Trump-Vance campaign spends its first week playing defense

Sen. JD Vance has not had much of a honeymoon.

In his first week on the campaign trail as Donald Trump’s running mate, the Ohio Republican had to compete for attention with a shakeup atop the Democratic ticket: President Joe Biden’s exit and Vice President Kamala Harris’ elevation as the de facto nominee.

Much of the buzz surrounding Vance has ranged from distracting to unflattering. Progressives pounced on his nearly three-year-old comments about “childless cat ladies” — a critique he extended to Harris, a stepmother of two. Pundits dwelled on polling data that suggested many voters are not yet sold on Vance. Others engaged in largely baseless speculation about whether Trump was already regretting his choice for vice president.

Meanwhile, left-leaning activists and internet personalities have been hammering Vance on social media, mostly ignoring Trump in the process. And Harris’ fledgling White House campaign has kept a particularly sharp focus on the No. 2 candidate on the GOP ticket. The headline of one campaign news release Friday attacking Vance for his anti-abortion views pronounced him a “creep.”

“JD Vance spent all week making headlines for his out-of-touch, weird ideas,” Harris spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement. “It’s only been 11 days, but voters know the Trump-Vance ticket is running to take America backwards and take away our freedoms — but as Vice President Harris has said, we will not go back.”

Trump voiced unequivocal support for and enthusiasm in Vance this week when fielding questions about him.

“I’d do the same pick,” he said Tuesday on a conference call with reporters. “He’s doing really well. He’s caught on.”

The former president reaffirmed his choice again Thursday during an