Ian Ward unpacks the intellectual influences that shape the mind of J.D. Vance, Trump’s vice-president pick. They are Notre Dame professor Patrick Deneen, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, blogger Curtis Yarvin, deceased philosopher RenĂ© Girard, writer Sohrab Ahmari, the group of intellectuals affiliated with The Claremont Institute, and blogger Rod Dreher.
So what have these intellectuals been saying over the course of the last few days? If you read this post, and follow the links, I think you will get a pretty good primer on the subject.
Atheist in Times (London) with insightful piece abt Catholicism of @JDVance1. Says countercultural forms of the faith more likely to thrive. In this way, JD might be example of the Benedict Option. I’ve been saying for 7 yrs it’s not “head for the hills”! https://t.co/0FQRJuykRG
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 18, 2024
I think we ought to publicize this stuff, so ordinary people can see what freaking crazies they are, and want to move them as far from power and influence as possible. https://t.co/vYqHDY8Wjp
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 18, 2024
I TOLD JD SO! 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/CsORlY1Eqf
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 18, 2024
The things you learn from liberals. An MSNBC commentator says JDVance's desire to be buried in the family plot is a sign of someone who believes in "the supremacy of whiteness and masculinity." There is no compromise w/these loons, only defeating them.https://t.co/9ko0UwmfqI
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 18, 2024
Agreed! https://t.co/nqcst1BYz4
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 18, 2024
In his speech, an energetic and confident @JDVance1 broke clearly w/status quo GOP and laid the groundwork for solidifying Trumpism into a coherent approach to politics that will long outlast Trump. I think of him as the Ronald Reagan of the Millennials. https://t.co/RmYxvKLPfL
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 18, 2024
Pat Buchanan triumphs at last. If Trump-Vance win, the fate of American conservatism will for the next era be Buchananite. https://t.co/lHSLLCkrWN
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 18, 2024
True! https://t.co/jScNOV4HIZ
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 18, 2024
When have we ever heard a major Republican denounce "the American Ruling Class"? Thrilling!
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 18, 2024
I, for one, am proud to have been named one of the "weird influences" on @jdvance1. I have yet to get him to read "A Confederacy of Dunces," but I did help introduce him to the wonders of Paris (though not YET the glories of raw oysters at Huîtrerie Régis). https://t.co/ku2GE9MlUd
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 17, 2024
An excerpt from that speech. pic.twitter.com/1LilOapG13
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 16, 2024
From Politico's 55 Things To Know About JD Vance. I need to send our next vice president a copy of 'The Benedict Option'. Heh. https://t.co/kJIspD6OTp pic.twitter.com/VlTjcpNAl8
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 16, 2024
Dreher’s piece at The European Conservative.
More Dreher:
So what? I admire some things about Obama too, though I never voted for him, being a conservative. https://t.co/dYEvlSUf3T
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 15, 2024
Last time I saw my pal, it was over beer and sausage at the Munich Security Conference this year. He came to tell them the hard truth about Ukraine. They didn't want to hear it. We drank beer and had a hell of a time anyway. pic.twitter.com/GlzXMVsgav
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 15, 2024
Never thought I'd see the day. Glory to God! pic.twitter.com/gkAGdhfeLN
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 15, 2024
August 11, 2019: the day my friend J.D. Vance, the next vice president of the United States, became a Catholic. Glory to God! pic.twitter.com/L21bGljgzp
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 15, 2024
My @amconmag interview with @JDVance1 upon the occasion of his becoming Catholic. https://t.co/YKFXJNMVfY
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) July 15, 2024
Sohrab Ahmari piece on Vance at The New York Post:
More Ahmari:
Vance’s views are only anti-conservative if you equate conservatism with corporate “freedom” to ship jobs to hostile countries.
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 18, 2024
And it’s extreme if you think “moderation” means going along with the left’s bizarre ideas about gender, policing and drugs.https://t.co/Gvk75If2jK
Vance's "Mamaw" liked unions and Medicare. But she also thought people should help themselves with hard work, and hated the indolent welfare recipient.
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 18, 2024
The right-wing of the New Center will likely promote this combination of views.https://t.co/b6yufavaB1
J.D. Vance is an independent mind, and it's easy to overstate the influence of writers on active politicians.
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 18, 2024
Still, I'm honored to be listed here with my friend @PatrickDeneen and others. And grateful for a veep nominee who seriously engages big ideas. https://t.co/BDXW5Fgtcc
The New Center—a middle consensus devoted to shared prosperity and cultural stability—is taking shape before our eyes.
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 18, 2024
J.D. Vance embodies it, and is the best messenger for it that Trump could’ve asked for.
My Compact S*b*t*ck.https://t.co/b6yufavIqz
JD Vance on American foreign policy:
— The American Conservative (@amconmag) July 15, 2024
"If you want your kid to go and fight in some stupid globalist war, vote for Joe Biden. But if you want to send American Marines and soldiers to fight only when we have to, vote for Donald Trump."pic.twitter.com/1tWvCYJ6p4
What J.D. Vance didn't say is as important as what he did say.
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 18, 2024
Did anyone else notice? His speech contained exactly zero references to small government, tax cuts, or “job creators.”
JD’s speech contained exactly zero references to small government, tax cuts, “job creators.”
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 18, 2024
“We’re done catering to Wall Street. We’ll commit to the working man.”
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 18, 2024
J.D. Vance is angry about what neoliberal elites have done to working-class America.
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 18, 2024
But he has learned how to channel that into a mature and surprisingly bipartisan model of reform.
My latest (returning to my old haunt — the NYPost!)https://t.co/Gvk75If2jK
In 2019, Vance converted to Catholicism, and he began peppering his talks with Catholic social teaching, with its emphasis on the role of social structures in promoting the public good and giving working people a fair shot.
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 18, 2024
Me in tomorrow's NYPost!https://t.co/Gvk75If2jK
“Vance is not alone in his dissident economic views. New conservative think tanks such as American Compass and a new generation of intellectuals such as @SohrabAhmari have proposed far more interventionist policies.”
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 17, 2024
— @EJDionne’s column today.https://t.co/BrOpRaGU20
"The left should realize that you can’t improve economic conditions for ordinary Americans with just one faction in one party on your side. . . . There is no way for working people to win without expanding their influence in the GOP."https://t.co/FjQYNlBqAk
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 17, 2024
There’s footage of Vance’s Senate opponent, Tim Ryan, almost shitting his pants under Vance’s polemical battering ram. Kamala?!
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 17, 2024
Hilarious:
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) July 17, 2024
Sean O'Brien speaks out at the RNC against organized labor acting as an adjunct for the Democrats.
All these hammer-and-sickle/"DSA Marxist Unity"/etc. types lose their minds, calling him a class traitor.
But think about it: They're on fire for … Joe Biden.
The #Trump2024 ticket with @JDVance1 by Trump's side could very well mean a welcome shift in the policy areas we advocate for, such as limited government & the protection of natural rights just as @POLITICOMag mentions. https://t.co/LjVkogsn0R pic.twitter.com/blkIkX0vyS
— Claremont Institute (@ClaremontInst) July 18, 2024
Proud to contribute to the work of the @ClaremontInst that continues to shape the intellectual architecture of the New Right and is helping prepare the movement’s leading figures, like @JDVance1, for the greatest challenges confronting the nation. pic.twitter.com/ci6iBA2za0
— Theo Wold (@RealTheoWold) July 18, 2024
We are honored to have a part in shaping the policy that will save American democracy. Thank you for the shoutout, @politico!
— Claremont Institute (@ClaremontInst) July 18, 2024
Senator @JDVance1 has been a critical partner and friend of the @ClaremontInst. Speaking at the Center for the American Way of Life, J.D. Vance laid the strategies conservatives must use to fight back against corporations that are destroying our country. https://t.co/KfWEdR6kUA
— Center for the American Way of Life (@CenterForAWL) July 16, 2024
One of the many reasons I’m proud to work at @ClaremontInst is our influence on and relationship with people who understand our times like JD Vance. pic.twitter.com/wi6unp623U
— Mike Sabo (@MESabo86) July 18, 2024
Here is a New York Times article on the links between Vance and Peter Thiel.
Deneen:
With that said, I’ve asked the author to make one correction, at least in regards to claims about me. While this piece is mainly accurate as regards my work, it lazily repeats the claim that I am an “integralist.”  Because I’ve been seen in the company of self-identified…
— Patrick Deneen (@PatrickDeneen) July 18, 2024
Rather, my support for a more “public Christianity” is one that is shared by a number of thinkers across a number of faith traditions, including my friend Yoram Hazony, for instance, an Orthodox Jew. Yet no-one claims he is an “integralist.” It’s time to put to rest such sloppy…
— Patrick Deneen (@PatrickDeneen) July 18, 2024
My thanks to @ianwardreports for the correction. He has worked hard to understand and “introduce” a number of us of who typically engage in a different intellectual milieux, and props for his willingness to get the story right. 🙏
— Patrick Deneen (@PatrickDeneen) July 18, 2024
Epitaph for West Coast Straussianism:
— Patrick Deneen (@PatrickDeneen) July 18, 2024
“America is not just an idea, is a group of people with a shared history and common purpose” – @JDVance1
RIP Jaffaism, 1979-2024
They fomented countless wars, but may neo-conservatism nevertheless rest in peace. https://t.co/OgcIElMjIO
— Patrick Deneen (@PatrickDeneen) July 18, 2024
Weird that a conservatism of order, as opposed to a self-contradicting progressive conservatism, is considered weird. If so, then MCWA. https://t.co/GsjHRVKP33
— Patrick Deneen (@PatrickDeneen) July 17, 2024
Absolutely fantastic choice. My congratulations to my friend @JDVance1, but even more, to the United States of America. https://t.co/ZPsCfftyK0
— Patrick Deneen (@PatrickDeneen) July 15, 2024
I don’t buy Vance’s claims to be influenced by RenĂ© Girard, but if it came via Peter Thiel, I wonder how much it’s been distorted. Vance seems in practice to be more influenced by Carl Schmitt’s ideas about friends and enemies than by Girard’s ideas about ending the cycle of mimetic rivalry and violence.