'Only in MAGAville': The strange reason J.D. Vance’s face is a major roadblock to his VP nomination

09 July 2024

Along with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) is reportedly on presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's short list for a running mate. And with the Republican National Convention set to begin in Milwaukee on Monday, July 15, Trump could make an announcement any day now.

Once a scathing critic of Trump, Vance has given himself an ultra-MAGA makeover and is now a passionate supporter. But according to Never Trump conservatives Marc Caputo and Tim Miller, an "only in MAGAville issue" may get in the way of Trump picking Vance as his running mate: the senator's beard.

In an article published by The Bulwark on July 9, Caputo and Miller (a former GOP strategist) explain, "Trump's aversion to facial hair is legendary. On Father's Day in 2020, Trump told his son Don Jr. to shave his COVID quarantine beard and compared it unfavorably to Ted Cruz and Rand Paul's. And in 2016, the Washington Post reported, John Bolton might not have made the cut for secretary of state because of his trademarked mustache."

A Trump ally who is hoping the former president will pick Vance acknowledged that the MAGA senator's beard could be a problem.

The ally, presumably interviewed on condition of anonymity, told The Bulwark, "J.D. has a beard, and Trump is a clean-shaven guy. He just doesn't like facial hair. You just never know."

When The Bulwark asked Bolton if Vance's beard could be a deal-breaker for Trump, the former national security adviser responded, "I don't know."

Caputo and Miller report, "The fact that Vance's facial hair has become a thing is both trivial and significant because it indicates that Trump is, to a large degree, partial towards the political newcomer. Trump has a close and friendly relationship with Vance as well as Burgum. But Burgum is sometimes a bit too wonky and loquacious for the ex-president, who likes to, for lack of a better verb, bro out with the boys and do the talking. And North Dakota Trump supporters recently began taking aim at their governor for being insufficiently MAGA."

Read The Bulwark's full article at this link.

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