate on our democracy, electoral lies, and the future of this amazing country,” he added.
Democrats Get Opening: Political pollster and founder of polling data analytics company FiveThirtyEight, Nate Silver said, “J.D. Vance offers Democrats an opening.”
“It's not the pick I'd have made if I were trying to maximize the chances of winning the presidency,” he said. More importantly, Vance should be considered not only from the short-run electoral implications but also from the perspective of him potentially becoming president or at least a Republican nominee for president at some point, he said.
Delving into Vance’s leaning, Silver said, “Vance is classified as a ‘Hard-Core Conservative’ by the site OnTheIssues.org,” a rating similar to Trump, although Vance is seen as “a step or two more conservative on social issues.”
Choosing Vance suggests Trump may not maintain a unifying message, Silver said, referring to the Ohio senator’s incendiary post following Saturday’s assassination attempt. “Since Donald Trump's choice was reportedly finalized only very recently, the tweet had the feeling of a teacher's pet raising his hand extra high to make sure that he got called upon,” he said.
Silver questioned the rationale behind picking Vance. Typically, VP candidates produce a small home state bonus worth a percentage point or two but Ohio isn’t a swing state where this advantage helps, he said. Vance also does not provide much “ideological or demographic” balance with Trump, he added. Vance, the polling analyst said, may not be successful in bringing in the few holdout Nikki Haley voters.
“And with only eighteen months in the Senate and no elected experience before then, voters could also question whether Vance is ready to step into the biggest job in the world — although he does have experience in other fields like business and in the United States Marine Corps,” he said.
The Democrats can capitalize on the lack of Vance’s experience, Silver said. “A fully functional Democratic campaign might be able to make some hay of this pick, perhaps by treating Vance as a cipher about whom little is known but who has been endorsed by right-wing groups like the authors of Project 2025,” he said.
One More Guardrail Gone: Mary Trump, the niece of Donald Trump, lamented that one more guardrail no longer exists with Vance’s selection. “Donald didn't want to take a chance that his new running mate would ever put the country first like Pence did,” she said.
Calling the announcement a “promotion” given by Donald Trump for a “fellow insurrectionist,” Mary Trump, a psychologist, said the goal was to pick a “hypocritical bully and revanchist sycophant.”
“Vance is stronger than Pence when it comes to pursuing his own interests, but he's as transactional as Donald,” the psychologist said. Despite the enormous amount of pressure that was brought to bear on Pence, he showed up to do his job on Jan. 6, she said, adding that “Vance will have no such compunction.”
Musk, Ramaswamy Back Vance: Vance had his fair share of supporters as well. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, said on X, “excellent decision” by Donald Trump. In another post, he said Trump, Vance resounds with victory.
Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who went up unsuccessfully against Donald Trump in the Republican primaries but has since then dropped out and endorsed the former president, also welcomed Vance’s selection. Recalling his law school days with his classmate and friend Vance, he said, “It's awesome we're now here a decade later with JD joining the strongest presidential ticket in our lifetime.”
“He'll be an outstanding Vice President and I look forward to everything ahead for him and for our country.”
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