Economics

J.D. Vance Hates Milton Friedman

Socialism is ascendant within both political parties.

Robby Soave | 7.2.2026 3:55 PM

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JD Vance (Adani Samat/@LahavHarkov/X)

At a time when the Democratic Party is being conquered from within by actual socialists—even outright communists—one might expect the Republican Party to capitalize on this strategic error and campaign against it. Unfortunately, President Donald Trump continues to espouse an economic policy that itself contains far too many concessions to socialism. Even worse, the most likely inheritor of Trump's throne is someone who is, if anything, considerably to the president's left on economics.

Vice President J.D. Vance rarely misses an opportunity to make crystal clear that his embrace of progressive economics is more ideological and deeply held than Trump's. In an interview this week with Michael Knowles of The Daily Wire, Vance took entirely unnecessary shots at the legendary economist Milton Friedman, whose laissez faire economic ideas were implemented by previous generations of conservatives to great........

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