Robert Reich: Trumpism’s Next Generation – OpEd
Trump’s pick of JD Vance for his vice president is part of a strategy for cementing Trumpism’s next generation.
Vance is only 39 years old. Regardless of whether he and Trump take office next January, he’s sure to be around for years to come. He will almost certainly be a presidential candidate in 2028.
Along with JD Vance come two people who were Vance’s chief advocates inside Trumpworld: Donald Trump Jr. (age 46) and Elon Musk (age 53).
Musk’s advocacy for Vance carried a lot of weight. Musk has not only endorsed Trump but committed to donate $45 million per month to his campaign between now and the election.
Vance and Musk are both part of the PayPal mafia: Vance worked for PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who put up $15 million for his Senate run. Thiel even ushered Vance into Trump’s office in Mar-a-Lago in early 2021 to convince Trump that Vance had become a Trump loyalist.
Neither Trump Jr. nor Musk will be in the Trump White House if Trump is elected, but both will be hugely influential. Trump has already discussed an advisory role for Musk.
Trump Jr. will function as a “MAGA enforcer,” according to his interview yesterday with Shane Goldmacher ofTheNew York Times. The younger Trump would “veto” any administration appointments that he views as being at odds with his father’s agenda. As he explained:
“I just want to make sure those snakes and the liars don’t get those positions of power. I think we’ll do a much better job of that this time around because we actually have the experience. We understand who those people are.”
Trump Jr. has his eyes on the long game. “My biggest role is just making sure that we have an America First, a MAGA bench for the future,” he said.
It is not inconceivable that the younger Trump will eventually run for president, too. He’s got the name brand and the same instinct as his father for enflaming the Trump base.
What do Vance, Trump Jr., and Musk believe in, apart from Donald Trump’s becoming the next president? Mainly three things:
Low taxes on billionaires and rollbacks of health and environmental regulations.
They also apparently share their patron, Peter Thiel’s,beliefthat freedom and democracy are incompatible, and that freedom is preferable to democracy.
Finally, Vance, Musk, and Trump Jr. seem to share a particular disdain for women.
Vanceopposesabortion even for victims of rape and incest. Musk has ahistoryof pursuing women working at SpaceX, if not his other companies. Trump Jr. hassaidthat women who complain about sexual harassment should be “kindergarten teachers” rather than “in the workforce.”
In all these respects, Trumpism’s next generation resembles its founder.
- This article was published at Robert Reich’s Substack