Vance Auditions as Trump ‘Bulldog’
. . . while the post-shooting Trump turns to talk of unity before the GOP convention.
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THE DAY AFTER A WOULD-BE ASSASSIN tried to kill him, Donald Trump thanked his supporters, asked them to pray for the wounded and dead, and emphasized that “it is more important than ever that we stand United.”
This seemed, for a moment at least, to be a kindler, gentler Trump.
By that point, J.D. Vance had been driving a message that was neither kindler nor gentler. He savaged the “absolute ghouls” in the media for some of their early coverage of the shooting. He blasted a Democratic congressman as an “absolute scumbag.” And he said President Joe Biden’s rhetoric “led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
Vance’s Trumpian broadsides were an expression of the raw anger of the MAGA right. But they were also a window into how he could perform in what might be his next job: Trump’s running mate.
Trump is expected, but not required, to announce his vice presidential pick today at the Republican National Convention, and many advisers, confidants, and Republicans familiar with his process believe the job is Vance’s to lose. Vance has consistently been at or near the top of Trump’s shortlist since his campaign began vetting candidates in the spring. The Ohio senator counts top supporters in Trump’s orbit, including Donald Trump Jr. and longtime adviser Roger Stone. And several of those Trump insiders who back other candidates, such as Doug Burgum and Marco Rubio, have come to believe Vance is the likeliest pick. Even Trump’s notorious aversion to facial hair probably won’t be enough to keep him from naming the barbate 39-year-old as his no. 2.
“Presidential candidates usually want an attack-dog running mate to handle the dirty work, and J.D. is ready for it,” said one Republican who has discussed the selection process with Trump. “But the question is whether Trump still wants that now.”
Indeed, since the shooting Saturday, Trump has made such a point of talking about unity that he says he has completely overhauled his Thursday nomination acceptance speech to make it less divisive. “This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together,” he said on Sunday. “The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago.”
This distinctly un-Trumpian talk of more togetherness has some in MAGAville at a loss. Is this a tactic or a genuine conversion? Is he sensing something about the national mood after the shooting? Or has he calculated that, with his lead in the polls and with Democrats fracturing over Biden’s future, the smart move is to talk unity? And if Trump has truly altered the course of his campaign, does it change his calculus for picking a running mate? If the famously pugilistic Trump is talking pacific, was Vance’s aggressiveness a turnoff?
“There is talk of a reset,” said an insider. “It could be wide open, and what Vance was saying is not the Trump message anymore.”
Another person familiar with Trump’s thinking, however, said there has been no change in the candidate’s thinking or timetable. He’s not saying whom he’ll pick or exactly when. And some suspect Trump is intentionally discussing new names to create more uncertainty—and therefore manufacture more buzz—about his running mate. He has told others, for instance, that he’s considering his now-vanquished primary nemesis and former ambassador, Nikki Haley, who was just offered a speaking slot at the convention.
Regardless of whom Trump chooses, his campaign won’t abandon going on offense. In “messaging guidance” the campaign has shared with surrogates, Trump asked them to drive home the point that, six days ago, Biden told donors last week to zero in on Trump as a target.
“Joe Biden told donors it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye and that’s exactly what happened,” the messaging points read, according to elements of the document shared with The Bulwark. The document also reminds candidates to reinforce how Trump wants to bring unity after the shooting.
“Having Trump strike a unity message while his biggest supporters are his bulldogs is exactly the way we want to handle this,” a Trump adviser said. “Trump’s personal messaging is different from everyone else’s. The surrogates and supporters are on different messaging frames. Trump should be all about unity. Everyone else should be bulldogs.”
Biden’s spokespeople and surrogates are bulldogs as well, and they have not backed away from calling Trump a threat to democracy and pointing out instances of Trump’s callously treating political violence with a wink, as when he appeared to joke about the brutal hammer beating of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband during a 2022 home invasion.
Biden, who successfully ran in 2020 as a unifying candidate, has repeatedly denounced the attempted assassination of Trump, and in an Oval Office address on Sunday night called for peace and “unity”—the “most elusive of goals right now.” He also spoke privately to Trump in a reportedly cordial phone call.
Within six minutes of the Saturday shooting, Vance was among the first of the top possible running-mate picks to call for prayers for Trump. He then pivoted to his harsher tone by attacking the media and Democrats. After Trump began speaking about unity, Vance toned down some of his attacks and praised Trump for his tone and style.
“Courageous, United, and Defiant. This is leadership,” Vance tweeted in response to Trump’s post-shooting statement. And when Trump announced Sunday he would fly early to Wisconsin for the convention, Vance praised him.
“The dude is just built different,” Vance wrote.
Weren't we told by breathless Bulwark that his beard was a big ass problem?
I hate to comment on someone’s appearance, but I have a hard time seeing his eyeballs. I know folks were saying he is wearing eyeliner but I think it’s that camera angle or something. I can’t figure out why his eyes are always just black holes. I don’t think it’s helping him.