The choice of Junior Ohio Senator JD Vance as Donald Trump's presidential running mate suggests a show of strength which threatens to escalate the tone of a political debate that is already dangerously inflammatory, says Flinders University American politics expert Professor Rodrigo Praino.
While President Joe Biden struggled to stand out in his latest TV interview on US network NBC, the campaign of disinformation from the Republican side is growing and a very real concern, warns Professor Praino, Director of the Jeff Bleich Centre at Flinders.
"JD Vance has extensive media experience, but is also known for some reprehensible behaviour online, including stating just a few days ago that Trump's assassination attempt was direct consequence of the rhetoric of the Biden campaign against Trump.
"A junior senator from Ohio, Vance has extremely conservative views and appeals largely to the base of the Republican party. He does well with the so-called 'rust-belt', which includes states that may very well become determinant in the upcoming election, but he doesn't bring much to the ticket in the classical way that campaigns try to balance a presidential ticket.
Professor Praino says that Trump appearing in person but not speaking live at the Republican party gathering in Milwaukee was a clever move that creates anticipation for the next days. Instead, Trump appeared in a pre-recorded video at the economic policy themed 'Make America Wealthy Again' event.
"Former President Trump reiterated disinformation about electoral fraud in the pre-recorded address to the Republican National Convention," Professor Praino says.
"He accused the Democrats of being prone to cheating and suggested once again that cheating might be about to occur in the upcoming elections, regardless of the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever of past, current, or future fraud."
Meanwhile Professor Praino says President Joe Biden's uncut interview was lacklustre.
"While Biden did seem in better shape today compared to previous attempts, his performance was not stellar.
"He called for a change of tone and stated that he would prefer to be talking about policy, but was unable to effectively do either during the NBC interview."
Professor Rodrigo Praino is Director of the Jeff Bleich Centre for Democracy and Disruptive Technologies and an expert in decision-making and political behaviour. His research spans elections, focusing on how voters make decisions in a context of low-information, political scandals and corruption, the political behaviour of young voters, the political representation of women, and the role of candidate physical appearance.
