Ex-GOP insider claims 'hardcore MAGA' is seething against J.D. Vance after debate

Former President Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, managed to keep the debate much more competitive than Trump himself did in his own widely agreed loss to Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this year, winning style points from pundits even as he raised some eyebrows with his failure to commit to the democratic process, and as viewers gave Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz higher marks on many key issues.

But there's one surprising group of people who may have been disgusted with how Vance conducted himself, former GOP strategist Stuart Stevens wrote on X Wednesday morning: some of Trump's own supporters.

The principal reason for that, he explained, was that Vance spent too much time trying to talk about himself — as he did during the opening question about how he'd handle foreign policy crises like Iran's attack on Israel this week — and not enough time going after Vice President Kamala Harris.

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"Dive into hard core MAGA social media. A lot of them hated Vance’s debate," wrote Stevens. "They wanted Vance to expose Harris as the devil."

But instead of doing that, Stevens continued, "he was on a personal rehabilitation campaign aimed at 2028. He wanted to become the Great White Hope of the [New York Times columnist Ross Douthat] crowd and the wealthy donors who know which fork to pick up. Looking at Vance’s history, it should shock no one he put his own ambitions first."

Moreover, Stevens argued, the Ohio senator did little to endear himself to the center either, with a standout bad moment being his refusal to answer questions about January 6: "This is the only thing that will be remembered from this debate. Vance was like the boyfriend who is confronted by an angry dad who asks him if he assaulted his daughter and the guy answers 'I’m focused on the future.'"