Trump campaign’s internal tensions boil over as vice presidential pick J.D. Vance struggles

Internal tensions within Donald Trump’s campaign, and even within his own family, are haemorrhaging into public view.

Internal tensions within Donald Trump’s campaign, and even within his own family, are haemorrhaging into public view, and one of the former US president’s longtime advisers is being accused of leaking relentlessly against his pick for the vice presidency.

Mr Trump unveiled Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate at the Republican National Convention last month, to reviews that could fairly be characterised as mixed.

Subsequent polls have shown Mr Vance is America’s least popular vice presidential nominee in decades. Usually, in the wake of a party’s convention, its VP pick is viewed positively; the average net approval rating this century has been +19. Mr Vance was at -6 just after the RNC, and that has since dropped further to -15. Not ideal.

It hasn’t helped that strange comments from Mr Vance’s recent past keep emerging, such as his now infamous rant against “childless cat ladies”, or his view that people without children are more “sociopathic” than parents.

The campaign’s internal recriminations are, increasingly, making their way into public view.

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance is not, currently, winning any popularity contests. Picture: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images via AFP

Donald Trump’s eldest son, also named Donald Trump, was reportedly instrumental in choosing J.D. Vance as the potential VP. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

The Bulwark, a publication founded by conservatives opposed to Mr Trump, published a new report on Wednesday, US time, based on interviews with “20 Trump campaign staffers, allies, confidants and advisers”, many of whom pointed the finger at the former president’s longtime adviser Kellyanne Conway.

Ms Conway, a senior figure in the White House during Mr Trump’s first term, is known as something of a serial leaker. It seems she is using that talent to foment displeasure over Mr Vance’s selection.

The Bulwark’s sources were “quick to shoot down any notion” that Mr Trump might ditch Mr Vance from the ticket. However, “more than a dozen sources volunteered, without prompting, that they believed Conway, who initially opposed the selection of Vance, was undermining him through leaks to the press”.

Ms Conway denied those accusations, saying the sources were “gossip girls” and “ankle biters” jealous of her relationship with Mr Trump.

“When it comes to concerned people questioning the vetting or selection of J.D. Vance, the calls are coming in, not going out,” she told the publication.

“I’m not calling them and saying this is bad. People are asking me. They’re not just asking me. They’re asking lots of people.”

Ms Conway said she was advising people to focus on Mr Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, instead of Mr Vance.

“(Mr Trump) is loyal. He was loyal to me. He’s a loyal guy. He sticks with things,” she said.

“And he knows, first-hand, anybody would have been attacked, and anybody picked would have been attacked, because he is always attacked.”

Kellyanne Conway. Picture: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP

Donald Trump. Picture: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP

Mr Trump reportedly settled on Mr Vance as his VP pick shortly before the official announcement after lobbying from his two eldest sons, Donald Jr and Eric.

One of The Bulwark’s sources said Don Jr, who is the most involved in Mr Trump’s political operation among his children, was angry about Ms Conway’s alleged leaking.

“He’s pissed off about it. He knows it’s her,” the source said.

Don Jr apparently pushed his father “relentlessly” to pick Mr Vance, to whom he’s been “close for years”. Ms Conway, meanwhile, favoured either Florida Senator Marco Rubio or North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

Both would have been more mainstream, and perhaps more palatable, picks.

“It’s news to me that anyone connected with the campaign would spend their time anonymously attacking Kellyanne rather than aggressively attacking Kamala Harris,” Ms Conway said, referring to herself in the third person.

“But if that’s true, I hope those who are overjealous are not becoming overzealous and not allowing a rough news cycle to get them off their game.

“This is Donald Trump and J.D. Vance’s election to lose. And we need to win it. In my business, you are either whining or winning. And I’m all for winning.”

Responding to the story, Mr Trump’s campaign spokesman Steven Cheung insisted his boss was “thrilled” with his chosen vice presidential nominee.

Mr Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

‘It’s disgraceful’: Trump in bitter confrontation

Speaking of “rough” news cycles: Mr Trump’s appearance at an event hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists on Wednesday did not go well. At all.

Mr Trump appeared on stage with three black women: ABC news journalist Rachel Scott, Semafor’s Kadia Goba, and Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner.

Ms Scott began by bringing up some of the former president’s previous remarks.

“A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today,” Ms Scott said.

“You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former president Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true.

“You have told four congresswomen of colour who were American citizens to go back where they came from,” she said.

“You have used words like ‘animal’ and ‘rabid’ to describe black district attorneys. You’ve attacked black journalists, calling them ‘losers’, saying the questions that they ask are ‘stupid and racist’.

“You’ve had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort.

“So my question, sir, now that you are asking black supporters to vote for you: why should black voters trust you after you have used language like that?”

Mr Trump responded: “Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner”. The crowd laughed.

“You don’t even say, ‘Hello, how are you?’ Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network, a terrible network. And I think it’s disgraceful that I came here, in good spirit,” he said.

“You were half an hour late. Just so you understand, I have too much respect for you to be late. They couldn’t get their equipment working or something.”

Ms Scott interjected: “Mr President, I would love it if you could answer the question” – to which Mr Trump replied: “I have answered the question.”

Donald Trump. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images via AFP

The tone did not improve when the panel brought up a specific type of criticism, from within Mr Trump’s party, towards his opponent, Ms Harris.

“Some of your own supporters, including Republicans on Capitol Hill, have labelled Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the first black and Asian-American woman to serve as vice president on a major party ticket, a DEI hire,” Ms Scott said.

“Is that acceptable language to you, and will you tell Republicans, and those supporters, to stop it?”

DEI stands for “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion”. The implication of these attacks on Ms Harris is that she is only the Democratic candidate, and was only selected to be Joe Biden’s Vice President in the first place, because of her race and gender.

“How do you define DEI? Go ahead,” Mr Trump said.

“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” Ms Scott said.

“OK, yeah. Go ahead. Is that what your definition (is)?” he replied.

“That is literally the words,” she said.

“Give me a definition,” Mr Trump said.

“Sir, I’m asking you a question,” Ms Scott said.

“No you have to define it. Define it. Define it for me,” the former president said.

“I just defined it, sir. Do you believe Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she is a black woman?” Ms Scott asked.

Mr Trump during the event. Picture: Scott Olson/Getty Images via AFP

“Well I can say no, I think it’s, maybe, a little bit different,” Mr Trump said.

“I’ve known her a long time, indirectly. Not directly, very much. And she was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black. And now she wants to be known as black.

“So I don’t know. Is she Indian or is she black?”

Ms Scott replied: “She has always identified as a black woman.”

“I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t,” Mr Trump persisted.

“Because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn, and she went, she became a black person. I think somebody should look into that too. When you continue in a very hostile, a nasty tone.”

The crowd laughed again at this point.

Another awkward moment occurred when Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner asked Mr Trump to clarify his “message” to the audience in the venue.

“My message is to stop people from invading our country that are taking, frankly, a lot of problems with it, but a lot of big problems, and a lot of the journalists in this room might know, and I have a lot of respect for – a lot of the journalists in this room are black,” Mr Trump responded.

“I will tell you that, coming from the border, are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking black jobs.”

“What exactly is a ‘black job’, sir?” Ms Scott asked.

“A black job is anybody that has a job. That’s what it is. Anybody that has a job,” the former president answered.

“And they’re taking the employment away from black people. They’re coming in, and they’re coming in. They’re invading. It’s an invasion of millions of people, probably 15 or 16 million people.”

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, after the event, Mr Trump complained that the questions asked of him were “rude”.

“The questions were Rude and Nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT,” he wrote.