The Real Reason Trump Chose JD Vance

July 18, 2024 by Kurt Schlitchter

Why did Donald Trump select JD Vance? Obviously, their current policy views are simpatico, but JD Vance was not supportive back in 2016. He was pretty harsh about Donald Trump the candidate. You know who else was? Me. Dig back through my columns and you’ll see. I was never a Never Trumper. I was always going to vote for the GOP nominee, and I did vote for the nominee. But I was a Ted Cruz guy because I didn’t think Donald Trump was actually going to do the things Donald Trump said he was going to do and I said so. In fact, CNN used to have me on as the conservative Trump-doubter…until I had it with Don Lemon’s nonsense. I was a traditional conservative, and I thought Donald Trump was a NYC liberal and that he would govern like one. But you know what? 

I was wrong.

So, I changed my mind about him. I’m now a ferocious Trump supporter. And so is JD.

Here’s the thing about opinions. You change them when they are proven wrong. I thought Donald Trump was going to govern as a liberal. He did not govern as a liberal. He did about 95 percent of the things I wanted him to do. My concern was never with what Donald Trump was saying. I always liked what he was saying. I just didn’t think he was actually going to do what he said. And then he went and did a lot of it. He probably would’ve done much more if he hadn’t been subject to an unprecedented tsunami of fake scandals and if he had had a Rolodex of reliable people to work with. JD Vance had the same experience. He didn’t think much of Trump at first. Then Trump proved himself. And then JD Vance began to support him.

That’s how this works – remember that the great Ronald Reagan himself started as a Democrat. He learned and changed. I’m not sure why we are supposed to accept the bizarre notion that once you have expressed an opinion, you are locked into it in perpetuity despite evidence that shows you are wrong. I don’t accept that, and JD Vance doesn’t accept that either.

JD Vance is a very interesting VP choice. He was not my first choice to be the nominee for vice-president because I thought that Glenn Youngkin might bring more to the table in terms of building an electoral coalition. JD was, however, my first choice for actually being the vice-president. If and when he wins, I’m going to be thrilled.

But now I’m rethinking my initial assessment of his strengths as a candidate. I may have underestimated them. How? First of all, I have grown to trust Donald Trump’s instincts when it comes to politics. After all, this guy came out of nowhere and beat all the geniuses and professionals in 2016. Worst case, he nearly beat them all in 2020. And right now, according to all the polls, he’s beating that desiccated corrupt old husk. So, he had to have a reason for choosing JD Vance and it was probably a good one. 

Dumb people will say it’s because JD Vance flatters Donald Trump. Again, that wasn’t always true, and Donald Trump has a long memory. But Donald Trump is not interested in flattery this time. He is clearly interested in winning. He has built a strong and effective campaign organization that dominated the primaries – I supported Ron DeSantis because I worried Trump was going to be hard to reelect and he just crushed my guy. Donald Trump has also shown incredible discipline by stepping out of the spotlight while Joe Biden staggered around on the verge of filling up his Depends to overflowing. And, of course, Donald Trump demonstrated his courage in his iconic response to the attempt to murder him. So, there’s no reason to believe Donald Trump picked JD Vance simply out of petty vanity. That’s silly. If you want to underestimate your opponent, feel free. But if you think Donald Trump is playing for anything but keeps this time, you are letting your own biases and prejudices cloud your judgment.

So, what did Donald Trump hope to gain from picking JD Vance? JD Vance is very smart and very effective in debate, but I’m not sure you really need that to beat Kamala Harris. She’s as dumb as a box of Arkansas rocks, no offense to Southern minerals. I think it’s something more. 

Pundits often reflexively opine, by rote, that JD Vance appeals to the working class based on his impoverished upbringing. I think they are onto something, but I don’t think they go deep enough in assessing how this dynamic works. Guys who sweat on the job are not going to vote for JD Vance just because his family was poor. In fact, I’m not sure the goal is to get them to vote for JD at all. Rather, perhaps JD Vance is on the ticket so that they vote against Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and the whole elite power structure.

You see, JD Vance did everything right. He did everything we asked within the paradigm of the American Dream. This was a poor but smart kid who worked hard and rose out of poverty. He served his country in the Marine Corps. Then he applied to a prestigious college and he excelled there. He was next accepted into the heart of the elite training grounds, Yale Law School, where once again he excelled. He was the editor of the law review. After graduating, he became a high-tech entrepreneur and did well. He did everything right. With his brains and his sweat and his hard work, he checked all the elite boxes. He beat the elite at their own game.

And yet, they still want to deny him his reward. He’s still not good enough, and maybe it’s because he rejects the ruling class’s ideology and because he’s a man of deep faith and patriotism. Without submitting to their false gods, he’s always going to be one of them. He’s The Other. Even though he earned it through effort, the elite refuses to allow him to be part of their clique. He will always be an outsider because he will not conform. 

The message to the working-class men, and many women, of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota is that no matter what you do and no matter how hard you work, and no matter whether you play by the rules and whether you beat the elite at their own game, you will never be accepted unless you submit and repudiate your roots. You will never be allowed to win if you refuse to sign on to all the weird social pathologies of the left. DEI, trans, anti-Americanism – it’s not enough to pay the price of acceptance with hard work. You have to pay it with your soul.

No, JD Vance was picked not because the working class will necessarily love him but because the contempt rained down on him by the elite and its lapdog regime media will demonstrate that our ruling class will always hate working people who remain true to themselves. JD Vance is proof that the people who feed, fuel and fight for America will never be allowed to succeed. He is proof that they will always be second-class citizens. And that will motivate the people who build, run, and defend this country to vote against the drooling avatar of an elite that hates them.

Maybe I’m overthinking this, but maybe not. The hate that has come crashing down on JD Vance in the wake of his selection is undeniable. The elite cast him out, just as it cast Donald Trump out, for the crime of not bending the knee. Perhaps you can become part of the elite if you give up your self-respect, but the American Dream isn’t about debasing yourself. It’s about earning what’s yours while remaining true to yourself. And as the elites deny JD Vance what he has earned because he thinks for himself, those working-class men and women who will make the difference in the Rustbelt will be watching, and they will be voting.

Follow Kurt on Twitter @KurtSchlichter. Get the newest volume in the Kelly Turnbull People’s Republic series of conservative action novels set in America after a notional national divorce, the bestselling Amazon #1 Military Thriller, Overlord! And get his new novel about terrorism in America, The Attack!