Despite their private anxiety, vulnerable House Republicans will continue to publicly fall in line and embrace his far-right agenda
House Republicans are couching their public praise of Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee with private criticism – admitting JD Vance is “the worst choice of all the options.”
According to new reporting from The Hill, Republicans think Vance is the “wrong pick” and “incredibly disingenuous.” Private remarks about Vance’s electability at the top of the ticket, and the ripple effect down-ballot, include:
“He was the worst choice of all the options. It was so bad I didn’t even think it was possible.”
“I think if you were to ask many people around this building, 9 out of 10 on our side would say he’s the wrong pick.”
“I was concerned the whole time, but now it’s really concerning. It doesn’t make it any easier.”
“He wouldn’t be my first pick.”
“He’s incredibly disingenuous. … He called him Hitler, like, yesterday. … Now he’s the most pro-Trump person in the world. And I just — I don’t trust him.”
This private sentiment is a sharp turn to what the increasingly vulnerable, so-called moderate Republicans are saying publicly about Vance:
DCCC Spokesperson Viet Shelton:
“Watching House Republicans fret and couch their public praise for JD Vance with private criticism of him and his anti-abortion extremism is a perfect example of how cowardly they are. We all know they will bend the knee to Trump, Vance, and their diabolical Project 2025 agenda – as they always do. The public also knows this and it’s why House Republicans will lose in November.”
