Vice President JD Vance remains on shaky ground as the heir to Donald Trump’s MAGA kingdom, with the president continually polling anyone within earshot about what they think of his veep and White House insiders counseling the veep on how he conducts himself.
According to the New York Times, Trump has made a habit of conducting what amounts to running focus groups on Vance's performance, comparing him unfavorably to his own achievements and reminding allies that Vance "has never won a tough race without his help."
Trump frequently reminds people that his endorsement was decisive in Vance's tight 2016 race for an Ohio Senate seat — a rhetorical device designed to underscore Vance's dependence on Trump's political machinery.
The Times is reporting that, beyond policy disputes, Trump has zeroed in on Vance's personal conduct and presentation. He has criticized the vice president's shoes and ribbed him for his tendency to interrupt.
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With the Times noting that Vance is known for obsessively scrolling on his phone, there are concerns about his combative interactions with critics on social media that led White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to call him on the carpet and tell him to dial it back; a position also taken by other "West Wing insiders," the report notes.
Trump has openly wondered aloud why Vance didn't behave with more deference, using Chinese President Xi Jinping's subordinates as his model.
"Why don't you behave like that?" Trump asked Vance during a breakfast for Republican senators. "JD doesn't behave like that! JD butts into conversations. I want to have that for at least a couple of days. OK, JD?"
In a recent Fortune interview in the Oval Office, when asked who was best positioned to carry on his legacy, Trump offered an ominous assessment: "Whoever gets this is going to be very important. And if you get the wrong person: disaster."
During that interview, Vance stood silently in the back of the room as Trump delivered his ambiguous verdict on the vice president's future.