In October 2024, on the 80th day of her truncated presidential bid, Kamala Harris declared on “The View” that “there is not a thing that comes to mind” that she would have done differently than her deeply unpopular boss, then-President Joe Biden. It was a massive blow to her campaign. Today, her successor, JD Vance, took his turn on ABC’s marquee daytime talk show. He was ostensibly there to market his new book about his Catholic faith — but the VP, who is widely viewed as Republicans’ premier presidential prospect, found himself in a similar position to Harris, defending President Donald Trump’s most unpopular policies. He swept aside criticism that Trump is spending huge amounts of money on a White House ballroom, gargantuan arch in D.C. and hosting an extravagant UFC fight on his birthday as rising prices snarl Americans. He shielded Trump from reporting that he had hoped to block the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files — calling himself a “conspiracy theorist” during a segment in which an adversarial host remarked that, on the files, Vance was on the right side of history. And he dismissed reports of sometimes excruciating conditions at federal immigration detention facilities, asserting that “law enforcement is always unfortunately not a very pretty process.” “Are you his interpreter or are you his vice president? Come on,” host Joy Behar asked at one point, as Vance attempted to explain why Trump last week told reporters “I love inflation.” The episode underscores the thin line Vance must walk as both MAGA’s heir-apparent and a fickle president’s highest-ranking deputy. Vance, a skilled messenger in the administration who is no stranger to combative interviews, held his ground and remained composed throughout the segment. But the hosts forced him onto his back foot throughout as he spoke directly to a far more liberal audience than he typically does. Trump and his allies have been overtly hostile to “The View” and its hosts, who range from the liberal Begar, Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg, to the never-Trump Republican Ana Navarro, to Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served as a White House aide during Trump’s first term. The president has called the hosts “degenerates” and “dumb women,” and FCC Chair Brendan Carr has questioned if the show should remain exempt from equal time rules. “This is a show of MAGA Republicans, right? That’s what my media team told me,” Vance quipped at the top of the program. But Vance also knows he can’t win a presidency by speaking exclusively to the MAGA base, which at times shows signs of splintering. He has a net favorability of -12, five points higher than Trump, according to a Navigator report published today. That favorability decreases to a -20 mark among women, the primary audience for “The View.” The VP had a few mea culpa moments during the segment. He admitted “there’s a lot more work to do” with bringing down prices — though he quickly pivoted to blaming inflation on the Biden administration. And he called his past statements about “childless cat ladies” — a liability for his political career among women, people without children and cat owners, to name a few major electoral groups — his “most boneheaded comment.” At that, Farah Griffin gifted the VP some baby clothes — emblazoned with “The View” branding — for his expected fourth child with second lady Usha Vance. Good Tuesday afternoon, and happy Primary Day in D.C., where voters will choose the District’s first new mayor in a dozen years and its first new delegate since 1991. Polls close at 8 p.m. Find a place to vote. This is Irie Sentner. Get in touch.
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