JD Vance East Germany fantasies are spilling out on his Twitter feed. None of the so-called experts called out the truly weird aspect of this moment. That’s why I’m here to do it. So you don’t miss it.
Did you even say thank you?
JD Vance’s recent tweet, referencing East Germany and the Alternative for Germany (AfD), sent ripples through the political discourse. Vance described the AfD as “the most representative of East Germany.” This comparison is wrong based on membership and electoral results. It’s also historically odd and reflects growing confusion about political ideology, especially among Trump’s allies.
When a person lies and creates dishonesty around themselves, like Trump does, it becomes hard to know what they truly believe. His advocates claim this is part of the Art of the Deal, putting his negotiating adversaries on their back heels to dictate his will.
His opponents say this means he’s a liar.
For someone like Vance, who once referred to Trump as a Hitlerian figure, aligning himself with Donald Trump to become VP remains an unexplained transition. Vance claims he was swayed by portrayals of Trump in the media. Yet, he offers no explanation for who convinced him he was wrong.
Are we to believe that through some divine intervention, he became aware? Unlikely. Additionally, if Vance could be convinced Trump was Hitlerian via media portrayals, he could also be swayed the other way through the same channels. That’s frightening on its own – knowing the American VP can flip his mentality 180 degrees based on social media content.
But this is where the power of rhetoric—and Trump’s influence—comes into play. Vance’s ideological shift over the past year or two reflects an ideological muddle that mirrors the confusion and contradictions of Trumpism. At the heart of it all is the rise of right-wing socialism—an idea that, while paradoxical, is increasingly shaping the political landscape in the U.S. and beyond. I didn’t invent this concept; it has roots long before I was born. However, it is clearly an undiagnosed political phenomenon that is virtually impossible to stop with the present crop of “opposition” leaders like Democrats in America.
Right-Wing Socialism, A Libertarian’s Worst Nightmare
Libertarian economist Murray Rothbard often attributes the term “right-wing socialism” to state intervention in the economy, wrapped in nationalist and conservative rhetoric. It appeals to both liberals of a certain sort and conservatives as well, while serving none of their interests. This is exactly what Trump has brought to the table and that is what his administration is carrying forth.
That’s why he can work with a Soros associate like Bessent in the Treasury and a neocon warhawk like Rubio in the State Department without seeing any conflict.
JD Vance, a “never Trumper” once upon a time, is next in line to be President if something happens to Donald Trump during this term. While claiming to be an advocate for free markets, Trump’s administration has been defined by tariffs, hidden bailouts, and heavy-handed state control over the economy and society. Trump’s first term ended after he ushered in the most authoritarian era of American history since we were ruled by a King in Britain.
Print Endless Money, and Eat the Poor – Not Exactly a Libertarian Utopia
His economic policies of endlessly printing money, treating oligarchs specially, and self-dealing beyond imagination are all marks of a socialist regime. Trump and his allies manipulate markets for private gain, constantly favoring the elite while curtailing free-market principles. For example, Amazon got to play the hero for a day while advertising price increases they blame on Trump’s policies, and the Trump administration pretended to fight with them. But in the end, customers will bear the costs that Amazon should be absorbing right now. Yet, the public is left without a path of recourse against either the President or the mega-corporation.
Vance’s embrace of Trump is wrapped in nationalism and capitalism, revealing a deeper ideological confusion. How can a supposed capitalist support tariffs, state intervention, and market manipulation? They can’t. That’s a corruption of the capitalist system. Sure, you can criticize capitalist social order, and it has its flaws. However, people often confuse the corruption of the system with inherent flaws in the system itself, judging it by its corruption rather than its true design. Compare that to a completely communist or socialist society, where the government controls and distributes everything.
Trump’s rhetoric often occupies space instead of presenting real substance. He hides this contradiction and shifts the conversation from capitalist values to state-run nationalism. Trump’s manipulation of economic levers is a form of right-wing socialism, and Vance, whether consciously or not, has fallen into that trap. I’d like to think of JD Vance as too smart to fall for it, which means he’s a liar.
But JD Vance is revealing himself every day to be a Biden-like moron unfortunately.
Who Got To Dave Smith To Sell Out On Libertarian Orthodoxy?
Dave Smith, a libertarian podcaster who once condemned everything Trump stood for, has exemplified this shift on the ground. He is a principle example of a person who could advocate for somebody and things that they actually fundamentally rhetorically claim to oppose. There are clips I’m sure you could find on his own YouTube channel of Dave Smith criticizing Donald Trump for specifically bombing the Houthis in Yemen during his 2016 – 2020 administration. Yet Smith vocally advocated for and claims to have cast a ballot for Trump in 2024. Why? Just to please Joe Rogan to help his comedy and podcasting career? Maybe.
But Smith had to somehow shift his perspective enough to speak on these topics convincingly. He has to convince himself.
Dave Smith Often Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About
Smith even still claims himself to be a “Rothbardian libertarian” based on principles of non-aggression, minimal government, free markets, and anarcho-capitalism. These are principles that seem entirely incompatible with Trump’s interventionist policies regardless of his rhetoric or campaign promimses.
Yet, over time, Smith has bent his ideology to support Trump, even defending his authoritarian tendencies and economic interventionism.
How could Smith have been convinced that Trump would, say, not keep bombing in Yemen (like Biden) if Trump did in fact bomb Yemen in his first term? Money. Attention. It’s actually that simple. His so-called principles perhaps never really existed, or they were real once. But they are certainly not real anymore.
Influencers With (2) Right Wings Aren’t Fly
You can see a lot of “right-wing” influencers looking humiliated these days over similar things. They thought they held beliefs or principles, spoke about them, marketed them, fought for them, argued over them. Now Trump is doing things that directly oppose those beliefs, or is going back on promises about economic stability. No explanation. Just pivoting. Redirecting attention and blame. That’s where people like Smith operate. They help at the lowest levels of media ensure that no real criticisms of “the regime” (as Smith likes to put it) can rise.
He would lose a debate about his own supposed principles of libertarianism if confronted – by me. Instead, he puts on performances against Oxford brits like Douglas Murray who is also an empty vessel. These guys are actors, like a lot of the people Trump puts on television. Which, should have us all wonder who he really has around him making decisions and providing proper advice. I believe many cabinet officials and figures like Laura Loomer are used as props by Trump to offload accountability. The DOGE project was another huge example of this—a project libertarians like Dave Smith were lied to about, and who either lie or lied about its effectiveness.
But Dave Smith is a bottleneck, not a root cause.
The ChatGPT Tell In Marco Rubio & JD Vance Tweets
An interesting detail that has slipped under the radar in the debate about Rubio’s tweet – and Vance’s quote tweet, is the noticeable presence of em dashes in both posts. This specific punctuation, has become notable among AI professionals and marketers, as being a ChatGPT tell. Many writers have attempted to get ChatGPT to simply stop using this weird piece of punctuation because it’s a tell. Also, nobody really used them before so we are collectively wondering why it’s happening.
But regardless, in LinkedIn posts or legal documents, it often raises eyebrows when those little em dashes show up. Both Vance’s tweet and Rubio’s response included this distinctive feature, a stylistic choice that is far more common in ChatGPT-generated content than in human writing. This small detail is telling. We know that Sam Altman and Open AI were at least working on a government version of the software so they probably have it. Another aspect of this weird interaction that should be noted is the fact that Elon Musk’s Grok AI is embedded in Twitter itself.
They’re Using ChatGPT, and Not Very Well
That means it’s harder to produce content in ChatGPT and then copy/paste it into a post on Twitter. It would have been easier for them to use Grok to come up with their content then post that. It demonstrates a rift with Elon Musk, on his way out.
The more important thing about this and the context of how confused JD Vance’s content seemed, is it indicates these guys don’t know what they’re saying. They may well know what they are doing and what they are lying about or hiding. But their rhetorical shields in the form of these posts? They make too little and too much sense. Yet, the public is missing it. So no matter how dumb it is, it works on the public. Scary, right?
A Growing Confusion in the GOP and Global Political Systems
The confusion surrounding right-wing socialism comes into sharper focus when we consider the AfD. Now regarded as an “extremist” right-wing party, the AfD’s identity is being shaped by the Trump administration from afar. As Trump’s influence grows, so does this ideological confusion. His policies, which once seemed to fit neatly into the conservative tradition, now seem to blend with socialist principles in ways that make it harder for traditional political labels to apply. Is it because Trump is too dumb to understand the historical context but with his political and financial leverage he convinces people to act along? Or is he smart enough to brainwash people to abandon their previously held beliefs due to a well constructed fraudulent ideology?
As an American concerned with the changes going on in our own country, I’m hard-pressed to care about Germany’s elections right now.
The “America First” division is growing further apart from their pretense, and that should concern all the real conservatives in the country.
Changing Politics, Changing People
Ultimately, the most striking aspect of the Trump phenomenon is how it changes those around him including those who once claimed to oppose him. Figures like JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and even Dave Smith are emblematic of a much larger trend: the blurring of political identities in the face of a rhetoric that is as confusing as it is captivating. The AI-driven research and messaging phenomenon leaves us wondering what these senior officials really believe. They are clearly being lazy in terms of prompt-engineering, which is leading to these statements that make little sense no matter how you look at them. “AI slop” some call it.
If that’s the case, then this is the dumbest reich in history. They are trying their hardest to be viewed as big bad boys. Leaning in to Nazi comparisons, and supporting pseudo socialist parties worldwide causes people in America to freak out. It creates the illusion of influence in these regions. But underneath it, is a hollow shell of nonsense. Because Trump is only self-dealing with charades and theater to cover up the real criminal conduct.
Trump’s true manipulation lies not just in how he gets people to support him, but in how he changes those who oppose him into puppets. Puppets who do what he wants, including both support and resistance.
Something From the Middle, But Not Centrism
The remedy to right-wing socialism cannot be left-wing socialism.
But a centrist mentality is too passive, naive, and ineffective.
That’s why the Democrats are failing to provide the American people any alternative to the Republicans right now. They have a socialist wing of people like AOC & Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and others who cannot differentiate themselves from Donald Trump. Even though they think of themselves as opposites, they hold similar conceptual beliefs. How those beliefs get implemented may differ, but they aren’t different enough.
Republicans follow Trump in lock-step, and those who step out of line lose their way.
As people become pacified or resentful of the parties, they check out.
So America, and the rest of the world, needs something to emerge from the middle. A belief in the perpetuation of a national identity, knowledge of the past, and vision for the future. Unfortunately, that is something Democrats keep saying they need and claiming they have; but they do not. Trump is so self centered, people will project historical references on him; but his greed is beyond Gordon Gecko level.
I have offered leadership in this time, and remain open to helping either party or unaffiliated groups who are interested in progressing beyond the partisan rancor of our times.
