JD Vance’s ‘Miss Teen USA’ misstep proves why he’ll never be like Trump

But while Trump’s behavior has won him devoted loyalists, Vance’s copycat act isn’t landing with anyone who isn’t already a fan of his boss. While Trump’s behavior has won him devoted loyalists, Vance’s copycat act isn’t landing with anyone who isn’t already a fan of his boss. A prime example came Thursday, when Vance attempted a “joke” on X ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview with CNN. Claiming that he’d gotten the footage ahead of time, Vance shared a clip from the 2007 Miss Teen USA contest, where a contestant went viral for her disjointed answer. “There’s nothing that says we can’t tell some jokes along the way while we deal with the very serious business of bringing back our public policy,” Vance continued. “Politics has gotten way too lame, John, way too boring.” Berman then asked if Vance would like to apologize to Upton and he refused. “I’m not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin, I hope she’s doing well,” he said. In that same interview, Berman asked Vance about Trump’s cascade of conspiratorial, sexist ranting on Truth Social over the previous 48 hours. The former president’s account was a truly unhinged mix of posts written by Trump himself and content he’d shared from others, including QAnon references and suggestions that Harris slept her way to power. “I’d much rather have a candidate who is willing to go off script, who’s willing to give every interview, and is willing tell some jokes,” Vance said in response. “A politics of boring scolds telling people they can’t laugh, that is not lifting Americans up, that’s how to tear us down.” There’s a lot to unpack in that answer, but let’s focus in on the idea that Vance and Trump are just trying to bring some levity to politics with their attacks. Any offense is the fault of the listener being too sensitive, claim the same people who are simultaneously very upset at being called “weird.” Meanwhile, the people that are most supportive of the sexism and racism on display are the Trump campaign’s target audience. Here’s the thing though: Vance is no Trump. Here’s the thing though: Vance is no Trump. The key word there is “performing.” As Semafor’s Dave Weigel has noted, the “shock jock cum politico” bit that Vance is trying on for size clashes with his previous roles of “rural America explainer” and “Silicon Valley thinker.” We saw the same sort of halting, unconvincing act during Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ failed GOP primary campaign, when he tried to fit the bill of “Trump without the baggage.” I can’t say for sure whether Vance believes the things he says or if he’s just trying to fit in among a group that might actually tolerate him. But as Friday’s CNN interview showed, he still feels the need to hedge and try to keep anyone from getting too mad at him for saying what he said. And when he is called on whatever bile has come from his mouth, he can lean back on the idea that it’s a “joke,” even if he was being honest the whole time. And much like every other keyboard warrior who’s tough behind a screen but crumples in real life, it’s likely that it would take just one sentence to force Vance into a retreat: “Please, senator, can you explain the joke here?” – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/jd-vance-harris-miss-teen-usa-joke-rcna168980