Why Trump has no true MAGA heir — not even Vance: analysis

06 August 2024

When Donald Trump chose Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his presidential running mate, some right-wing media outlets exalted the 39-year-old "Hillbilly Elegy" author as Trump's political heir. Vance was a scathing critic of Trump during the 2016 election and identified as a Never Trumper, but he has since become an in-your-face Trump supporter and an outspoken proponent of MAGA ideology.

But in a think piece published on August 6, The New Republic's Alex Shephard argues that no one in the MAGA movement is a true political heir to Trump — not even Vance.

Vance, Shephard emphasizes, shows "the limits of the Trumpist approach " — not a way to broaden its appeal.

"Voters have responded to his selection by recoiling, largely," Shephard explains. "Donald Trump has never been wildly popular, but he has consistently posted a favorability rating in the low 40s — Vance has been mired in the mid-30s since rising to national prominence, something unheard of from previous vice-presidential selections."

Shephard adds that other far-right Trump disciples like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) "will all undoubtedly have long careers in Republican politics" but "are seen as clowns, albeit sinister ones," outside of it.

"Part of the problem is that Trumpism is a vibe as much as an ideology," Shephard observes. "It has core components, yes, largely related to xenophobic campaigns to stop immigration. Beyond that, though, it's fuzzy."

Shephard adds, "There is a larger cultural pugilism, centered on stopping 'the left' at all costs. But how exactly one does that or, for that matter, what issues one focuses on is ill-defined. Trump's own political career gives surprisingly few clear examples: Most of his feuds are driven by personal animus more than anything else."

One of the MAGA movement's major challenges, according to Shephard, is its insular nature.

"To some extent," Shephard argues, "Trump himself is responsible. An inveterate narcissist, he can tolerate no one sharing the spotlight with him. Vance was selected not because he was someone to whom he could pass the baton, but because he is an arch-loyalist lapdog who won't actually ever threaten him…. The only conclusion to draw, nearly a decade into Trump's takeover of the Republican Party, is that Trumpism itself doesn't have legs."

Shephard continues, "It is still largely dependent on its namesake. Its ideology will clearly be around for a long time, but there are few signs that it will remain potent without Trump's own weird charisma."

Alex Shephard's full article for The New Republic is available at this link.

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