"In the State of the Union Address three days before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, Trump announced that Vance would head up a "War on Fraud" aimed at generalizing the claim that immigrants are robbing the American taxpayer blind via Medicaid and other safety-net programs. But when actual bombs and missiles flew, Vance was very much hors de combat."
"We were initially given the impression that his well-known anti-interventionist bent sidelined him during the run-up to the war with Iran (more recently, Trump himself admitted how he and his side-kick were "philosophically a little different" about the war). But a deeper New York Times tick-tock on the war's beginning suggested that once the decision was made to go for it, Vance influenced the decision to make the assault massive in hopes of ending it quickly."
"Still, even as his possible 2028 rival Marco Rubio basks in global publicity as the chief spokesman for the administration's Iran policies, Vance has had no distinct role. He hasn't had to sell the war to MAGA activists, since they appear to have bought Trump's claims this is an America First war aimed at an imminent, intolerable threat to the United States."
J.D. Vance's role as vice president has primarily involved supporting Trump on social media and MAGA issues. However, since the Iran war began, Vance has been notably quiet, issuing only standard White House talking points. Trump had announced Vance would lead a "War on Fraud" targeting immigrant use of safety-net programs, but actual military conflict shifted focus away from this initiative. While Vance's known anti-interventionist stance initially appeared to sideline him, reporting suggests he influenced the decision to conduct a massive assault aimed at quick resolution. Despite this involvement, Vance lacks a distinct public role in the conflict, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio serving as the administration's chief Iran policy spokesman and receiving significant global attention.
Read at Intelligencer
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