JD Vance Is on a Hell of a Losing Streak

True to form, Vance played an overly clever contrarian, accusing the European Union of election interference. “Brussels bureaucrats tried to destroy Hungary’s economy,” he said at a joint press conference with Orbán, who in fact interfered with the elections. “And they did it all because they hate this guy.” Orbán has long been a model for part of the right because he neutralized the liberal opposition, took control of the media and transformed Hungary into a hybrid democratic and authoritarian state. Vance was there to show his support for their man, but he was also there as a sort of flex: Trumpism is global.

There were problems, however. Vance attempted to call Trump twice during the April 7 rally and was sent to voicemail both times. (The same day, Trump received a call from an MS NOW reporter who wanted to know what he thought of his wife’s decision to to announce(seemingly out of nowhere, that she had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes against underage girls.) Then, on Sunday, Orbán and his party were eliminated in the Hungarian elections. In a tidal wave so large that the results could not be called into question, Péter Magyar’s Tisza party won a qualified majority that could allow it to erase much of Orbán’s legacy.

Vance had then moved on to his next humiliation, as the lead U.S. negotiator in talks to end the war in Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The fact that Vance was wiretapped was in itself something of a humiliation. Since the conflict began in late February, leaks had circulated in the press that the vice president was not a fan of the war and wanted to keep his distance from it – leaks no doubt supplied by Vance’s team, which was already strategizing for the 2028 presidential election. It was a typically cynical public relations move: the articles showed him uniformly supporting the war to a certain extent – he thought it should be “swift.” (don’t we all?) – but trying to navigate our way through to avoid any potential blowback.