Appraising J.D. Vance as Trump’s Running Mate

To the Editor:

Re “Vance, a Onetime Critic of Trump, Is Selected as His Running Mate” (front page, July 16):

It might have been possible to imagine that coming within an inch or so of losing his life might change any person, even Donald Trump. In the first few hours after the shooting, the shock of it allowed many of us to contemplate that he might be capable of putting aside the negative campaign, the subtle calls for violence, the dehumanization of those he finds useful for that purpose.

But selecting J.D. Vance as his running mate has now confirmed that Donald Trump is who he is. Nothing, not even being shot at, will change that.

In 2016 Mr. Vance wrote that Mr. Trump might be “America’s Hitler,” but then morphed into about the most obsequious puppet an authoritarian could want. He made every conceivable compromise with decency on this road, showing once again that Mr. Trump values nothing more than humiliating devotion.

Perhaps what sealed the deal for Mr. Vance was his post on X on Saturday, barely two hours after the shooting at the Trump rally, stating that President Biden’s rhetoric “led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.” Not a word condemning violence, nothing even pretending to tamp down emotions, just adding more fuel to the fire, currying more favor with his slavish devotion.

None of the other contenders for the V.P. nod by Mr. Trump could match Mr. Vance’s quick draw on this one. I wonder if those other finalists, like Marco Rubio, Doug Burgum and Elise Stefanik, now rue their lost opportunity. One more small bit of indecency at an indecent hour, right after the shooting, and the prize could have been mine, they could be thinking …

Marc Springer
Brookline, Mass.

To the Editor:

Voters allowing the ages and abilities at the top of the presidential ticket to sway their decision may do well to consider just who is lying in wait should either nominee (Biden, 81; Trump, 78) need to step aside.