Vance gets in front of press to prove his mettle to Trump

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) is earning the trust of Donald Trump by returning to what impressed the former president when he auditioned to join his ticket: His comfort in front of reporters and on the cable TV circuit.

Over the weekend, Vance sat for three back-to-back interviews on adversarial networks including CNN. Before that, he took daily questions from reporters in a campaign swing that shadowed Vice President Kamala Harris through the battleground states.

The media blitz helped draw a contrast with Harris, who has taken only limited questions from the press three weeks into her run for president. But it also provided Vance a chance to put doubts he can prosecute the case against her to rest after a rocky rollout as Trump’s vice presidential pick.

Vance, a former Marine, spent days leveling “swift boat”-style attacks at Harris’s running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), over his military record while he received GOP plaudits for attempting to confront the vice president on the tarmac before a campaign stop in Wisconsin.

In a viral exchange, he quipped that he swung by to take a look at his “future plane” while taking questions from the press corp covering Harris.

“What were the two most effective narratives pushed by Republicans in the last week? One, the stolen valor of Tim Walz. Two, Kamala Harris hiding from the media,” said a GOP strategist close to Vance. “Who was the person who led the messaging and led the attack on both those issues? It was J.D.”

Trump faced early criticism for choosing Vance, whose past comments about “childless cat ladies” running the Democratic Party, a remark he directed at Harris in particular, consumed the first days after his addition to the ticket.

Even before Trump announced his choice, the former president was steered to look at other Republicans in a vice presidential tug-of-war that kept his decision in doubt until the last minute.

Vance won that fight, in part, due to his skill as a surrogate on the Sunday shows. Then, as now, Republicans saw a candidate who could keep calm in a hostile media setting, all while not outshining the former president with his performance.

“I thought they finally put him in his natural habitat on Sunday,” said Scott Jennings, a GOP strategist and contributor for CNN. “I think, for J.D., the highest and best use of his time is inhabiting a cable television studio.”

Vance’s goal has been to prove his mettle as the “policy attack dog” for Trump, someone who can be reliably deployed to keep the campaign on offense. But the early weeks have been just as much about demonstrating he is not a distraction.

Democrats have searched for any opportunity to paint him as “weird,” seizing on his “cat lady” comments but also an early quip that Democrats would find a way to interpret his love of Mountain Dew as “racist.”

Trump, for his part, has attempted to quiet questions over whether Vance still has his confidence. He downplayed the idea that Vance’s performance had any bearing on his election chances but has simultaneously called him “outstanding in every way.”

On Saturday, Trump told supporters in Montana that Vance had found his footing in the race.

“He’s got his sea legs now. He’s gonna be great,” Trump said at a rally.

Vance has a unique set of challenges as a surrogate for Trump, who is famous for souring on even loyal allies. Vance must speak on the former president’s behalf without putting words in his mouth. At the same time, he will be relied upon to smooth over Trump’s rough edges without creating the appearance of daylight between them.

Most recently, Vance denied Trump was lobbing racial attacks at Harris when he falsely accused her of faking her black identity. Instead, Vance told reporters, Trump was pointing to her “chameleon-like” tendency to flip-flop on policy matters.

Getting in front of the press is only one element of Vance’s job as Trump’s running mate. Upon finishing his media blitz, Vance traveled to San Antonio, Texas, on Monday for a fundraiser. 

But the strategist, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, predicted Vance will continue to be “aggressive” with press access in the three-month sprint to Election Day.

“You’re going to see more of what you saw in the last two weeks over the next three months,” the strategist said.