MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow said one of the things she got wrong in 2024 was her belief that Americans would be more “anxious” about the Republican vice president-elect. J.D. Vance.
“I thought people would be more concerned about J.D. Vance,” Maddow Semaphore news website saidwhich collected dozens of retrospective articles by media figures from across the political spectrum, adding: “Less the Cat Lady issue and more, Americans will have to overcome Mencius Moldbug’s dictator-phobia,” referring to the pseudonym of blogger Curtis Yarvin, whom Vance followed. For years.
MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow has shed 43% of her audience since Trump's election day victory
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) participates in a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on October 1, 2024, in New York City. This is expected to be the only vice presidential debate in the 2024 general election. (Chip Somodevila/Getty Images)
Donald Trump's choice of Vance His running mate was greeted with disdain in the progressive media, and derided in the press as a ticket draw. However, Vance's skilled performances in combative interviews quickly earned him a reputation as one of Trump's best alternatives, and he was also widely considered the winner of the only vice presidential debate with his Democratic counterpart, Tim Walz.
Less than three years ago, Vance was part of a crowded field of contenders for the Republican Senate nomination in Ohio. He went on to win the primary, defeating Democrat Tim Ryan, and then joined Trump's successful ticket to the White House in one of the fastest rises in political history.
Vance, 40, will be the third-youngest vice president in American history when he is sworn in next month. Because the Constitution bars Trump from seeking another term in office, Vance is already viewed as the front-runner for the 2028 GOP presidential nomination.
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Senator J.D. Vance, vice president-elect of Ohio, leaves the Senate floor as lawmakers work on a temporary spending bill to avoid the shutdown of federal agencies, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, December 18, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Madu was one of several media figures asked by Semaphore to reflect on what they did wrong with the 2024 election or the culture in general. The answers ranged from failure to predict Elon Musk's influence, to the continued importance of X and the power of inflation on Americans' votes. Others, like Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark Podcast, have pleaded guilty to judging President Biden “generously” as well.
Mark Cuban simply replied: “I was wrong about the outcome of the election.”
MSNBC TV anchor Rachel Maddow, host of “The Rachel Maddow Show,” moderates a panel at a forum called “Perspectives on National Security,” at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photography/Stephen Sen)
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However, Semaphore wrote that “despite the fact that we and others embarrassingly missed the mark on a few occasions,” they showed “a willingness to entertain misconceptions.”
