A 12-year project for MAGA

'It is a minimum 12-year project to turn the Republican Party into the Make America Great Again Party.'

KANG TAE-HWAThe author is a Washington correspondent of the JoongAng Ilbo. Regarding the reason why former President Donald Trump selected 39-year-old Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate, a local source clearly explained, “It is a minimum 12-year project to turn the Republican Party into the Make America Great Again (MAGA) Party.”

On the background of Vance’s selection, many interpreted that Trump — an old, white tycoon — wanted to complement himself with Vance, a young hillbilly from the Rust Belt. But it is highly likely that Trump’s strategy is not limited to winning the November election.

Trump is still not a member of the GOP mainstream. In the 2016 presidential election, he was not considered a “winning card.” Mainstream Republicans are still stingy to recognize him as the GOP candidate. Just like what happened eight years ago, key mainstream Republicans — such as George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Mitt Romney from the Reagan and Bush administrations — turned away from Trump’s coronation two weeks ago.

Vance could represent Trump’s “declaration of independence” to break away from the mainstream GOP. At the ceremony for Vance’s nomination, he was introduced as someone chosen for the future of the country, the Republican Party and the America First movement — instead of being described as Trump’s running mate pick.

An American source said that if Trump is re-elected, young Vance — armed with stronger MAGAism — will be the next presidential candidate and can be in power for eight more years. After at least 12 years of the Trump administration, the Republican Party will be completely transformed into the MAGA party.

This means the end of the Republican Party’s political stance of advocating globalism and claiming to be the “world police.” The position will be replaced by Trump’s America First movement and new isolationism. The promotion of Vance is also interpreted as a political death sentence for Nikki Haley, the last mainstream Republican and a former ambassador to the United Nations.

Within two weeks of his nomination, Vance’s controversial remarks surfaced, including calling Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats “childless cat ladies” with no direct interests with the future of the nation.

It is interesting how his past remarks, first discovered by Democrats, were expanded and reproduced by mainstream Republicans. Some of them attacked Trump for picking Vance while others blamed it on his overconfidence. In the face of blatant attacks from mainstream Republicans, Trump simply brushed them off and said, “Vance is doing well.”