JD Vance has said he is ready to take on the presidency “If God forbid, a terrible tragedy happens” to Donald Trump.
In a wide-ranging interview with USA TODAY, the vice president said he was “confident” President Trump would see out the rest of his term, but added he has had a lot of “on-the-job training”.
He also insisted to White House Correspondent Francesca Chambers Trump was in “incredibly good health”, despite recent questions about the president’s physical wellbeing.
They only need Trump to stay alive long enough to consolidate power. Then it’s phase 2. And it doesn’t really matter what anyone thinks as far as “respect” or “like” them. The long term plan is privatize everything completely moving the seat of power away from government altogether. We’re well underway.
They may think that, but it doesn’t work that way. They need a singular leader to unite the base. Once that’s gone, they’ll fracture fast.
What comes next is probably closer to European liberalism. Better social safety net, but capitalism mostly goes on. The US doesn’t have a groundswell of support to be any more anti-capitalist than that.
Agreed. This isnt a collective conservative front like the Tea Party. This is worship of a singular figure head. Once he’s dead it’ll crumble
Ahhh, but you forget two things.
One, cults usually outlive their founders, even cults of personality.
Two, Unitary Executive Theory. The Trump admin has been working overtime to try and figure out ways to rule by decree, and I think they’re absolutely willing to Hail Mary with Vance. If Trump dies, I can see them trying to quite literally just decree laws and dare the various, rapidly dwindling levers of power to stop them.
Nope, they don’t outlive their founders much. The few that do are exceptions.
There are cults of personality and cults of idea. Every once in a while, a cult of personality can outlive its founder by turning into a cult of idea. Mormons and Scientology are examples. This is hard to pull off, though. Most end up more like the Oneida cult, where its founder fled the country and it fell apart almost immediately.
The cult I was in, Jehovah’s Witnesses, was never really a cult of personality (IMO). Russell didn’t exercise particularly strict control over the group to begin with. Rutherford clamped down, causing a few splinter groups (a few of which are still out there). He turned it into a cult of ideas, and it outlived him without much issue.
As for unitary executive theory, it’s irrelevant. It only works for Trump because the congressional GOP doesn’t do anything against him. There is strong, aggressive debate among themselves, though. They could barely agree on a Speaker. Vance would weigh into it without the benefit of a cult of personality behind him.
They will become “The Fractured But Whole”