J.D. Vance, the junior senator from Ohio, has only three months on the job, but he is working hard to establish himself as a serious legislator, a person of substance to be reckoned with.
The problem is, his side hustle — being one of the chief apologists and defenders of the indicted former President Donald J. Trump — is getting in the way.
Vance, I suppose, owes him one.
Vance, who survived a GOP Senate primary last year that turned into a high-stakes mud-wrestling match, likely wouldn't be in office today without Trump's last-minute primary endorsement, followed by an assist from Trump in the general election campaign.
Vance has been burning up Twitter in the past couple of weeks, firing off indignant messages aimed mostly at Alvin Bragg, the New York County district attorney who, on Tuesday, did what millions of Americans have dreamed of for years: drag Trump before the bar of justice in a Manhattan courtroom to answer to criminal charges.
Here's a sample of Vance's Twitter outrage:
"Alvin Bragg is bought by George Soros. He allows violent criminals to walk the streets of New York City but will prosecute the likely Republican nominee (and former president) on a baseless misdemeanor charge. These people are trying to turn America into a third-world country."
Alvin Bragg is bought by George Soros. He allows violent criminals to walk the streets of New York City, but will prosecute the likely Republican nominee (and former president) on a baseless misdemeanor charge. These people are trying to turn America into a third-world country. https://t.co/2eYqPegRLF
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) March 18, 2023
Soros, of course, is the financier and Democratic moneybags who gets under the skin of Republicans because — well, because he has at least as much money to spend as most Republican moneybags.
ANALYSIS: Which J.D. Vance will show up in the Senate?
Last month, The New York Times fact-checked the GOP efforts to tie Bragg to Soros. Here’s what they found:
- Soros and Bragg have never met; and Soros has never given money directly to Bragg's campaigns.
- Soros does, however, support a liberal organization that makes campaign contributions to "progressive prosecutors" who are interested in reforming the criminal justice system. That group gave a substantial amount of money to Bragg's 2021 campaign.
Speaking of moneybags, Vance might want to tread lightly when it comes to accusing others of being "bought" by wealthy donors.
After all, he's the one whose Senate primary campaign got a $15 million boost from billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, a Trump pal. A Trump endorsement quickly followed the Thiel money.
This begs the question: Senator, when you speak of Alvin Bragg being "bought" by George Soros, do you mean in the same sense that Peter Thiel "bought" you?
And how about that "baseless misdemeanor charge" Vance mentioned in his tweet?
Vance has a Juris Doctor degree from the Yale law school. You might think he would be more cautious about describing sealed indictments.
As it turned out, Trump faces 34 felony charges. These are not pay-out traffic tickets.
RELATED: 5 things to know about Donald Trump's felony charges
Whether Vance's rhetoric on the Trump situation is factual or not, he's stuck with his role as defender and apologist, at least for the time being.
"He's doing what he has to do," said David B. Cohen, political science professor at the University of Akron. "He has to keep his base happy and they believe Trump is a victim here. And Vance has not always had the trust of the Trump crowd."
But there is political risk involved in being a cheerleader on the sidelines for Trump.
"This undercuts his efforts to appear to be a statesman as a member of the Senate," Cohen said.
After the disastrous train derailment in the hardscrabble eastern Ohio town of East Palestine, Vance was seen on the ground there a number of times — including once with Trump.
RELATED: Senators Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance introduce Railway Safety Act
And he has signed on to significant railroad safety legislation with Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and the two Democratic senators from nearby Pennsylvania — the irony being that railroad safety has suffered since the deregulation of the industry under President Trump.
"Being part of that rail legislation has created a lot of good will for him,'' Cohen said. "It's shown a lot of people that he is not a firebreather."
Except, that is, when Donald Trumps needs him to breathe some fire.
