In response to JD Vance scrambling with the fallout of Donald Trump refusing to say if his historically unpopular VP pick is ready to lead, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“The only thing more unlikeable than JD Vance is his and Donald Trump’s toxic Project 2025 agenda – so we can’t blame Vance for trying to cover after being thrown under the bus by his own running mate Trump in a desperate attempt to deflect away from his historically bad poll numbers. Unfortunately for the Trump-Vance ticket, voters are just as put off by their extreme and out-of-touch plans to rip away our basic rights, gut checks and balances, and put billionaires ahead of the middle class as they are by ultra-MAGA creeps like Vance and Trump.”

JD Vance “affirmed” Donald Trump’s desperate efforts to deflect away from Vance’s unpopularity by saying he doesn’t matter.

Margaret Brennan: “President Trump has said… the vice presidential pick rarely matters. How are you going to prove him wrong?”

Vance: “Well I think President Trump is right about that actually.”

ABC: “Sen. JD Vance affirmed former President Donald Trump’s assertion that the vice presidential pick doesn’t matter to the vast majority of voters.”

Trump previously refused to say if Vance is ready to lead on day one.

Harris Faulker, Fox News: “When you look at JD Vance, is he ready on day one?”

Trump: “Is he what?”

Faulkner: “Ready on day one if he has to be?”

Trump: “I’ve always had great respect for him. And for the other candidates too. But I will say this, and I think this is well documented; Historically, the vice president in terms of the election does not have any impact, I mean virtually no impact.”

Vance’s first few weeks as Trump’s running mate have been a complete disaster.

Vox: “J.D. Vance has made it impossible for Trump to run away from Project 2025”

New Republic: “Project 2025 Leader Is Overjoyed by Trump’s Vice Presidential Pick”

CNN: “JD Vance said in 2022 he ‘would like abortion to be illegal nationally’”

CNN: “It’s not just ‘cat ladies’: JD Vance has a history of disparaging people without kids”

ABC News: “Vance argued for higher tax rate on childless Americans in 2021 interview”

NBC News: “JD Vance doubles down on ‘childless cat ladies’ dig: ‘I’ve got nothing against cats’”

Washington Post: “Vance urged DOJ to enforce Comstock Act, crack down on abortion pills”

The Hill: “Some House Republicans slam Vance as Trump’s VP pick: ‘The worst choice’”

The Hill: “Republican senators divided over Trump sticking with Vance”

Axios: “Some Republicans express buyer’s remorse over Vance VP pick”

New Republic: “Is J.D. Vance the Worst Vice Presidential Pick Ever?”

CNN: “Vance confronts upheaval and uncertainty in first 10 days as Trump’s running mate”

Vance is making history as the most disliked VP nominee our country has seen in decades – and many Americans don’t think he’s ready to lead.

Newsweek: “JD Vance Is the Least Liked VP Nominee in Decades, According to Polls”

“JD Vance is the first non-incumbent vice presidential nominee to have a net-negative favorable rating after a convention since 1980, according to poll numbers.”

Salon: “‘Making history in the completely wrong way’: JD Vance is really unpopular and ‘dragging Trump down’”

“Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is making history as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, but not in the way that the Trump campaign had hoped. According to a CNN survey taken after the Republican National Convention, Vance has an approval rating of -6 points, making him the first vice presidential nominee to enter the general election with a negative rating since 1980.

“‘Frankly, I don’t really understand the pick, and apparently neither do the American voters,’ CNN data analyst Harry Enten said on Tuesday’s OutFront with Erin Burnett. Vance, he said, is ‘dragging Trump down.’”

Newsweek: “Nearly four in 10 people do not believe Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, is ready for the presidency if necessary, according to a new survey.

“The poll also found that one-third (33 percent) were not sure if Vance was ready for the presidency or not. This is a possible sign that the Hillbilly Elegy author, who has been a senator for less than two years, still needs to raise his national political profile since being named as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

“It has already been suggested that Trump may have made a mistake in picking Vance as his 2024 running mate.”