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JD Vance and his wife Usha’s odd relationship dynamic is part of a strategy to better position the vice president as Donald Trump’s MAGA successor, according to Trump biographer Michael Wolff. “I think that they’re in it together and plotting to achieve the presidency,” Wolff told the Inside Trump’s Head podcast. Vance also shared a bizarrely tender hug with Erika Kirk, the widow of the slain TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, who has been positioning herself as a bigger player in GOP politics since her husband was assassinated. Some see the controversies as evidence that the couple’s relationship is on the rocks. But Wolff told Daily Beast Chief Creative and Content Officer Joanna Coles that despite the strange moments from the TPUSA event, he believes that the couple is aligned. According to Wolff, nothing about Usha and JD’s public personas are genuine. He pointed to Vance’s history of morphing his persona as evidence that he and Usha are single-mindedly devoted to doing whatever it takes to get to the Oval Office. “Their pillow talk is about power,” he said. “‘We can taste it. All we have to do is bend this way and bend that way and... endure what we have to endure.’ Let’s look at JD Vance and remember, changed his name, changed his religion, changed his entire political bearing. Remember when ‘Trump was Hitler?’ Now Trump is the savior. I literally do not think he cares.” Vance has changed his name several times in his life. A former Atheist, Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019, which critics have said was a political ploy to appeal to Republican voters. He also once wondered if Trump was “America’s Hitler.” Coles asked Wolff if he believed Vance was regretting cozying up to Trump as he maneuvers for power. “So do you think when they’re shutting down at night in their bedroom in the observatory, he’s saying, ‘Oh my god, I was so right. Of course he’s the new Hitler. What a nightmare. How much longer are we going to have to put up?’”, she asked. “No, I think it’s much more nuanced than that,” Wolff replied. “I think they’re plotting every single day what this person said to that person, what that person said to that person, and what we have to do on an incremental basis to parry, to neutralize, to advance.” As for whether all this posturing, positioning, and kowtowing to Trump will work out for Vance remains to be seen. “I find him very uncharismatic. I find him a little creepy. I find the cynicism hardly below the surface. I think he’s a phony,” said Wolff. “And I think that in today’s world is something that’s hard to navigate when you are not legit.” The Daily Beast has reached out to Vance for comment.
