Since When Has A Little Anointing Ever Hurt Anyone?

We’re living through an age of rampant conspiracy theorizing, and everyone is on the lookout for the latest “op.”

Allies of Vice President JD Vance seem to think they’ve discovered the latest one: Everyone who criticizes him is part of a coordinated establishment campaign to stop him from being elected president because of his stance on Israel. Vance suggested as much during his latest appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience last week, and this past Friday, the Washington Post published a long report laying out that many of his closest confidants believe so, too.

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to do a little “noticing” myself before we proceed further. That Washington Post story, titled “Knives are out for Vance in the GOP. His allies say it’s a coordinated ‘op,'” came out at 5 a.m. Friday morning. At the exact same time, MSNOW published a story titled, “Weight loss and a book tour: JD Vance’s stock rises in Trump’s eyes.” That story quotes five people “close to the president” who all claim the president is quietly rooting for Vance to be his successor behind closed doors, contrary to just a few weeks ago when the reporting was that he was polling his confidants about who would be best behind him, Vance or his secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

It certainly is curious that both of these stories were published at the exact same time. It’s even more curious that they were published by two outlets that will do everything in their power to crush Vance and Republicans should he be the nominee in 2028.

But what’s most curious is that those articles came the same week that we got two new surveys from major pollsters that both showed Vance’s dominant primary position evaporating — one national poll, and one in the key early primary state of New Hampshire. The national poll from Emerson had Vance and Rubio virtually tied.

That leads me to what we are really here to talk about: the real “op” is not the critics of Vance raising legitimate concerns about his ideological convictions and political instincts. It is the insistence of inevitability surrounding Vance that seeks to hush all dissent on the Right.

I’ve experienced it behind closed doors since before Trump was even inaugurated for his second term. The same political operatives and media allies that pushed for Vance to be selected as vice president immediately trained their fire on 2028. Any suggestion that Vance would not be the nominee or could legitimately be challenged by anyone was met with disdain.

We have two high-profile examples in recent years of an insider political apparatus foisting a candidate on their party without allowing a normal, open challenge process to occur. Ask Presidents Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris how that worked out. Forcing people to get on board with a political project without any input creates resentment, and resentment is a tough force to work against in a general election.

The other perplexing element is that it’s completely unnecessary. Vance came into office enjoying sky-high approval ratings with Republicans and still enjoys high numbers now. Donald Trump trusted him enough to choose him as vice president. He would represent a generational shift to a younger leader with fresher ideas than the party’s old guard. He’s a Catholic family man with the elite bona fides to work a donor room and the working-class background to appeal to the Rust Belt.

All of those arguments would be plausible, affirmative cases to make for Vance to be the 2028 nominee. Instead, before we’ve even reached the midterms, Vance’s allies are going full bore to snuff out disagreement and accusing all his critics of being involved in a coordinated campaign.

They also argue that Vance is being kneecapped by the “establishment,” which is farcical on its face. Vance is the establishment. He’s the right-hand man of the singular decision-maker in the Republican Party. He’s the vice president of the United States. He’s the finance chair of the Republican National Committee.

What he isn’t yet is endorsed by Donald Trump or the recipient of a single primary vote for the Republican presidential nomination. Those are the only two things that could make anyone “inevitable” or the “heir apparent.”

I don’t know if Marco Rubio is going to choose to run. It seems almost implausible, given the close relationship between him and Vance, and the fact that Vance will inevitably be on top of him in the official chain of command. But whether he does or doesn’t, Team Vance would be better served to relax a little and let the process play out.

If they don’t, they just might end up like the last couple of presidential nominees who demanded it was “their turn.”