Vance: Democrats Run By Academic Elites That Want Communism Not To Make Life Better, But Purely Out Of Resentment

RealClear Politics ^ | 30 Jan, 2026 | Ian Schwartz

[MtnClimber]

In an interview with FOX News host Laura Ingraham, Vice President J.D. Vance said communism is the result of the Democratic Party being run by universities and professors.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS: You've been following what's going on with the Democrat party and the rise of socialism. The president calls it communism and says this is this is really the biggest threat to the country now, an internal threat, and you've seen what happens when the base of the party, a party, turns on its establishment beginning with the Tea Party in 2009, ultimately resulting in President Trump's election twice. So my question to you is are these DSA types really in your estimation going to dominate the entire party?

VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE: I unfortunately fear that's the direction the Democrats are headed, and it is communism, Laura. This is not, you know, this is not raising taxes a little bit, however much we might disagree with that. This is abolishing the police.

This is let criminals run amok in your cities. This is flood your country with low-wage third-world immigrants, and importantly it's confiscating wealth, not because we want to make anybody's life better, but purely out of resentment, out of an attack on the people who have that wealth to begin with. It really is something we haven't seen in the United States of America in the history of our politics, and Laura, I think that it actually is a consequence of the fact that the Democrat party has become run by the universities and by the professors.

This is not working-class Union Democrats. This is not socially conservative people who just want a fair shake at life. This is fundamentally a view that the United States is an evil country that must be dismantled

[Reily]

The problem with philanthropic foundations is that in at most a generation they are captured by the left.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Jeff Bezos’ ex, Mackenzie Phillips donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood. Imagine if someone donated the same to crisis pregnancy organization or centers. Or pro-life Catholic hospitals.

An Anonymous donation to a young child with cancer’s gofundme can go a long way. Or to a family of a veteran who just lost their life.

So does adopting a stretch of highway to keep paved and manicured.

Part of donating is understanding that the recipients won’t always be perfect … But it’s still “more blessed to give, than to receive” as Scripture says.

[ChessExpert]

“Jeff Bezos’ ex, Mackenzie Phillips donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood.”

They have a different idea of “doing good” through philanthropy than do I. But it’s their money, not yours or mine. I would have no complaint if Jeff Bezos had re-invested his money into Amazon or Blue Origin. As a rule, I’d prefer it if successful businessmen continued to succeed in business, rather than fail in philanthropy.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Taylor Swift gave $100,000 bonuses to her truck drivers and several times that to her dancers. She also donates to food banks along her tour route. Amazon by contrast has high worker dissatisfaction and consumer experience/product quality becoming more varied if not worse — as Bezos gets richer.

[ChessExpert]

Sounds like a story.

[ChessExpert]

“I know PhDs that feel themselves above others intellectually, and quietly resent success.”

They have all kinds of hierarchies, real and imagined. I know one who looked down on schools with strong football teams.

There are people of real accomplishment among PhDs, in and out of academia. There are also some who are very arrogant. I suspect that many of the most arrogant are among the least accomplished.

I think one problem is that people in a hierarchy confuse THEIR world with THE world. It can be an academic hierarchy. It can be a church hierarchy, etc. It many ways, it’s a testimony to their narrow lives. Many PhDs in academia only know school.

Some academics are truly accomplished. I think most just put in their time, putting up with the horseshit of academia. They survived the system. It’s a way to get by, not get rich.