SUCK-UP

Vance Praises Five-Time Draft Dodger’s ‘Marine’-Like Leadership Style

Donald Trump famously avoided the Vietnam War thanks to bone spurs. But Vance wouldn’t be “shocked” to learn POTUS had been a Marine.

JD Vance pushed the art of sycophancy to new heights in a Saturday Fox News interview with President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump on her show, My View with Lara Trump.

Trump broached Vance’s military background, saying: ”I imagine you still, in this big role you have in Washington D.C., are using what you learned in the Marine Corps today as vice president.”

”In ways big and small, actually,” Vance replied, before pivoting the conversation to his favorite subject—the president.

LAW BE DAMNED

Vance Goes Nuclear When Confronted by ‘War Crime’ Allegation

Jack Silvers

”It would not have shocked me if I had learned, after knowing him, that your father-in-law was in the Marine Corps,“ Vance began. ”Of course, he didn’t serve in the Marines, but he has a Marine Corps style of leadership, where he’s very willing to delegate and he trusts certain people.”

”The president really does have this attitude of, ‘I’m gonna surround myself with good people, I’m gonna give clear directives, I’m going to check in, certainly, but I’m going to let my people go and do what I tell them to do, what I encourage them to do.’”

”That sort of—I wouldn’t call it a hands-off leadership style, but a leadership style that trusts the people around you—very much is something I learned from the Marine Corps, and the greatest leaders that I’ve served under, they all have this ability to set clear guidelines, to inspire people, but also to trust people,” Vance said.

Vance served in the United States Marine Corps for four years, from 2003 to 2007, as a military journalist; his service included six months in Iraq in a non-combat role.

Donald Trump, who attended New York Military Academy as a teenager, has never served in the military and famously avoided the Vietnam draft with five deferments due to a questionable bone spur diagnosis.

BRAVE BONE SPURS

‘Draft-Dodger’ Trump Calls Himself a ‘War Hero’

Ewan Palmer

Trump’s ability to delegate those around him to make decisions has come back to bite him in recent days, as calls for the president to fire Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. grow louder as a result of Kennedy’s mismanagement of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and continued promotion of anti-vax views that appear unsupported by science.

Trump himself seemed unsure of what to say about Kennedy on Thursday, telling reporters that he “means well” but has some “different ideas.” The next day, Trump went even further by praising “amazing” vaccines, adding that people ”have to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated.”

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Catherine BourisReporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.