Republicans send Trump and Vance into the race
At the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump has been officially nominated as the party’s candidate for the presidential election in November, with J. D. Vance as his vice-presidential running mate. Vance currently represents Ohio in the Senate and is known to many as the author of the bestselling autobiography Hillbilly Elegy. Europe’s press comments.
Strange characters in starring roles
Delfi comments:
“The next US president will probably be an old TV presenter and opportunistic businessman with a bad temper, bad taste and theatrical slogans who knows more about golf courses than geography. The bar isn’t very high: all Donald Trump has to do is remember his own name and that of his wife and instinctively raise his fist after an assassination attempt to call on his supporters to continue the fight. Winston Churchill, former British prime minister and hero of the nation, was an alcoholic. Ronald Reagan, the winner of the Cold War, was a mediocre Hollywood star and trade unionist. Sometimes the big roles go to strange actors.”
The Eurozone is in for a shock
Les Echos warns of the dangers of a second Trump presidency:
“Europe would not only suffer geopolitically. Most analysts expect massive fiscal spending with inflationary effects. The increased protectionism evoked in Trump’s programme would have massive consequences for exports to the US from countries like Germany and Italy. And this at a time when Chinese consumers are buying Chinese products. ... Finally, Donald Trump in office means the certainty of a devalued dollar. ... All in all, the Eurozone will be in for a negative external shock if Trump makes good on just half of what he is promising. Not to mention the fight against global warming: the bulk of the regulations would be lifted and electric cars would no longer be subsidised — in contrast to all fossil fuels.”
Vance as vice a smart move
La Repubblica comments:
“The choice of Vance makes it harder for Democrats to attack Trump’s Grand Old Party ticket. Born into poverty in Ohio, Vance is the author of the best-selling biography Hillbilly Elegy featuring the country bumpkin Vance, who, thanks to his self-sacrificing grandmother, manages to get a law degree at Yale University, something other hillbillies would never even dream of. ... While his peers, from the from the Appalachian mountains to the suburbs of Cincinnati and Middletown, end up as victims of drugs and fentanyl — unemployed, divorced, alcoholic, victims of post-traumatic stress — Vance lived the old American dream of pulling himself up by the bootstraps and joining the Marines.”
No sign of a conciliatory stance
A moderate tone cannot be expected from Vance, who was once a Trump critic, notes De Standaard:
“Vance opportunistically reinvented himself and became a kind of intellectual planner and spokesman for Trumpism. This earned him something very unusual: Trump forgave him. With Vance as his running mate, Trump is not opting for moderation or reconciliation even after the attempt on his life. Vance said on Monday that Biden’s rhetoric according to which Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist ‘led directly to Trump’s attempted assassination’.”
