'Wouldn’t be the worst idea': Analyst suggests Trump will force Vance to skip VP debate

J.D. Vance has been one of the least popular vice presidential picks in recent memory, and he's got a chance to sink even lower with a disastrous showing in the upcoming debate with Tim Walz, a columnist wrote Tuesday.

The Ohio Republican seemingly loses his cool with strong women interrogators, and with the Oct. 1 debate set to be moderated by CBS News correspondents Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, the Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin argued that Vance might be better off skipping that face-off with Kamala Harris' running mate.

"Vance’s role in fanning what amounts to a racist blood libel, followed by his confession that he feels compelled to 'create stories' to score points with voters, will not be his only vulnerability," Rubin wrote.

"Whether backtracking on assurances that former president Donald Trump would refuse to sign an abortion ban, or staking out a position that rape and incest shouldn’t be exceptions to abortion bans, or suggesting that people should stay in 'violent marriages' (an interpretation he denies), or insisting that childless people do not have a stake in the future of the United States, or saying he 'doesn’t care' what happens in Ukraine, Vance’s record is littered with gaffes, extreme statements and offensive slurs."

The first-term senator hasn't amassed much of a legislative record, but he has strong links to the authors of the extremist Project 2025 agenda that Trump has attempted to disavow, and Vance has declared that he would not have upheld his oath to the Constitution, as Mike Pence did on Jan. 6, 2021, to allow the counting of electoral votes.

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"Trump has two options," Rubin wrote. "Because he is miffed about how his own last debate transpired, he could demand that Vance not show up for his. That wouldn’t be the worst idea, given Vance’s potential to make sore points for Trump into gaping wounds. Ninety minutes on national television will be more than enough time for Vance to remind American women why so many dislike him."

"Alternatively, Trump could let Vance debate and then disavow whatever his running mate says — which was his tactic when asked about Vance’s claim that Trump as president would veto a national abortion ban," Rubin added.

"In the end, voters will most likely base their decision on the top of the ticket. Nevertheless, given that Vance has turned out to be such a troublesome, unpopular and gaffe-prone choice, voters might well ask whether they want someone for president who most certainly does not pick 'only the best people.'"