JD Vance Is The Most Malignant Force In Politics

JD Vance continues to be the most dangerous, malignant force in our national politics. Whereas Trump is all id and cult of personality, Vance is a tool of strategic thinkers who want to extend Trumpism — or, more appropriately, Putinism — into our body politic long after Trump is gone.

There are moments when ideology stops being theory and starts to look like infrastructure — a network of leaders, narratives, and aligned interests reinforcing each other across borders. Vance’s trip to Hungary this week is one of those moments.

Viktor Orbán, the Putinist leader of Hungary, is fighting for his political life in his quest for a sixth term, trailing a fellow right-wing rival Peter Magyar. Standing alongside Orbán just days before a national election, Vance openly supported his election prospects, while attacking the European Union and Ukraine — both of which have long been American allies. The trip was an unusually direct show of support for a European leader increasingly isolated within the European Union over democratic backsliding and ties to Moscow.

During that visit, Vance adopted Orbán’s framing wholesale. He accused the EU of overreach, echoed grievances about energy policy, and criticized Ukraine. “The bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary. They have tried to make Hungary less energy-independent. They have tried to drive up costs for Hungarian consumers. And they’ve done it all because they hate this guy,” Vance said.

https://saltypolitics.substack.com/p/jd-vance-is-the-most-malignant-force

Clean that brown stuff off your lips Vance