Vice President JD Vance’s attempts Wednesday to sell Republicans’ massive tax and spending law to Pennsylvania voters were overshadowed by President Donald Trump’s clash with his base over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and mixed messages about potentially firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Trump spent much of Wednesday going off on GOP lawmakers and supporters who have demanded that his administration reverse course and release documents related to the deceased convicted sex offender and disgraced financier. And his vice president had a tough act to follow after his boss admitted he asked a group of House Republicans if he should try terminating Powell over his refusal to lower interest rates.
As Vance took the stage in West Pittston in northeastern Pennsylvania, he assumed a role he’s rarely undertaken during the second Trump administration: public salesman in chief. A former senator from Ohio and current president of the Senate, Vance has done most of his selling behind the scenes, helping twist the arms of reluctant GOP lawmakers in pursuit of Trump’s agenda.
