This really gets to the crux of the matter re Trump, Vance and Iran, which isn’t whether the war badly hurt Republicans in the midterms or not (obviously it did).
It’s whether or not Trump botched one of the most consequential decisions of his presidency. Vance clearly thinks he did, while Trump—absent a stark turnabout—is never going to concede that he did.
Maybe Vance finds a way to cleverly finesse this question, or Trump gives him a pass on it, or other considerations prevail, but it is very treacherous territory for a VP to have such a dim view of a such a major decision made by the president whose favor he needs to win his party’s nomination.
The question some journalist is going to ask Vance now is, “Do you agree with the president that the war was right call, and that, if he had it to do over again, he should do it again?”
Trump’s statement suggested the answer he wants to hear.
It’s whether or not Trump botched one of the most consequential decisions of his presidency. Vance clearly thinks he did, while Trump—absent a stark turnabout—is never going to concede that he did.
Maybe Vance finds a way to cleverly finesse this question, or Trump gives him a pass on it, or other considerations prevail, but it is very treacherous territory for a VP to have such a dim view of a such a major decision made by the president whose favor he needs to win his party’s nomination.
The question some journalist is going to ask Vance now is, “Do you agree with the president that the war was right call, and that, if he had it to do over again, he should do it again?”
Trump’s statement suggested the answer he wants to hear.
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