Even the most ardent Trump-loathers are admitting that, last night, the Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance easily won his debate against his opposite number, Tim Walz. ‘Vance is going home with Walz’s wallet,’ said the veteran Never Trumper David Frum.
It’s curious, then, that – at time of writing at least – Donald Trump still hasn’t congratulated his running mate over his resounding victory, at least not publicly. Last night, on his Truth Social media account, Trump posted a rude meme about how stupid Tim Walz is, but no applause for JD.
Even more mysteriously, as the debate finished, Trump posted on Twitter/X a tribute not to Vance but to ‘one of the most magnificent baseball players ever to play the game’ – the late Pete Rose.
Does Steerpike detect a whiff of lèse-majesté? Vance defended Trump against a number of attacks from Walz in the course of the televised discussion. But he was not quite as a sycophantic to his dear leader as he has been in the past. Perhaps Trump, a proud man to put it mildly, felt insufficiently revered.
Or it could be that the Donald, having given such a rotten display in his head-to-head with Kamala Harris last month, is peeved at Vance for doing so much better. Vance, after all, showed that you win televised debates by mastering details, which is something Trump has never quite been able to do.
Vance also criticised Republicans for not doing a better job of defending the party’s pro-life position on abortion, an issue Trump has been much attacked over.
Worst of all, perhaps, Vance went to great lengths to be polite to his opponent, which is not quite in keeping with Trump’s preference for ‘killer’ spokesmen who articulate his greatness by endlessly trashing enemies.
What we can say almost for certain is that, by tweeting out his admiration for a baseball player rather than congratulating his VP, Trump made it clear that he does not think the Walz-Vance contest matters. It’s all about him, after all.
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