Trump Doubled Down on Authoritarianism by Selecting J.D. Vance
In September 2021, Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance—then still a long shot candidate for the Republican Senate nomination in Ohio—made an appearance on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight. In a crisp white button-down and navy blazer, no tie, he laid out a proposal to use the powers of the federal government to punish private universities and nonprofits for promoting “radical left-wing ideology.”
“Why are we allowing the companies that are destroying this country to receive tax preferences?” he asked. “Why don’t we seize the assets of the Ford Foundation, tax their assets, and give it to the people who’ve had their lives destroyed by their radical open-borders agenda?”
The questions were part of Vance’s effort to endear himself to former President Donald Trump in the only way that seemed available to him at the time: by launching a culture-war offensive against progressives, rule of law be damned. His bet paid off this summer when Trump chose Vance—now a first-term senator from Ohio—as his vice presidential running mate.
Vance was initially a fierce critic of Trump, tweeting in 2016 that the then–presidential candidate “makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible.” Responding to the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragged about his ability to grab women “by the pussy,” Vance lamented:
Article from Reason.com
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