Shakespeare’s J.D. Vance:
WITCHES, dancing in a circle: The Weïrd Sisters, hand in hand, Posters of the sea and land, Thus do go about, about, Thrice to thine and thrice to mine And thrice again, to make up nine. Peace, the charm’s wound up.
Enter VANCE and ROBERTS, riding through the gloaming.
VANCE: So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
ROBERTS: How far is ’t called to Forres?—What are these, So withered, and so wild in their attire, That look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ Earth And yet are on ’t?—Live you? Or are you aught That man may question? You seem to understand me By each at once her choppy finger laying Upon her skinny lips. You should be women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret That you are so.
VANCE: Speak if you can. What are you
FIRST WITCH: All hail, Vance! Hail to thee, Senator from Ohio!
SECOND WITCH: All hail, Vance! Hail to thee, Vice-Presidential Candidate!
THIRD WITCH: All hail, Vance, that shalt be President hereafter!
The odds are good—60%? 40%?—that J.D. Vance is going to, come January 21, 2025, be just one 25th Amendment invocation away from the presidency.
Given that every single Republican I know thinks that J.D. Vance has the chops to do either (by their lights) a good or excellent job at being president and also that Trump has 0% of the chops, Republican court politics may well become very interesting.
Plus every single Republican I know thinks that Republicans would do better in November’s election if Trump were to (a) decline the nomination in return for (b) promises of a full pardon and (c ) throw this full support behind Vance while (d) continuing to take the Trump Show on the road, to the extent that he is physically and cognitively able to.
Trump is thus, right now, in a very interesting position.
The line is that A-listers hire B-listers, and C-listers hire D-listers.
But what does a C-Lister who has just hired a B-lister with the potential to become an A-lister do?
That is a very uneasy position to be in.
Especially since said C-lister knows that all the B-lister needs is half the cabinet willing to invoke the 25th Amendment, and that not a month passed during his first term in which there were not whispers among the cabinet asking if the time to invoke the 25th Amendment was now.