JD's Political Instincts

Donald Trump’s political success from his 2015 ride down the Trump Tower escalator to today has been based on his providing the goods. After the explosion in debt and social damage of Bush and Obama, the American people — or at least half of them — wanted a fix to an America heading in the wrong direction. Imagine if your precious car was hovering between life and a junkyard. The one guy who could save it was a blasphemous two-timer who didn’t pay his taxes and had a huge Hammer and Sickle flag over his used tire pile. Given the choice between losing your car and holding your nose, you choose the latter. Nobody cared enough about the Access Hollywood tape when the border was overrun. Nobody cared about The Donald’s three marriages when the U.S. was losing its swagger on the world stage. The U.S. needed a fixer, and Donald Trump promised and delivered steps to make America better at home and abroad. Like Gulliver and the Lilliputians, the Democrats have done everything — impeachments, lawsuits, clapping with one hand over assassination attempts, etc. — while Trump and his team fix the mess left behind by Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

It doesn’t matter who will be the Republican’s standard bearer in 2028: he (or she) will not be Donald Trump. Nobody has the history, smarts, approach, energy, chutzpah, and drive like the current president of the United States. That’s okay. A great coach can win multiple championships with different players. So Trump’s being retired to endless holes of golf does not mean that the U.S. has to put up a For Sale sign. Somebody will be sitting behind the Resolute Desk, and based on current attitudes and trends, better that it should be a Republican and not any known Democrat. Yet, which Republican will it be? JD Vance seems to be the favorite, though there are rumblings that people like Ted Cruz or Ron DeSantis might give it a go again.

I have previously mentioned the author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” pointing out to a journalist that he was a best-selling and not necessarily the best-writing author. Oftentimes we say so-and-so was the greatest pitcher or quarterback, even if there is some guy whose statistics are technically better. Being a politician requires smarts but also requires some political skills. Many people have stated quite clearly that they believe that JD Vance must divorce himself from Tucker Carlson. There is no question that Carlson has become a virulent antisemite, to the point of blaming Israel for Putin making war on Ukraine and planting depraved material on Crack Biden’s laptop. Barack Obama had the political chops to sever his relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who performed the Obama wedding and led the church where the Obamas regularly attended. Wright’s open anti-American diatribes were political poison, and Obama cut him loose. Vance won’t do the same with Carlson, who has added more and more anti-Jewish tropes with his friends like Candace Owens and Megyn Kelly. Maybe for Vance it’s an issue of being a real friend. The late Charlie Kirk insisted on inviting Carlson to TPUSA events, especially in light of the latter’s controversial positions. Being loyal is a good trait; having political smarts is how one generally gets elected. Does JD agree with Carlson’s positions on Israel making (nonexistent) genocide and famine? Does he believe that Israel pushed Vance’s boss into war? Does he agree with Carlson’s most recent demand, namely that Trump be removed because somehow Carlson claims that Trump would use nuclear weapons in a first strike? Does he still believe that some Israelis want “endless war”?

JD Vance owes American Jews nothing beyond the normal obligations of one American to another. That said, I hear lots of rumblings of people who say that they won’t support Vance if he does not make it clear that he rejects Carlson’s antisemitic and anti-Israel positions. Vance could tell himself that if they tell me with whom to be friends or which ideas to accept or reject, I will end up being nobody and nothing. There is a side to that, but unlike at a country club or university, the people in question actually vote. And staying home is a form of voting. Nobody gets conservative Americans excited to the point of filling venues hours in advance like Donald Trump. Still, if one is enough of a wet noodle or is associated with bad characters, don’t be surprised if the enthusiasm is not there in November 2028. Closing his recent speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) in Las Vegas was an own goal: why would Vance be averse to the media being present? Anything he said would be — and has been — reported, including his lack of any reference to Carlson and his odious views. JD Vance got elected to the Senate and was then selected to be vice president. He has not shown or proven that he has the political skills of, say, Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. Hilary Clinton didn’t have them, either; she came off as wooden and inauthentic. Vance can continue to ignore Carlson, his friend, as Carlson’s views and opinions become ever more strident. The only result will be that Carlson will be the only subject people will mention when discussing Vance, instead of looking at his views on the Iran War or getting the national debt down.

As I have written previously, JD Vance seems like the kind of guy with whom one would enjoy having a beer. He’s young, smart, and has at times expressed interesting and even provocative opinions, some of which do not seem to be “conservative” as applied to economics. We don’t need Vance to learn a couple of words in Hebrew or pretend to delight in a freshly baked matzah a week before Passover. But we would like to know that the Jew-hating opinions espoused regularly by his friend and one who apparently got him the VP gig are not something that he tolerates. As many have noted, he does not need to jettison Carlson if he makes it clear, word for word, idea to idea, that the Der Stürmer hatred espoused by the Fox News reject is absolutely disgusting and not something he will tolerate. But he refuses to dump his friend or repudiate his repugnant views. What am I, Standard American Jew #232408857, supposed to learn from a politician who won’t separate himself from a Hitler apologist? We raised the alarm about David Duke. We are screaming about the anti-Americanism and Islamic supremacy of Hasan Piker. But Carlson gets a pass — not from Donald Trump, who has trashed him and his new friends on several occasions — from JD Vance. One can tell us to ignore it. The problem will not go away, and one may simply write off religious Jews — how many votes do they really have? JD might find out in early November 2028, when he puts his resume in for his next job outside Washington.