‘Policy attack dog’ or ‘creepy’? Vance’s plane incident with Harris adds to his weird factor

The image of Vance approaching Air Force Two with his team of nearly all-male advisers made some feel deeply uncomfortable

(AP)

Since being announced as Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance has struggled to overcome allegations from his opponents of being “weird.” His current campaign strategy doesn’t appear to be helping.

Vance has embarked on what some critics have described as a “stalking” tour of Kamala Harris’s campaign, shadowing her tour of battleground states and holding parallel events on the same day in each city. So far, he has followed Harris through Philadelphia, Wisconsin and Michigan.

The practice is called “bracketing” in the vernacular of political campaigns, and is not so unusual. But on Wednesday, Vance took things a step further when he approached Harris’s jet as they were both on the airport tarmac in Eau Claire, Wisconsin at the same time.

Airport scenes are supposed to be romantic — at least that’s what Hollywood movies would have us believe. But as Vance sauntered over to Air Force Two with his team of nearly all-male advisers, the optics did not work out in his favor.

Some observers compared the images to Trump looming over Hillary Clinton on the debate stage in 2016. The move was not popular with women on social media, one of whom described the move as “boundary-crossing” and another “creepy.”

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, walks back from looking at Air Force Two at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Eau Claire, Wis. (AP)

Vance’s stunt did have some supporters, however. One characterized it as a “chad move.”

For his part, Vance told reporters that he wanted to get a “good look at the plane because hopefully, it’s gonna be my plane in a few months.”

“I also wanted to go say hello to the vice president and ask her why she refuses to answer questions from the media,” Vance said to reporters, amid an uneasy silence.

He and Harris did not speak.

Vance is aware that the “weird” label has been following him around. This week, he blamed the attack line on “social media interns who maybe were bullied in school and so now they’ve decided they’re going to do the same thing.”

But besides the incident on the tarmac, Vance’s events have struggled to attract the same attention. Democrats have pointed out that Harris’s rallies have been swelled by thousands, while one event by Vance barely attracted a dozen.

Vance has accused Harris of running a "basement campaign" by avoiding media interviews. His team defended the strategy of shadowing Harris across the battlegrounds as necessary, considering his role in the Trump campaign as a chief critic of her policies.

“He’s the policy attack dog on Kamala Harris. That’s essentially the game-plan for JD moving forward,” a person close to the campaign told The Independent.