Why Should JD Vance Worry?

Despite his growing collection of obvious failures on the global stage, he's reveling in his imaginary, near-divine status within the power elite

JD Vance heads back to Washington on April 8 from Budapest after inserting himself in the Hungarian elections to back Viktor Orbán. He failed. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst via Getty Images)

Things have been going badly for JD Vance the last few weeks. He failed in high-level negotiations with Iran. He failed at helping Hungary’s white nationalist authoritarian Viktor Orbán stay in power. And this newly converted Catholic foolishly assailed Pope Leo XIV, arrogantly questioning the pontiff’s grasp on theology.

I mean, this guy must know he’s losing, amirite? Oh, no. That would miss the big picture here. Because the opportunistic author of Hillbilly Elegy—who did not hesitate exploiting the people of Appalachia to advance himself—will not be deterred: He’s all about expanding power, no matter who loses or what harm he causes.

The price of gas may lead the average American to think twice about hitting the road, but that doesn’t touch high-and-mighty JD, one heartbeat away from the presidency. His motorcade to and from the failed negotiations in Pakistan reportedly tallied 40 to 100 vehicles. His motorcade tooling through the street of Budapest was similar in scale.

And these were not anomalies: In February, he reportedly arrived in Milan, Italy with 100 armored vehicles, mostly Chevrolet Suburbans, for a fun time at the Winter Olympics. This extravaganza reportedly involved 14 planes to transport his vehicles, supplies, security team and staff. So, too, a family vacation to the English Cotswolds last summer apparently required a motorcade of more than two dozen vehicles.

As much as most Americans may see the Iran war as a deadly dangerous and costly fiasco driven by a reckless madman, don’t doubt that Vance knows who stands to gain from it. Several days ago, The Guardian documented the windfall this war is providing to the top 100 oil and gas companies, which are making more than $30 million per hour and could pocket an estimated $234 billion in extra profits this year.

Have a look at how much the top 10 companies will earn between March and December if a barrel of oil averages $100.

• Saudi Aramco: $25.5 billion

• Kuwait Petroleum Corp: $12.1 billion

• ExxonMobil: $11.0 billion

• Gazprom: $10.8 billion

• Chevron: $9.2 billion

• PetroChina: $9.2 billion

• Petrobras: $8.0 billion

• Shell: $6.8 billion

• Rosneft: $6.6 billion

• Abu Dhabi National Oil: $6.4 billion

Anything stand out? Maybe the Trump regime’s friends in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia? As The Guardian notes, “Three Russian companies—Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil—stand to make an estimated $23.9 billion in Iran-related war profits by the end of the year.”

And pro-Putin Vance? There he was at a Turning Point USA event this week crowing about one of his “proudest” achievements, which is cutting off funding to Ukraine to fight Russia’s deadly war—and that includes “not buying weapons and sending them to Ukraine anymore.”

And just in case you think he was merely mouthing Trump’s attitude and policy line, get a load of his grotesque comments while pimping for Orbán last week in Budapest. After attacking Zelensky for “threatening” Orbán, he arrogantly dismissed Ukraine’s fight for its territorial sovereignty and survival as "haggling over...a few square kilometers."

What an a-hole.

So much for democracy. So much for knowing where he came from. Vance is now a full-fledged member of the what the sociologist C. Wright Mills called the “power elite.” In his 1956 book of the same title, Mills drew attention to a a small group of people who could control the military, corporate and political institutions of American society, seeking to render ordinary citizens relatively powerless.

Vance likes the rise of oligarchic rule just fine.

Is it any wonder that he felt free to attack the pope, given his own perceived divine status in the global ecosystem? Is he not entitled to insist that Pope Leo should “be careful” if he is going to “opine on matters of theology” as they concern the war with Iran?

And while anyone can see that old JD has the charisma of a dead fish and an unusual knack for making awkward, cringeworthy jokes that fall flat, don’t doubt that he feels cushioned from his own obvious flaws.

A year ago Trump handed him the unusual job of finance chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), giving him the ability to raise tens of millions for the party and buff-up his own position with donors heading toward 2028. The New York Times reported yesterday that, in addition to his failed trips to Pakistan and Budapest, he has attended more than two dozen RNC “breakfasts, lunches and dinners” to raise an estimated $60 million.

I went back to Vance’s GOP convention speech from July 17, 2024 to remember what this shape-shifter had to say then. A Yale Law School grad, he had previously likened Trump to “America’s Hitler.” But that night in Milwaukee he offered no genuine insight. Or, to put it another way, he demonstrated his capacity for bullshit.

He is tough, and he is, but he cares about people. He can stand defiant against an assassin one moment and call for national healing the next. He is a beloved father and grandfather, and, of course, a once-in-a-generation business leader.

Here was his equally mistaken, indeed tragically laughable, description of the Republican Party:

Shouldn’t we be governed by a party that is unafraid to debate ideas and come to the best solution? That’s the Republican Party of the next four years: united in our love for this country, and committed to free speech and the open exchange of ideas.

If only.

And then there was this, just in case you doubted whether his new boss was a man of the people or a man of the power elite only serving the interests of the richest among us:

We need a leader who fights for the people who built this country. We need a leader who’s not in the pocket of big business, but answers to the working man, union and nonunion alike. A leader who won’t sell out to multinational corporations, but will stand up for American companies and American industry.

Just to be clear, this is how he talked about Donald Trump, the “leader” who’s exploiting his office to enrich himself and his family, provide tax cuts for billionaires, launch wars that benefit Big Oil—particularly the Saudis and the Russians—and demand tributes from the biggest of big business. That was knowable then, not just since he retook office.

Thanks to tech investor Peter Thiel’s millions bankrolling him, JD Vance landed in 2022 a seat in the Senate representing Ohio and two years later ended up as vice-president. We would expect any other politician experiencing such a meteoric rise would be a generational talent. Not the fraudulent Vance, there for the taking.

The truth is even darker, an alarming illustration of the corruption of money in politics and the assumption of Trump and his nepo babies, Don Jr. and Eric, that access to Silicon Valley wealth and power would serve their interests well. So much the better that a man like Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, who has been described as a “techno-libertarian” who veers toward fascism, aligns so well with Trump’s agenda. Here’s Thiel from 2009, laying the groundwork: “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible."

With supporters like this, it’s easy to see how Vance has been more than willing to put his humble beginnings aside in the pursuit of power. The more he consumes, the more he becomes convinced of his own invincibility and significance.

Yes, reality may one day come crashing down—and may that day be in the midterms when we all prove that the Trump regime’s power will come to an end. But before then, JD Vance’s mounting failures from Pakistan to Budapest to the Vatican will not be sufficient to wipe the confidently smug look from his bearded face.

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