Why 'Trump should’ve kept the receipt' on this 'impulse purchase': columnist

24 July 2024

Before President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid Sunday and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to pursue the White House, Donald Trump's campaign were sure about their advantages over the Democratic Party in November.

After Harris raised $81 million in 24 hours, and according to some polling regarding who voters are leaning towards, Trump and his camp are scrambling to rethink their strategy – as well as their 2024 vice presidential nominee, US Senator JD Vance (R-OH).

In an op-ed published on Wednesday, The Atlantic's Helen Lewis writes, "Trump presumably loves watching a former critic debase himself for power, but voters can usually smell a phony."

The Atlantic staff writer notes, "CNN recently reported that Vance has a negative rating among voters—the first for a VP pick immediately after his or her party’s convention since 1980."

Lewis notes, "As a senator from Ohio, Vance doesn’t bring a swing state with him," and he also doesn't "bring a strong personal following; in 2022, he underperformed the rest of the Republican slate in Ohio."

She raises the question: "How will that go down with Trump, a man who hates weakness and who has been known to disparage his allies in public?"

The GOP's VP pick "looks less like a masterstroke and more like the impulse purchase of a luxury good—an expensive handbag bought on a credit card the day before its owner gets fired," Lewis writes, emphasizing, "Trump should have kept the receipt."

The Atlantic writer concludes, "Biden’s departure allows the Democrats to turn their opponents’ best attack line back on them: Maybe old men whose sentences go off on weird tangents shouldn’t run for president?"

Lewis' full op-ed is available at this link (subscription required).

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