J. D. Vance returned empty-handed from his two missions abroad, following the failed talks on the war in Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 12, and the resounding defeat of outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the legislative elections on the same day in Hungary.
These two successive failures represent “major setbacks for the vice president, widely seen as the presumptive heir of Trump, who was sent last week around the world to undertake missions where the chances of success were slim,” analyzed the Financial Times.
It is as if the American vice president “had drunk the poisoned chalice to the dregs,” especially since J. D. Vance, who converted to Catholicism, returned to Washington just in time “to witness the showdown between the occupant of the White House and Pope Leon,” mocked the British newspaper.
Le champion des causes perdues
These failures are not without effect on his popularity among Americans, notes the title, pointing out that “the vice president’s rating has indeed dropped at the same time as Trump’s. The latest average of polls, calculated by the aggregator RealClearPolitics, shows that just under 41% of Americans currently have a favorable opinion.”
