A new bogeyman has emerged in US politics. His name is James David ‘JD’ Vance, and he will be the kind of villain JR Ewing from Dallas was in the 1980s. Only this won’t be a baddie you love to hate – you’re meant to just hate him.

Vance is a senator from the state of Ohio, and as of this week he is also Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election. Most of the time, the vice-president of the United States is a non-entity, and one former VP went so far as to say the role isn’t worth ‘a bucket of warm piss’. But the prospect of Vance as vice-president, if the Trump ticket wins November’s election, is different for two reasons.

As the disintegration of Joe Biden before the world’s eyes demonstrates, a president who is in his seventies or eighties may not be capable of fulfilling his duties – he might even die in office. Trump is only three years younger than Biden, and the possibility that Trump’s vice-president could become president is very real (again, assuming that Trump and Vance win this autumn, which looks more likely than not, according to polls).

Vance will not only be a proverbial ‘one heartbeat away’ from the most powerful office in America, however. He also has the potential to be more Trumpian than Trump – that is, more of a populist, more right-wing and more disciplined and effective. Vance, at 39, is only half Trump’s age.