It is an old joke in American politics that the vice president is one heartbeat away from the presidency, and yet is in every other way irrelevant. Other than a few largely ceremonial duties, the vice president’s only formal role is to break voting ties in the Senate.
It is a supposedly prestigious role, often gifted by a presidential candidate to someone who was their rival in the primary contest. But it is also a trap: everyone else in the Cabinet has an actual job to do. The vice president spends four years waiting to see if the president dies.
JD Vance, though, is an ambitious Vice President, and Donald Trump is a 79-year-old President who is in his second term, meaning that barring a change to the American constitution, he cannot run again. That means that Vance tries to be constantly visible and look like he’s part of the action, usually as Trump’s fiercest attack dog.
Vance, in other words, is constantly trying to balance two often quite difficult mantles. On the one hand, he wants to look presidential – or at least like he’s ready and capable to assume the office – and on the other, he wants to look like a spiritual successor to Donald Trump.
Vance’s first problem is that Trump is, quite simply, an impossible act to follow. He acts less like an American president than any other holder of that office in history, but his loyal supporters cheer him on all the while. He is quite literally demolishing a wing of the White House – perhaps the most famous building in America – without permission, to little more than a shrug.
A Trump presidency is a relentlessly exhausting soap opera, leaping from plotline to plotline. It may drive most of us to despair, but his supporters and his movement love it, and if Trumpism is to survive beyond Trump’s presidency they will demand a new avatar for that chaos.
Vance wants to embrace the same energy. But when he attempts Trump-style spectacles, they just don’t land in the same way.
Vance tried to counter-programme the seven-million strong “No Kings” protests last weekend by attending a hastily-arranged military event in California, ostensibly to mark the 250th anniversary year of the Marine Corps. As part of that event, a live fire exercise launching shells over a major Californian highway was planned. Vance and other Republicans ridiculed California’s Democratic governor when he insisted on closing the road for the duration of the exercise.
Inevitably, at least one shell exploded prematurely during the event, sending shrapnel flying onto the road – hitting at least two vehicles, which ironically were part of Vance’s own security detail.
This feels like the kind of Trumpian drama that would grab everyone’s attention, but it’s barely been noticed among the generalised chaos of this administration. Vance similarly tried to garner online attention by posting an AI-generated video of Democrats kneeling to King Trump – only for Trump himself to one-up that video with one of himself as a King using a fighter jet to drop faeces on American cities. How can Vance compete with that?
On Tuesday, Vance returned to international statesman mode. He travelled to Israel and met Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he and the US are confident the ceasefire is holding, despite Israel having cut off aid to Gaza on multiple occasions in the last week, and having launched multiple air strikes (allegedly in response to attacks on IDF soldiers).
Again, Vance might have hoped for plaudits from Maga for pushing the President’s agenda, and being visible on the world stage, but Trump’s attention has clearly already moved on. He’s back to pressuring Ukraine to accept Russian terms for peace, remodelling the White House in his image, and demanding the Department of Justice pays him $230 million as compensation for its “persecution” of him.
Vance is doing everything he can to please Trump and Trumpworld, clearly trying to position himself as the obvious successor to Trump for the 2028 general election. But Trump loves drama, and loves to be courted – he is never going to anoint a successor without a fight.
The Vice President might want to think more carefully about that battle. His efforts to be Trump always make him look like a tribute act, and as with any tribute act draw a smaller crowd than the real thing.
Vance might want to ask himself this: when a band retires, what do their fans do next – do they cheer on the tribute, or do they move on to a new star? The Vice President is trying to secure a place in Trump’s firmament. He risks merely showing up his own lack of star quality.
Your next read
square WILL GOREI can’t blame my bad parenting on Boris Johnson, however much I want to
square REBECCA REIDThis is what a real royal scandal looks like – we owe Harry and Meghan an apology
square KATE LISTERYou’re not introverted, you’re just an attention seeker
square ZING TSJENG‘Wealth gaps’ are ruining people’s chances of finding love
Hence then, the article about jd vance s trump tribute act keeps going horribly wrong was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( JD Vance’s Trump tribute act keeps going horribly wrong )
Also on site :
- ‘Free Bert’ Review: Bert Kreischer Strips Away the Shirtless Party Boy Persona, but Also the Laughs, in New Netflix Comedy
- South Africa pushes for renewable energy investment
- The Crimean Tatar movement trying to ruin Russia’s army from within