"He's a Fake": Robert Kuttner on How J.D. Vance Disguises His Anti-Worker Views as Economic Populism

We speak with journalist Robert Kuttner about Donald Trump’s selection of Ohio Senator J.D. Vance to be his running mate in the 2024 election. Vance rose to fame in 2016 after writing the memoir Hillbilly Elegy about his upbringing in Appalachia. He was elected to the Senate in 2022 with the backing of right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel, who spent $10 million on his candidacy. While he was a vocal critic of Trump’s politics, once comparing him to Hitler, Vance has since embraced the MAGA movement and is now one of the most vocal defenders of the former president. Vance’s elevation is “very dangerous” because it lets Republicans pretend to care about working-class voters, says Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect. “Vance is much more effective at connecting Trump’s cultural and social and racist populism to what looks like pocketbook populism, except it’s a fake,” he says. “We are really screwed if we can’t find somebody who can beat this ticket — and the ticket is beatable. You just need a stronger candidate than Biden.”