Just over eight years ago, Donald Trump announced Mike Pence as his running mate.
Pence also represented a salvo for white evangelicals still unsure of voting for Trump.
I dont know anyone whos more consistent in bringing his evangelical Christian worldview to public policy.
J.D. Vance speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Just over a week ago, Trump announcedJ.D.
Vanceas his running mate for the 2024 election.
In 2019, Vance was receivedinto the Catholic Church.
In his speech, Vance griped that the business community is actively pro-abortion in this country.
Vance is reportedly a member.
The organization was fledgling until Leonard Leo stepped in to raise funds.
The group is Leos new conduit for imposing his conservative Catholic agenda on American culture and institutions.
I dont want to violently overthrow the government, he said.
I want something far more revolutionary.
But Deneens view of the common good doesnt include everyone.
Deneen lauds authoritarian Viktor Orbans Hungary as a place where the state actively cultivates political and moral order.
Vance has signaled hissympathies with Deneens approachmany times appearing with him publicly and citing his influence.
Deneen put out astatementwhen Vance was announced as Trumps running mate: J.D.
Weyrichs mission was to revolutionize American politics through whatEbinlabels the insertion of Catholic morality into American politics.
As current head of the Heritage Foundation, Roberts is extending Weyrichs legacy.
At Heritage, we could not be happier.The admiration goes both ways.
Vance wrote the foreword to Robertsforthcoming book,Dawns Early Light.
The influences of Thiel, Leo, and Deneenon Vances approaches to government and policy are clear.
Vances 2019 speech at Natcon appeared in print inFirst Things, the flagship publication of reactionary Catholic thought.
I think the question conservatives confront at this key moment is this: Whom do we serve?
Do we serve pure, unfettered commercial freedom?
Do we serve commerce at the expense of the public good?
Or do we serve something higher?
And are we willing to use political power to actually accomplish those things?
Vance seems to resonate with such sentiments, even if his rhetoric is more politically measured.
We have to recognize that America is not just a principle.
It is a group of people.
But if your attitude is that .
But he is not simply an instrument for achieving Trumps MAGA coronation.
We are in a late republican period, Vance said to the journalistJames Pogue.
I think Trump is going to run again in 2024, said Vance.
And when the courts stop you, stand before the country, and say .
the chief justice has made his ruling.
Now let him enforce it.
He wants an American king to rule a post-constitutional America.
In this sense, Vance is not a complement to Trumps MAGA agenda.
There is a big question about what comes after him.
When the January 6th mob erected gallows for the then-vice president, they didnt succeed in hanging him.
This is not a crusade for a Christian nation.
Its a march toward American Christendom.
For now hes running to be vice president.
Someday, he (or someone like him) may have a go at be king.
God, save us all.
