BEST OF: George Packer on JD Vance

The Al Franken Podcast

News, Government, Comedy, Politics

4.6 • 8.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2026

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

JD Vance has had an unorthodox rise to power. After a troubled childhood, he joined the Marines, graduated from Yale Law School, became a best-selling author, and then won a seat in the U.S. Senate. And now, at only 41, he is Vice President to Donald Trump, a man who Vance once described as "America's Hitler" and "cultural heroin."

In this Best Of episode, we revisit our June 2025 conversation with The Atlantic’s George Packer. His piece, “The Talented Mr. Vance,” explores Vance's political transformation and whether he genuinely evolved his political views or cynically abandoned his principles for ambition.

We also look at the Democrats' path forward. Packer shares how they can respond to Trump's appeal to disengaged voters.

Read Packer’s writing in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/george-packer/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody. We got a great one today, you know, for a change. And that's because this one is a best of.
0:11.7	I'm taking a little break from the podcast. I've been doing this show for seven years and I deserve it.
0:17.9	So I'd like to revisit my conversation with George Packer from June of last year.
0:24.0	George is a staff writer for The Atlantic who wrote a fascinating biographical article about
0:30.4	Vice President J.D. Vance. I'm not a fan of Vance's, but after listening to George, you will come away thinking, yikes,
0:40.0	as much as I do not like this guy, he is not to be underestimated.
0:45.7	The author, of course, of Hillbilly Elegie, Vance writes about growing up poor with a heroin
0:52.6	addicted mom, four years in the Marines out of high school, including a stint in Iraq as a public affairs officer
1:00.2	from which he emerges disillusioned about the war.
1:05.0	Graduates from Ohio State in two and a half years, off to Yale Law School where he he meets Usha and Peter Thiel, who's visiting Yale at the time,
1:15.7	and who mentors him in Silicon Valley.
1:20.0	Bance sets his sights on politics, makes a slight misstep in 2016 calling Donald Trump cultural heroine and America's Hitler.
1:31.4	But with Teal's help, gets Trump's support for his run for the Senate, wins, and becomes a MAGA disciple.
1:40.7	And the perfect running mate for Trump in 2024, because like Trump, he wants to keep us out of foreign wars.
1:49.1	At least until recently, Vance, you'll notice, is now playing it a little coy.
1:54.8	He officially supports the war in Iran, but asked recently if he encouraged Trump to go to war.
2:02.6	Vance has been saying that he is not sharing what advice he gave to Trump, ostensibly,
2:08.8	out of respect for the president.
2:10.9	But I think he's keeping his options open if this thing continues to go south, not sure if that works, but he is a
2:21.3	slippery guy. Anyway, it's a great one, you know, for a change, George Packer on the man who may
2:29.9	very well be our next president. I don't think he will be unless Trump doesn't make it
2:35.7	until January 2029.
	...

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