• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

The Harris Reset & Hillbilly Blues

With Democrats celebrating a post-Biden move toward parity in the polls, Republicans inside Mar-a-Lago are navigating how to modulate their messaging, and vice president, in a race that’s been transformed overnight.

jd vance
It’s clear from conversations with those around Trump that J.D. Vance’s initial public outings were, at the very least, underwhelming. Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
Tara Palmeri
July 26, 2024

So much has changed in four weeks, but outwardly, at least, the Trump playbook remains much the same. “We’re running the same fucking campaign, instead of Biden–Harris, it’s Harris,” one Trump advisor told me. “She was a co-conspirator and she was as much to blame as Joe for the policies. She owns all of it, she’s just not old. It’s the Harris-Biden presidency.” Trump spokesperson Brian Hughes went further, arguing that Harris is even more left-wing than the president. “Joe Biden acted like a California liberal, Kamala Harris actually is one,” he told me, flexing one of their new lines.