Sen. J.D. Vance faced harsh criticism Tuesday over his efforts to "sanewash" running mate Donald Trump as the former president doubled down on claims about immigrants eating pets and brings a self-described "proud Islamophobe" into his entourage.
Salon's Amanda Marcotte lashed out at Vance for both attempting to excuse behavior and commentary from Trump that she described as "deranged" — and for doing a poor job of it.
"The term "sanewashing" was coined to describe the bad habit of journalists who rewrite Trump's rambling nonsense into sentences that make sense, but for Vance, it's a full-time job," Marcotte wrote.
"He just keeps talking, assured in his view that Americans will soon fall in love with having a smug bully tell obvious lies to their faces."
The columnist urges Vance not to hold his breath.
Marcotte ran through a litany of political gaffes made by Trump this campaign season that Vance later tried to make more palatable to mainstream conservative voters.
Among them, the moment when Trump questioned Vice President Kamala Harris' race, insulted Medal of Honor recipients, and refused to say that he wanted Ukraine to win its war against Russia.
Marcotte does not offer much praise for Vance's spin, that Harris is a chameleon, Trump honors veterans, and is formulating a plan to end the Russian-Ukraine war that would involve a "demilitarized zone."
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"It's all nonsense," Marcotte wrote, "but it was shaped like an argument and used big words, clearly meant to fool people who aren't paying close attention."
The columnist echoed words from Harris' running mate Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as she made the case that Vance's efforts weren't fooling American voters.
Marcotte's case also involved a surprising subject — one at the heart of Vance's attacks on childless Americans and Haitian immigrants — previously best known for a propensity toward purring and long naps.
"But despite Vance's mastery of noun-verb agreement, he's not doing great at making Trump seem less weird," she wrote. "That's because Vance is quite weird himself, especially about cats, a previously unremarkable popular species of pet."
Vance's claim that Haitian immigrants have been eating cats and other pets in Springfield, Ohio, earned him a recent invitation to explain himself to Dana Bash on CNN, where he admitted to creating stories, then argued with the anchor about what it means to create, Marcotte reported.
For the Salon columnist, the moment represented exactly why Vance has witnessed his unfavorability ratings soar upward 16 points to 45 percent since Trump chose him as running mate in July.
"Underneath his ever-present smirk, Vance seems to be bristling with barely contained rage, especially at anyone who would question the Trump campaign's use of tactics like overt lying and spreading unapologetically racist conspiracy theories," Marcotte concludes.
"Despite failing repeatedly, Vance still acts as if he's a master at turning Trump's bizarre behavior into something that passes for normal."
