Vice President JD Vance's allies say he accidentally stumbled into a strategy to leave himself unscathed by the conflict in Iran, but Trump insiders argue he's just kidding himself, Politico reported Saturday.
Aides and allies of Vance told Politico that he's hoping his early skepticism of starting a conflict with Iran and his public doubts that Iran could be counted on to make peace will be "his saving grace" if hostilities drag on.
"It wasn't necessarily strategic from him, but it did have the side effect of putting him in a good place politically," an anonymous GOP operative allied with Vance told Politico. "From a purely political perspective, all that really mattered was him being seen as attempting to bring the war to an end, while at the same time remaining loyal and aligned with the president."
Vance is closely linked to the Iran peace talks, Politico noted. He was in the middle of peace talks that led to a memorandum of understanding to end hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, but the MOU has since fallen apart, Politico noted.
"How can you blame this on him?" a Vance ally told Politico, referring to the continued conflict with Iran. "Failing at trying for peace, I don't think gets you a penalty from rational people. In other words, the non-war crowd is not going to fault him for trying to end the war."
However, a former Trump official cast doubt on the idea that Vance comes out unscathed, saying, "This MOU is likely a loser, and it's his," and that Vance "is very, very much the person with the most to lose."
Another former Trump official agreed Vance's team is too hopeful, saying, "Dude, you just got handed a s— sandwich. You can't cover up the taste too much."
