HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — Donald Trump is used to defending himself. But this week, the Republican presidential nominee has been put in the rare position of defending someone else: his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
When Vance was first introduced at the Republican National Convention last month, many GOP officials said she didn’t know much about himSince then, the void has been filled with multiple reports of controversial statements, especially Vance’s earlier suggestion that Vice President Kamala Harris and other so-called “childless cat ladies” want to make the country miserable — making his inauguration one of the most turbulent in recent history.
“I only speak for myself. And I think I speak for him, too,” Trump said during a contentious interview Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago. “My interpretation is that he’s very family-oriented. But that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong if you don’t have a family.”
Conservative commentators, Republican strategists and GOP elected officials on Capitol Hill agree publicly and privately that Vance’s introduction to America has not gone well, with Democrats stressing his previous statements on abortion rights and a suggestion that parents should have more voting rights than adults without children. Harris and her allies began calling Vance and Trump “weird,” messages that have taken flight online.
Seventeen days later, Trump and his allies have still not been able to quell criticism from within their own party.
“I think if he had thought two or three years ago, ‘I might be running for president in a couple of years,’ he would have chosen different words,” Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, a staunch Trump ally, said Wednesday. Cramer also suggested that Vance could apologize for his comments about childless Americans, saying, “If he feels the need to apologize, people are very forgiving.”
Vance has not apologized. And a senior Trump adviser said Tuesday that there has been “no conversation whatsoever” about replacing Vance as his running mate.
Soon, the adviser predicted, voters would shift their attention from Vance to Harris’ pick for vice president on the Democratic ticket, which is expected to happen in the coming days. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal campaign strategy.
Vance, a 39-year-old Republican senator, has been in office for less than 18 months, but settled quickly as a thought leader in the “Make America Great Again” movement.
The first-term Ohio senator was not the most popular choice for many Republicans on Capitol Hill, especially compared to more experienced candidates such as Senators Tim Scott and Marco Rubio. Some believe the choice came during a moment of hubris while Trump’s team predicted a landslide victory over a weakened President Joe Biden.
But the presidential election changed dramatically when Biden stepped aside and endorsed HarrisAnd now Trump’s allies are recognizing that his November victory no security.
Twice in the last century have vice presidential nominees been replaced after they were announced. But that hasn’t happened since George McGovern dropped Missouri Sen. Tom Eagleton in 1972 after it emerged that Eagleton had undergone electroshock therapy for a mental health problem.
More recently, Arizona Senator John McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin led to the failure of his 2008 campaign.
There is a sense that things have to get much worse before Vance becomes a serious political liability for Trump, who could theoretically replace him — a possibility Democrats have been eager to promote in recent days.
“This is a temporary bump in the road,” said Republican pollster Neil Newhouse.
Trump himself spoke about the consequences in an interview in Chicago on Wednesday in which he questioned Harris’ racial identity and falsely claimed she had downplayed her black identity.
“This is well documented historically, the vice president has no impact whatsoever in terms of the election, virtually no impact,” Trump said when asked about Vance. “You can have a vice president who is excellent in every way, and I think JD is, I think they all would have been, but you don’t vote that way. You vote for the president. You vote for me.”
Attendees at Trump’s rally Wednesday in the swing state of Pennsylvania rejected the idea that Trump should oust Vance, even though they disagreed with his earlier suggestion that parents should have more voting rights than adults without children.
“Trump needs to stick to the people he picked,” said Jeff Miller, 53, who has five children, all adults.
Kenneth “Nemo” Niemann said Vance has a “compelling” personal story that makes him a good addition to the ticket and noted that no one always agrees with anyone else. “I don’t agree 100 percent with what Trump says,” Niemann said.
And at Vance’s rally Wednesday night in Arizona, another state where criticism has been high, Rachael Jensen, a 42-year-old mother of six, said she appreciates that what she calls the “Washington establishment” doesn’t seem to like him.
Jensen said she does not believe parents should have more voting rights than people without children.
“I believe it should be about one citizen, one vote, regardless of whether you have 12 children or no children,” Jensen said.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Republican senators were again bombarded with questions about Vance.
Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, said of Vance that “he’s going to take a few hits in the beginning and then he’ll find his way.”
“One of you once told me that as soon as someone is announced for a position, they will have a combination of a colonoscopy and a CT scan. And I think he sees that now,” Cassidy told reporters.
Senator John Kennedy (Republican from Louisiana) was questioned about Vance as he entered one of the Capitol elevators.
“I mean, it’s a campaign. People are going to twist what you say,” the Louisiana Republican said.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., who was in the elevator with Kennedy, shot back: “They’re not twisting it. They’re quoting him.”
“Politics is a full-contact sport,” Kennedy replied. The elevator door then closed.
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Peoples reported from New York. Groves reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri and Kevin Freking in Washington and Gabriel Sandoval in Glendale, Ariz., contributed to this report.