Former Trump vice presidential candidate JD Vance is campaigning to show that he’s not a monotonous, charismatic oddball. He’s not doing a very good job of it.
Last week, Donald Trump announced his choice Ohio Senator JD Vance was his running mate. Vance is renowned for being awful.but also for writing a bestselling autobiography —Elegy for the Peasants—which was turned into a forgotten Netflix movie starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close. Oh, and he once called Trump “moral catastrophe” and probably “America’s Hitler.” And apparently, Trump now regrets choosing a monotonous guest following the recent announcement that Joe Biden is withdrawing from the 2024 nomination race and Kamala will most likely replace him.
Anyway, Vance is on the campaign trail, attending rallies, and trying to convince people that he’s a normal guy who drinks a Diet Mountain Dew or two(!) even though those damn Democrats and liberals probably think that’s racist… or something.
At a rally Monday in Middletown, Ohio, Vance said:
“That’s the strangest thing to me. Democrats saying it’s racist to believe… Well, they say it’s racist to just do anything.”
Then he paused for a moment, and it was strenuous not to notice the silence in the auditorium. Perhaps realizing that the line had not arrived, he continued and quickly added:
“Yesterday I had Diet Mountain Dew. And today, I’m sure this is also called racist, but…”
He paused again, this time for a longer time. Two people could be heard laughing in the background. The audience behind Vance mostly did not react or only gave quick nervous smiles. At this point I would have recommended Vance stop and move on. But instead he dug himself a deeper grave.
“That’s good,” Vance added. That got a few more laughs, but mostly because at that point the audience seemed to realize that, hey, this guy’s trying to be amusing. Vance then made the biggest no-no of the joke: laughing too strenuous at his own bad joke. And then, as if to stick to the script, where that line killed and the audience laughed, Vance pointed at the bewildered crowd and said, “I love you guys.”
Then there were a few seconds of one person clapping loudly and Vance laughing even harder. Meanwhile, somewhere in the world, I ANDImagine Trump wondering why he let his stupid sons convince him to choose this guy.
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