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On the plane with Trump's attack dog: VP pick JD Vance reveals how he lost 30lb, his plan to take down Kamala Harris, why he wants to talk to Mike Pence... and what book is on his nightstand
Donald Trump's attack dog has two goals for the election campaign: Take the policy fight to Kamala Harris and to keep off the weight he lost since becoming a senator.
On Tuesday, J.D. Vance managed the first with aplomb, crisscrossing two battleground states ahead of Harris (aides call it 'bracketing'), generating headlines and made-for-social media memes as he tried to confront the vice president at a tiny regional airport in Wisconsin.
But the latter may be harder as DailyMail.com discovered aboard Vance's campaign plane, nicknamed Trump Force Two. Lunch was sandwiches and fries from Chick-Fil-A.
In a wide-ranging interview, with wife Usha sitting beside him, Vance discussed everything from his role in the campaign, the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, adjusting to having a Secret Service detail and how much weight he lost after becoming a senator.
A croissant sat untouched on the conference table, part of a breakfast-skipping regimen of frequent exercise and healthier eating.
Sen. J.D. Vance talks to reporters traveling with him on 'Trump Force Two' after landing in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday. He is charged with taking the policy fight to Kamala Harris
'I haven't taken any drugs. Obviously, you eat a little bit less, but it's also just eating better,' he said.
'I tend to skip breakfast, whereas before I would have, like, you know, three waffles and scrambled eggs and bacon.'
The catalyst was completing his successful Senate campaign two years ago and realizing that he was out of breath just horsing around with his three children.
He started running and making sure he could fit the gym into his routine.
The result was dropping 30lb, he said. The new svelte figure was noticed by Donald Trump. He told aides he was impressed by the way Vance's suits were fitting better.
'Time will tell man,' said Vance. 'In three months, maybe I'll be a lot fatter.'
The first stop of the day is Shelby Township, in Michigan, giving Vance the chance to demonstrate his role.
This is not a rally but a question-and-answer session with regional journalists. And Trump's attack dog is like a canine with a bone.
A question from a local Michigan reporter about terrorists from the Middle East, simply 'highlights the weakness of the Kamala Harris administration,' according to Vance.
Vance was joined by wife Usha for the day trip to events in Michigan and Wisconsin, two key battlegrounds that could decide the outcome of the 2024 presidential election
Vance took questions from local reporters at an event in Shelby Township, where he was briefed by law enforcement officers on the problems they faced
A question about why Donald Trump picked him as running mate brings a pivot to attack Harris for selecting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as hers, 'bending the knee to the far left of the Democrat Party.'
And a question about whether Trump made a racist attack on Harris last week quickly becomes an attack on the vice president for 'faking who she is depending on her audience.'
Some Trump insiders were unsure about the choice of Vance. Could the MAGA darling complement the former president's hold on the base?
His campaign team has come up with plan, devising events that contrast with Trump, generating headlines without hogging the limelight (the worst possible crime in Trump world).
On Friday, Trump will address a very different audience in Montana: Thousands of supporters at one of his typically barnstorming rallies.
So while the top of the ticket is riling up fans in arenas, Vance is leaning into his obsession with detail, honed at an Ivy League law school, to dissect the polices of Kamala Harris.
'I think that one, I grew up in a town that was affected by very stupid policies,' he told DailyMail.com, referring to his difficult upbringing in southern Ohio and Kentucky.
Vance's plane arrived minutes after Air Force Two in Wisconsin allowing him the chance to try to confront Harris over why she is avoiding questions
Afterwards he said: 'I just wanted to check out my future plane'
'But two, just because because I like this stuff, and I like to get into the details, we can just highlight for the American people how bad she is on public policy, and how good Donald Trump is on public policy.'
He said it was important not to underestimate Harris but to unpick the meaning underneath her frequent waffling.
'I actually don't think she's dumb,' he said. 'I think the word salad comes from she's clearly hiding what she actually believes from the American people.
'She's a far left liberal who wants to take San Francisco liberalism nationwide.'
The former Marine seemed happy to be on the attack after two weeks of weathering incoming. News organizations had busied themselves sifting through old interviews and social media posts to attack him for comments about 'childless cat ladies' or inventing smears about couches.
He expected that, he said, and has gone out of his way to engage with what he called the 'hostile press.' But other aspects of becoming Trump's running mate meant more difficult adjustments.
'The Secret Service thing is just weird. I don't think we'll ever get used to it,' he said of the 24-hour protection given to presidential candidates and their VP picks.
'I hate not driving. Our kids have finally kind of gotten used to it. They call them their police friends.'
The couple have three children all under the age of seven.
Usha was engaged in a book as her husband chatted, but smiled occasionally at the questions and at his responses.
Security was tight at the first stop of the day in Shelby Township, Michigan
Vance and his wife were briefing by law enforcement officials on local crime
Vance's events are set up to offer a contrast with Trump. While Trump holds big raucous rallies, Vance spends time at smaller venues taking questions from local journalists
Much has been made of Vance's love of books by English author J.R.R. Tolkien. His venture capital firm is named Narya, after one of the rings featured in the "Lord of the Rings".
And he said there was no doubt it had inspired some of his thinking.
'The fundamental implication, or the moral lesson, of "The Lord of the Rings" is that, compared to something like "Game of Thrones" or more modern novels, is that we often know the right from the wrong,' he said.
'The really important thing is whether you have the courage and the will to see the right through. I think that's a very important moral lesson.'
Plus Tolkien was a thoughtful Catholic, added Vance, who officially converted to Catholicism in 2019.
'There are, I'm sure, all these subtle ways in which has influenced me,' he said.
His current reading may surprise people: "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" by Joan Didion. Her 1968 collection of essays chronicles California counterculture of the time.
Usha introduced him to her work when they were dating, he said, and he sees parallels between her takedown of Sixties hippy culture and today's liberals.
'There's an essay where she's basically criticizing a think tank. Like these people sit around and they used to be important, and now they just write s***ty articles. And I'm like, Oh, God ... everything old is new again.'
Vance and his wife arrive hand in hand at the second event at NMC-Wollard International, which manufactures ground support gear for airports in Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Vance's audience was made up of workers and local media
There was time for an ice cream stop afterwards at Olson's. Vance ordered Mocha Mud Pie and Usha had a scoop of Mackinac Island Fudge
The seatbelt signs come on as the plane, a chartered 737 decorated with campaign slogans (think 'Drain the Swamp of Washington Corruption'), approaches Detroit airport about an hour after leaving Vance's home base of Cincinnati.
With Trump staying home for the early part of the week, it is up to Vance to lead the campaign attack.
He knows that his boss will be watching and scoring his performance. But Vance played down the idea that Trump is a demanding or temperamental person to work for, playing up their rapport and his sense of humor.
Only one other person knows what it is like to be Trump's running mate.
Mike Pence played a near perfect hand as the straight man to the president's antics until falling out in spectacular style over Trump's attempts to upend the Constitution and hold on to power after the 2020 election.
'I do want to talk to Mike Pence, because obviously he was vice president for four years, said Vance, before adding: 'but I haven't spoken to him since I was asked to be the VP nominee.'