Trump's VP Selection is a Christian Nationalist Mini-Me

Published on 17 August 2024 at 14:33

On July 15, 2024, Donald Trump selected J. D. Vance, a 39-year old Ohioan, as his running mate. According to multiple news outlets, Vance is a young, mid-western, Christian conservative, populist who is very ideologically aligned with Trump. In other words, Vance is a "Christian Nationalist Mini Me".

Vance is a favorite among right-wing populists and MAGA hardliners, including Trump's sons Eric and Don Dr.; Charlie Kirk (conservative youth activist and leader of "Turning Point USA" per tpusa.com); former Trump senior advisor Steve Bannon, former FOX commentator Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk.

According to a July 15, 2024 article on Time.com, "Vance has been a vociferous critic of U.S. aid to Ukraine and other foreign entanglements; a proponent of restrictive immigration policies and an aggressive deportation operation; and a champion of Trump’s protectionist trade regime and high tariffs on imported goods. ... [Vance is] a MAGA favorite who [Trump] believes can shore up Rust Belt voters in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. [Vance is] also popular with a specific subset of Silicon Valley donors who can tap into their vast reservoirs of wealth in the coming months."

Please read the Times.com article "Why Trump Chose J. D. Vance" for details. The article is referenced as a source below and included in the "Articles" section of this web site.

According to an August 13, 2024 CNN.com / Investigation article, "... JD Vance repeatedly touted his guiding principles for investing in a company: A business should not only turn a profit, it should also help American communities. That’s why, he said, he invested in AppHarvest, a startup that promised a high-tech future for farming and for the workers of Eastern Kentucky. Over a four-year span, Vance was an early investor, board member and public pitchman for the indoor-agriculture company." ...

"[However], [l]ast year, facing hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, AppHarvest declared bankruptcy. A CNN review of public documents, and interviews with a dozen former workers, shows that AppHarvest not only failed as a business after pursuing rapid growth, but also provided a grim job experience for many of the working-class Kentuckians Vance has vowed to help."

Please read the CNN article "Workers allege ‘nightmare’ conditions at Kentucky startup JD Vance helped fund" for details. The article is referenced as a source below and included in the "Articles" section of this web site.

Vance considers himself a "pro-family" politician who appears to believe that all women should have children (miserable "childless cat ladies"). Even if these are "off the cuff" comments, they suggest that Vance has a very 18th / 19th century view of women's roles.

In a 2021 interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, then-Senate-candidate Vance complained that the U.S. was being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs and "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too."

Note: Cats were used as a symbol of anti-suffrage propaganda, but reclaimed by some suffragists. A century later, some voters see Vance's "cat lady" comments as a call to mobilize.

"It's just a basic fact — you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC — the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children,” Vance continued. “And how does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it?"

[Vance] has called falling U.S. birth rates a “civilizational crisis,” and advocated in recent years that adults without children should pay higher taxes and have fewer voting rights.

Please read the NPR.org article "JD Vance went viral for ‘cat lady’ comments. The centuries-old trope has a long tail" for details. The article is referenced as a source below and included in the "Articles" section of this web site.

According to Vance and Trump, VP picks don't matter to most voters.

However, when the presidential candidate is 78 and the VP pick - a Christian Nationalist Mini-Me of Trump - could be next in line for the White House, that VP pick absolutely matters.

Sources:

"Why Trump Chose J. D. Vance"

Time / Politics / 2024 Elections

By: Eric Cortellessa

July 15, 2024; 5:49 pm EFT

https://time.com/6998873/why-trump-chose-j-d-vance-for-vice-president/

"The inside story of how Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate"

NBC News online

By: Henry J. Gomez and Matt Dixon

July 15, 2024; 9:45 pm EDT

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-chose-jd-vance-running-mate-vp-pick-rcna161982

"Why Trump picked JD Vance as his running mate"